A federal judge last week refused to dismiss a lawsuit that accuses Travelers Insurance of illegally denying coverage to Washington, D.C. landlords who accept government housing vouchers from tenants.
Travelers is being sued by the nonprofit group National Fair Housing Alliance, which advocates for ending housing discrimination.
The group’s lawsuit says Travelers’ policy has a “disparate impact” on African Americans and women. A disparate impact means the effect is greater for a specific group.
Travelers argued in their motion for dismissal that they ended the policy in January 2016. The insurer also said the National Fair Housing Alliance failed to prove disparate impact.
The Alliance filed the lawsuit after five of its associates posed as landlords seeking insurance from Travelers for apartments in the Anacostia neighborhood of Washington, D.C.
After the fake landlords told the insurers’ representatives they planned to accept federal Section 8 housing vouchers to help tenants pay rent, Travelers told them the company would not underwrite their insurance.
U.S. District Judge John Bates wrote in his ruling that the Alliance’s test of Travelers provided enough evidence for the case to go to trial.
“NFHA not only conducted a general statistical analysis, but also focused on the relevant geographic region of the district: it ensured that testers claimed they were buying properties in the Anacostia neighborhood, which is also the area with the highest portion of voucher recipients,” the judge wrote.