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WASHINGTON, D.C. - The owners and managers of several Danville, Illinois-area apartment complexes were sued today for engaging in a pattern of discrimination against African American apartment seekers, the Justice Department announced.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Urbana, Illinois, alleges that Spring Valley Properties, Rivercrest Limited Partnership, Narsh and Koeli Goel, and Michael Langevin violated the Fair Housing Act by deliberately steering away African American apartment seekers from predominately white apartment complexes and informing them that apartments were unavailable, when in fact, they were. Spring Valley and Rivercrest, both of which are owned by the Goels, manage more than 160 apartments located on 10 sites in the Danville, Illinois, area as well as numerous single family rental houses.

"This kind of blatant discrimination on the basis of race has no place anywhere in our country," said Bill Lann Lee, Acting Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. "Determining where a person can live on the basis of skin color is not only illegal, it's just plain wrong. The Justice Department will vigorously pursue those who engage in such unlawful housing practices."

The Justice Department began investigating the properties after receiving a complaint earlier this year from the South Suburban Housing Center (SSHC), a fair housing organization located in Homewood, Illinois. SSHC was representing Annette and Everett Miller, a black couple who unsuccessfully tried to rent an apartment in a predominately white apartment complex. During its investigation, the Justice Department found that the defendants instructed their employees to discourage any African Americans seeking information from them about rental housing and explicitly directed their employees not to allow African-Americans to inspect or rent apartments at certain of their properties.

In addition to a request for an order requiring the defendants to refrain from engaging in future unlawful conduct, the Department's complaint seeks monetary damages for victims of the defendants' allegedly unlawful conduct and payment of a civil penalty.

Persons who believe they may have been the victims of discrimination at any of the defendants' properties may call 1-800-896-7743.

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