Article Courtesy of The Sun Sentinel

By Mike Clary

Published October 17, 2009 

FORT LAUDERDALE - As she closed in on her dream of home ownership, Teresa Henderson had the money and she finally had the place she wanted: a one-bedroom, first-floor unit at Imperial Point Colonnades, a 552-unit complex on Northeast 67th Street in Fort Lauderdale.

The neighborhood was quiet, shopping was nearby, and the condominium was not far from her workplace at the Broward School Board.

But Henderson, 28, was denied the right to complete the $55,000 purchase, she said, after Imperial Point officials saw that she was African-American. "It was very upsetting," she said.

Henderson filed suit today in U.S. District Court in Fort Lauderdale claiming the condo association, property manager Terry Miller and association president Robert Miller committed housing discrimination based on race.

"Her dream was shattered, and she was left feeling humiliation and shame," attorney Shawn Heller said at a press conference today. Heller is with the Miami-based Florida Justice Institute, which filed the suit.

Tamar Shendell, an attorney representing Imperial Point Colonnades, could not be reached for comment.

In another suit filed in federal court today, a second Fort Lauderdale housing complex was named in a complaint of discrimination based on familial status. The Housing Opportunities Project for Excellence, known as HOPE, sent testers to the Mandalay Apartments at 2129 Davie Blvd. and found that managers refused to rent a second-floor unit to families with children under the age of 10.

The apartment manager declined to comment on the lawsuit.

Hope president Keenya Robertson said refusing to rent to families with young children constitutes a violation of the Fair Housing Act.

"We want to raise awareness that discrimination still exists," said Robertson, "and it is unacceptable."

Both lawsuits seek compensatory and punitive damages.