Current:Home > reviewsWoman who faced eviction over 3 emotional support parrots wins $165,000 in federal case -InvestPioneer
Woman who faced eviction over 3 emotional support parrots wins $165,000 in federal case
View
Date:2025-04-13 17:47:37
NEW YORK (AP) — A woman who faced eviction from her Manhattan apartment over her three emotional support parrots will be paid $165,000 in damages plus $585,000 for her apartment under a consent decree announced by federal prosecutors.
The consent decree announced Monday resolves a dispute between Meril Lesser and the board of the Rutherford, a 175-unit cooperative apartment building where Lesser lived with her parrots Layla, Ginger and Curtis.
Lesser purchased an apartment at the Rutherford in Manhattan’s Gramercy Park neighborhood in 1999 and moved into it with her birds.
Neighbor Charlotte Kullen started complaining in 2015. “Oh God, I wake up still with nightmares of them screaming in my head,” Kullen told the Daily News.
The New York City Department of Environmental Protection sent inspectors 15 times but did not find any evidence of excessive noise.
“No birds, no screeching — no noise,” an inspector wrote on Feb. 7, 2016.
Lesser submitted letters from her psychiatrist explaining that she needed the birds for her mental well-being, but the Rutherford board began eviction proceedings in May 2016.
Lesser moved out and sublet her apartment. She filed a federal fair housing complaint with the Department of Housing and Urban Development in 2018, and HUD found probable cause to believe that Rutherford had violated Lesser’s fair housing rights.
Rather than settle the case, Rutherford chose to proceed to federal court, triggering the statutory requirement that the Department of Justice file suit, Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said.
Williams said the consent decree approved by a federal judge on Aug. 16 represents the largest recovery the federal government has ever obtained for a person with disabilities whose housing provider denied them their right to have an assistance animal.
“This outcome should prompt all housing providers to consider carefully whether their policies and procedures comply with federal law,” Williams said.
Peter Livingston, an attorney for the Rutherford co-op board, said his client was pleased to resolve the case.
In addition to paying Lesser $165,000 and purchasing her shares in the co-op for $565,000, the Rutherford must adopt a reasonable accommodation policy for assistance animals and allow the federal government to monitor compliance.
It must also dismiss the eviction proceeding against Lesser in housing court.
Lesser did not respond to a text sent to a phone number listed for her.
veryGood! (337)
Related
- North Carolina trustees approve Bill Belichick’s deal ahead of introductory news conference
- Is Boeing recovering the public's trust?
- For-profit college in Chicago suburbs facing federal review abruptly shuts down
- Taylor Fritz beats Alexander Zverev at Wimbledon. Novak Djokovic gets into it with the crowd
- 'As foretold in the prophecy': Elon Musk and internet react as Tesla stock hits $420 all
- US women’s coach Emma Hayes sidesteps equal pay question if high-priced star takes over American men
- Maui faces uncertainty over the future of its energy grid
- 2 people die, 3 injured, in domestic violence incident in St. Johnsbury, police say
- Meta donates $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund
- Candidates in pivotal French legislative elections drop out in tactical move ahead of final vote
Ranking
- Whoopi Goldberg is delightfully vile as Miss Hannigan in ‘Annie’ stage return
- Brad Pitt appears at British Grand Prix with girlfriend Ines de Ramon as 'F1' teaser drops
- Bloomberg Philanthropies gifting $1 billion to medical school, others at John Hopkins University
- Jill Biden to rally veterans and military families as Biden team seeks to shift focus back to Trump
- Behind on your annual reading goal? Books under 200 pages to read before 2024 ends
- Israeli military takes foreign journalists into Rafah to make a case for success in its war with Hamas
- Opponents of Louisiana’s Ten Commandments law want judge to block it before new school year starts
- Swatting reports are increasing. Why are people making fake calls to police? | The Excerpt
Recommendation
Jamie Foxx gets stitches after a glass is thrown at him during dinner in Beverly Hills
David Byrne: Why radio should pay singers like Beyoncé and Willie Nelson
John Stamos' 6-year-old son Billy plays drums at Beach Boys concert
LeBron James re-signs with Lakers to make him and Bronny first father-son duo on same NBA team. But they aren't the only family members to play together.
Selena Gomez's "Weird Uncles" Steve Martin and Martin Short React to Her Engagement
NASA's simulated Mars voyage ends after more than a year
2 people attacked by sharks in 2 days at 'Shark Bite Capital of the World,' Florida
Paris Hilton brings daughter London to namesake city for the first time: 'Dream come true'