FREMONT — A Fremont man
plans to appeal one of the largest non-class-action housing
discrimination judgments in state history, his brother said.
Harvey
Ottovich was ordered this month to pay $242,354 in damages to a couple
for refusing to consider renting them a Mission Boulevard apartment
because they had a young daughter, according to court papers.
According
to the complaint filed by the California Department of Fair Employment
and Housing, Ottovich in January 2006 posted a craigslist advertisement
for an apartment on the 37200 block of Mission Boulevard in the Niles
district.
Diane Coleman telephoned Ottovich about the unit, but
when she told him that she would be living with her husband and young
daughter, Ottovich replied, "Oh, no, I'm not going to rent it to you,"
according to the complaint.
Coleman never visited the property or met Ottovich.
The
department filed an accusation with the state Fair Employment and
Housing Commission charging both Harvey Ottovich and his brother Mark
Ottovich with discriminating against the family.
The complaint
against Mark Ottovich centered around the fact he told investigators
that he managed the property and that he would have been the person
fielding calls from prospective tenants, said Annmarie Billotti, the
department's associate chief deputy director.
Mark Ottovich, who said he never talked to Coleman, prevailed in an administrative hearing.
But Harvey Ottovich chose to move his case to Alameda County Superior Court in a failed bid to get it dismissed, she said.
After
he refused to cooperate with court orders to provide evidence, make
scheduled appearances and pay mounting sanctions, Judge John True
terminated the case without a trial and placed Ottovich in default,
according to court papers. As a defaulter, Ottovich was deemed to have
admitted the state's allegations.
True then awarded the Colemans
$60,588.53 in damages and ordered Ottovich to pay them an additional
$181,765.59 — triple the damage amount in order to "bring home to
defendants the need to obey our state's fair housing laws," True wrote.
Mark
Ottovich said his brother, who inherited the property, received poor
legal advice and suffers from post-traumatic stress from his time as a
soldier in Vietnam.
Ottovich added that he and his brother have
been renting the six apartments at the property for 30 years but always
have been hesitant to rent it to a family with young children because
there's no fence between the apartments and there are railroad tracks
behind the property.
"A child could open the back door and get run over by the train," he said.
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