Phoenixville housing suit settled

A Phoenixville apartment complex owner agreed to settle a federal housing discrimination lawsuit for $15,000 in November, the Fair Housing Council of Suburban Philadelphia said today.

Morris Zelikovsky, the owner of Breckenridge Plaza Apartments, a 91-unit complex on Nutt Road in Phoenixville, expressed surprise that the news was being publicized so long after the fact. Megan Bolin, a spokeswoman for the housing council, said it took time to coordinate the news releases among the various parties, including the  Department of Justice, Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the local agency.

Zelikovsky said he agreed to the settlement because fighting the litigation would have been prohibitively expensive. "I made a mistake," he said, referring to ads he placed on Craigslist. "But I've never discriminated against families." He said he signed a consent order, agreed to the fine, and took a training course but did not admit wrongdoing.

The complaint said Zelikovsky placed several discriminatory ads offering a "winter special price for two adults" and discouraged families with children from applying for housing. Women from the housing council posing as renters with children reported being asked about child care and being quoted higher prices when they responded to the ads. "The last thing a parent needs to worry about is coming up with additional money for rent each month just because they have kids," said James Berry, executive director of the Fair Housing Council in the news release.

Zelikovsky said he asked about child care because he was trying to avoid renters who might be neglectful, a problem he had seen previously. "I now know I can't do that," he said. The ad for two adults was misunderstood, he said, explaining that he wanted to "attract new young, single people" to the borough. He said his  complex has about 30 children. "I don't discriminate against families," he said. "I have children myself."