The Bryan Simpson U.S. Courthouse in Downtown Jacksonville. [Charlie McGeeThe Tributary]
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A federal judge allowed a lawsuit to move forward with its accusations that one of Northeast Florida’s largest landlords used faulty algorithms to discriminate against Black renters, giving the green light for a jury trial that could set precedents for civil rights law.
In an order issued last week, U.S. District Judge Wendy Berger denied Jacksonville Wealth Builders’ motion to dismiss.
JWB Property Management LLC, which rents out and manages thousands of homes in Duval County, and JWB Real Estate Capital LLC, which owns those properties, are being sued by four Jacksonville residents. Those plaintiffs are seeking to represent a larger class of Black rental applicants denied leases by JWB in recent years.
Jacksonville Area Legal Aid filed the lawsuit, presenting a novel legal argument grounded in the 1968 Fair Housing Act, which The Tributary previously covered.
The plaintiffs argue that JWB has slanted the housing market against Black people in Jacksonville through its use of “tenant screening services,” a type of background-checking software used by landlords across the country to decide whether to accept aspiring tenants.
Read more at The Tributary
