20-000155 Bridget And Tonny Walker vs. Lgi Homes-Florida, Llc Status: Closed Recommended Order on Friday, June 12, 2020.

Summary: Petitioners did not prove fair housing violation. For section 760.23(1) one must make bona fide purchase offer. No proof that 4 bedroom house was available. So refusal to show not discriminatory. No proof of discriminatory advertising or other marketing.

P RELIMINARY S TATEMENT

On June 25, 2018, Mr. and Ms. Walker filed a complaint of discrimination

in housing with the Florida Commission on Human Relations (Commissio n).

The complaint alleged that LGI discriminated against Mr. and Ms. Walker by

refusing to allow them to buy or inspect a four - bedroom home in LGI ' s Hill ' N

Dale community . After conducting an investigation, the Commission issued

its Notice of Determinatio n of No Cause on December 12, 2019. Mr. and

Ms. Walker filed a Petition for Relief on January 12, 2020. The Commission

referred the Petition to the Divisi on of Administrative Hearings.

The hearing was set for March 9, 2020. Upon motion of the Walkers , th e

hearing was continued until April 28, 2020. The undersigned conducted the hearing as scheduled.

The Walkers presented testimony from Mrs. Walker. The Walkers '

Exhibits 1, 5 (first two pages), 6, and 13 were admitted.

LGI presented testimony from Danine Stratton and Mr. Walker. LGI

Exhibits 1, 2, 4, 5, 7 (Harrington, Easton, Samuels, and Boyd photographs),

8 throug h 11, and 15 (Bates number 74) were admitted.

A T ranscript of the hearing was filed May 19, 2020. LGI timely filed a

proposed recommended ord er. It has been considered in the preparation of

this Recommended Order. The Walkers did not file a proposed recommended

order.

F INDINGS OF F ACT

1. Mr. and Ms. Walker are African - American. Their claim in this matter

arises out of their inquiry into buying a house from LGI in its Hill ' N Dale

c ommunity.

2. LGI is a national homebuilder. It develops residential communities

consisting of homes that it built. It offers financing for those homes.

3. LGI follows a specific, multi - step process for home sales. The process

includes maintaining a log of contacts with potential buyers. The log includes

the name of the sales representative who spoke to the potential buyers, the

date of the contact, and the outcome of the contact. The process also includes

a loan pre - qu alification step. Using a Pre - Qualification Worksheet, a sales

representative gathers basic financial information from a prospective buyer

including employment, compensation, and bank account balances. In

addition, LGI obtains a credit report for the prosp ective buyer. A

determination that a buyer is qualified is effective for 30 days at any LGI

property. After 30 days, a buyer who wishes to tour a home must undergo the

pre - qualification process again.

4. LGI does not give home tours to individuals unless t hey pre - qualify for

financing. It follows this policy to conserve sales representative time by avoid ing wasting time showing homes to individuals who are unlikely to be

able to purchase them. LGI also says the policy avoids raising unrealistic expectations in would - be buyers who will not be able to finance a home.

5. LGI ' s policies require every sales representative to first take each pre -

qualified prospective buyer to a target home, identified as the lowest price

home available, before viewing any other av ailable homes on the property.

6 . On March 17, 2018, Mr. and Ms. Walker visited LGI ' s Ballentrae

c ommunity. There they completed the pre - qualification process. A n LGI

representative advised them that they were pre - approved for a home valued

around $150,000 . The Walkers did not tour a home in the Ballentrae

c ommunity.

7 . On June 16, 2018, the Walkers visited LGI ' s Hill ' N Dale c ommunity.

They had scheduled an appointment with Danine Stratton, a n LGI sales

representative. After the Walkers arrived and seated themselves in the waiting area, a Caucasian couple arrived and sat down. When Ms. Stratton

entered the waiting area she spoke to the Caucasian couple before

acknowledging the Walkers.

8 . Ms. Stratton consulted with the Walkers and obtained the information

needed for pre - qualification from them. This was necessary because more

than 30 days had passed since they had pre - qualified at the Ballentrae

property. She also asked for some demographic information.

9 . The Walkers inquired about purchasing a four - bedroo m house.

Ms. Stratton expressed skepticism that they could afford a four - bedroom

home. During the consultation Ms. Stratton learned that Mr. Walker ' s name

was spelled " Tonny, " with two " n " s . She noted that the spelling was unusual.

She went on to say, " It ' s either three things, your mother could not spell, your

mother was on drugs, or just unique. " The Walkers were justly offended and

understandably perceived the comment as invoking racial stereotypes.

10 . Ms. Stratton maintains that this was just good nat ured, light - hearted,

teasing meant to build rapport with the Walkers. She testified that she was

" completely shocked " that they were offended. Ms. Stratton is not credible. It

is not plausible that a sales person would expect insulting a customer ' s

mother to build rapport with the customer. Ms. Stratton ' s comments are

inexplicable.

11 . Nonetheless, Ms. Stratton gave the Walkers a tour of the community. 2

She offered to show the Walkers a three - bedroo m home , consistent with LGI ' s

" target home " strategy . They asked about a four - bedroom home. Ms. Stratton

said that a four - bedroom home was not available for showing. There is no

persuasive evidence that one was available at that time or that a four -

bedroom home was shown during that time period to non - minority p ersons.

12. Ms. Stratton was willing to sell a three - bedroom home to the Walkers.

By then they had decided they would not purchase a home from LGI. In

2 The testimony of Ms. Walker and Ms. Stratton differed on this point and others. Based on

the demeanor of the witnesses, consistency with o ther evidence, and the implausibility of

some of Ms. Stratton ' s testimony, the undersigned finds Ms. Walker more credible and

persuasive.

Ms. Walker ' s words, " I declined her offer to purchase any home with LGI. "

(Tr. p . 39) .

13. Upset by Ms. S tratton ' s comments about the spelling of Mr. Walker ' s

name, the Walkers decided that they just wanted to leave. In order to do this

peacefully they said they needed to check with an uncle to obtain funds for

the required earnest money. They also refused to sign the pre - qualification

form .

14. On June 17, 2018, Ms. Stratton texted the Walkers saying, " Hey there,

just touching base. Were you able to talk with your uncle about helpi ng out? "

This text demonstrated that Ms. Stratton wanted to sell the Walkers a home.

On June 18, 2018, Ms. Walker replied that because of the comment about the

spelling of Mr. Walker ' s name, " We will not be purchasing with LGI. "

15 . Ms. Stratton replied: Oh my goodness, I ' m so sorry that I offended

you. I certainly didn ' t mean to. I was just making a joke and in hindsight was

in poor taste. Again, I ' m so sorry and best of luck to you guys. "

16 . Ms. Walker went to a n LGI property in Ruskin and spoke to a

supervisor there name d Joe Boyd. He assured her that LGI would take care

of the p roblem and someone would call her. Ms. Walker also called LGI ' s

home office in Texas. She was connected to the area director for Florida. He

emailed Ms. Walker and said that he would have someone named Todd Fitzgerald contact her. Mr. Fitzgerald did not co ntact the Walkers.

17. On Friday, June 22, 2018, at 12:52 p.m. , Ms. Walker sent Mr. Boyd an

email. It stated, " Myself and my husband recently visited one of your

properties and received poor customer service and rude racist remarks from

one of your employe es. I have spoken to one of you[r] managers locally but I

do not [know] if anything was done. There was no follow up. Please contact me at [phone number]. "

18 . On Friday , June 22, 2018, at 10:13 p.m. , Mr. Boyd replied:

It is my understanding that our d ivision president

Todd Fitzgerald called you to discuss this. Please

let me know if he hasn ' t and I will be happy to call.

Please be assured that in no way was the intent of

our representative to offend in any way.

We apologize for you feeling that you r eceived

comments that were rude and even racist, that is definitely not like us, so from the bottom of my

heart I am sorry on behalf of our company.

I ' ll be available to discuss tomorrow if Todd has not

already spoke with you.

Have a nice evening!

19 . T he next day Ms. Walker replied : " Thank you for your quick response.

But I have not spoken to Todd Fitzgerald. "

20. There is no evidence of further communications between LGI and the

Walkers.

21 . The Walkers did not offer to purchase a home from LGI. They would

not purchase a home from LGI.

22. From March 2018 through March 2019, LGI closed on the sale of 15

homes at Hill ' N Dale for which Ms. Stratton was the responsible sales

representative. African - Americans purchased seven of those houses.

23. On May 2 0, 2018, Ms. Stratton sold a four - bedroom home Hill ' N Dale

to Alfreeda Harrington, an African - American, for $175,000.00. This was

before her June meeting with the Walkers.

24. Ms. Stratton sold a three - bedroom home in Hill ' N Dale to Tawanda

Boyd, for $16 0,000.00. Ms. Boyd is an African - American.

25 . On August 11, 2018, Beverly Easton, an Afr ican - American, purchased

a four - bedroom home in Hill ' N Dale for $175,000.00. Ms. Stratton was the

sales representative for the transaction.

26 . On June 9, 2018, Ms. Stratton sold a home in Hill ' N Dale to the

Samuels family, who were African - Americans.

27 . On April 12, 2019, Ms. Stratton sold a home in Hill ' N Dale to an

African - American buyer whose last name is Wheeler.

28 . On March 25, 2019, Ms. Stratton sold a hom e in Hill ' N Dale to an

African - American buyer whose last name is Bacon.

29 . On January 28, 2019, Ms. Stratton sold a home in Hill ' N Dale to an

African - American buyer whose last name is Swanson.

C ONCLUSIONS OF L AW

30 . Sections 120.569, 120.57(1), and 76 0.11( 7 ) , Florida Statutes (2019) ,

grant the Division of Administrative Hearings jurisdiction over the parties

and subject matter of this cause. See also Fla. Admin. Code R. 60Y - 4.016.

31 . The Walkers bring their complaint under Florida ' s Fair Housing Act

( Fair Housing Act), sections 760.20 thr ough 760.37. The Walkers allege that

LGI engaged in a discriminatory housing practice by refusing to show them a four - bedroom house for sale in its Hill ' N Dale community. The Walkers bear

the burden of proving by a pr eponderance of the evidence that LGI violated the Fair Housing Act. §§ 760.34(5) and 120.57(1)(j), Fla. Stat. (2019).

32 . The Fair Housing Act prohibits discriminatory housing practices

describe d in s ection 760.23. It provides, in pertinent part:

(1) It is unlawful to refuse to sell or rent after the

making of a bona fide offer, to refuse to negotiate

for the sale or rental of, or otherwise to make unavailable or deny a dwelling to any person

because of race, color, national origin, sex,

handicap, familial status, or religion.

(2) It is unlawful to discriminate against any

person in the terms, conditions, or privileges of sale

or rental of a dwelling, or in the provision of services or facilities in connection therewith, because of race, color, national ori gin, sex,

handicap, familial status, or religion.

(3) It is unlawful to make, print, or publish, or

cause to be made, printed, or published, any notice, statement, or advertisement with respect to the

sale or rental of a dwelling that indicates any

prefere nce, limitation, or discrimination based on

race, color, national origin, sex, handicap, familial

status, or religion or an intention to make any such

preference, limitation, or discrimination.

33 . The Florida Legislature modeled the Fair Housing Act afte r the

United States Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988. Therefore,

interpretation of the federal law is instructive and persuasive in applying

Florida ' s Fair Housing Act. Dornbach v. Holley , 854 So. 2d 211, 213 (Fla. 2d

DCA 2002).

34 . To prove discriminat ion prohibited by section 760.23(1), the Walkers

must prove that they made a " a bona fide offer " to purchase a home. Noah v.

Assor , 379 F. Supp. 3d 1284, 1298 (S.D. Fl. March 8, 2019) ( " ready, willing,

and able " requirement). They did not make " a bona fide offer " to buy a home.

They, therefore, did not prove a violation of section 760.23(1).

3 5 . To prove a prima facie case , or make an initial showing, of a violation

of section 760.23(2) the Walkers must prove, by direct or circumstantial

evidence, that LGI discriminated against them in the sale of housing because of their race or color. See Scholz v. RDV Sports, Inc. , 710 So. 2d 618, 624 (Fla.

5th DCA 1998) (proof of discrimination in employment may be direct or

circumstantial evi d ence) . The proof may be evi dence of discriminatory

treatment or discriminatory effects of a policy. Martin v. Palm Beach Atl.

Ass ' n, Inc. , 696 So. 2d 919 , 921 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1997) .

36. The Walkers failed in three ways to prove a prima facie case of a

violation of section 760.2 3(2) . First, although Ms. Stratton made rude,

arguably racist , comments to the Walkers, her comments are not linked to

any discrimination against them in the sale of a home. To the contrary ,

Ms. Stratton continue d her efforts to sell the Walkers a home on June 17,

2018. Ms. Walker rebuffed her.

37. Second , the Walkers ' claim focusses narrowly on the refusal to show

them a four - bedroom home. But the weight of the persuasive evidence did not

prove that a four - bedroom home was available for showing.

38. Thir d, there is no evidence of disparate treatment of the Walkers, i.e.

willingness to sell a four - bedroom home to a similarly situated non - minority

purchaser. Id . Additionally , the proof of multiple home sales in Hill ' N Dale

by LGI to African - Americans vitia tes any inference of discrimination by LGI

that might be drawn from Ms. Stratton ' s crude comments. Also, the claim is

against LGI , not Ms. Stratton. When Mr. Boyd, a n LGI supervisor learned of

Ms. Stratton ' s remarks, he promptly made it clear that LGI did not agree

with or condone Ms. Stratton ' s comments.

3 9 . There is no evidence that LGI made , printed, or published any notice

statement , or advertisement that indicated " any preference, limitation, or

discrimination based on race or color. Consequently the W alkers did not

present prima facie proof of a violation of section 760.23(3).

40 . The Walkers did not present prima facie proof of a violation of section

760.23.

R ECOMMENDATION

Based on the foregoing Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, it is

R ECOMME NDED that the Florida Commission on Human Relations issue a

final order denying the Petition for Relief .

D ONE A ND E NTERED this 12th day of June , 2020 , in Tallahassee, Leon

County, Florida.

J OHN D. C. N EWTON , II

Administrative Law Judge

Division of Ad ministrative Hearings

The DeSoto Building

1230 Apalachee Parkway

Tallahassee, Florida 32399 - 3060

(850) 488 - 9675

Fax Filing (850) 921 - 6847

www.doah.state.fl.us

Filed with the Clerk of the

Division of Administrative Hearings

this 12th day of June , 2020.

C OPIES F URNISHED :

Tammy S. Barton, Agency Clerk

Florida Commission on Human Relations

Room 110

4075 Esplanade Way

Tallahassee, Florida 32399 - 7020

(eServed)

Brett Purcell Owens, Esquire

Fisher & Phillips, LLP

Suite 2350

101 East Kennedy Boulevard

Tampa, Florida 33602

(eServed)

Bridget Trinettea Walker

Tonny Walker

1144 Barclay Woods Drive

Ruskin, Florida 33570

(eServed)

Cheyanne Costilla, General Counsel

Florida Commission on Human Relations

4075 Esplanade Way , Room 110

Tallahassee, Florida 32399

( eServed)

N OTICE OF R IGHT T O S UBMIT E XCEPTIONS

All parties have the right to submit written exceptions within 15 days from

the date of this Recommended Order. Any exceptions to this Recommended

Order should be filed with the agency that will issue the Fin al Order in this case.