A housing association has repaid a black woman $39,830.85 after she was charged ‘double’ the rent of her white neighbor for an identical house.
Selma Nicholls, 40, says she feels ‘exploited’ after Sanctuary allowed the inequality to continue for three years, once even serving her an eviction notice while letting off her neighbor.
The mum-of-one is now considering legal action against the company, which has refused to compensate her for the stress and anxiety caused by the situation, HuffPost reports.
Sanctuary has denied discrimination, with an independent probe finding no evidence to suggest the rent disparity was down to race discrimination or systemic bias.
Nicholls paid $664.00 a month more than her neighbor for an identical property in Tottenham, North London from August 2017 to August 2018.
This was increased to $1,327.99 a month more the following year.
During this time period, she found it difficult to make ends meet and suffered from depression and anxiety after being diagnosed with PTSD years before.
She said: ‘I feel exploited, manipulated and neglected by how Sanctuary housing has dealt with me.
I was exploited, the only person that was unaware that I was paying double the amount for the exact same unit as my neighbor.’
Nicholls added, ‘I’ve endured endless sleepless nights, extreme stress and intense pressure that could have been averted if I was treated as compassionately as my neighbor.
‘The only difference between me and my neighbor is I have a child and she has a dog, she is white and I am black.’
The case comes after a 2017 Human City Institute study found the level of ‘housing stress’ is higher in Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities (BAME) than it is among white people.
Sanctuary launched an investigation into Ms Nicholls’ case after being approached by the HuffPost.
It found ‘mistakes had been made in the management of these specific properties, and the resident in question had been paying rent at a higher level than their neighbor for a similar property’.
An external independent review by specialist housing consultancy Altair found ‘the residents had been treated inconsistently but there was no evidence to support the suggestion the issue was caused due to race discrimination or systemic bias.
However, investigators noted: ‘It is not possible in such circumstances to completely rule out that such factors did not play a role in the decisions which resulted in the differences in rent between the residents of the two properties.’
Sanctuary is now implementing changes recommended by the independent report and providing training on how biases can affect decision-making.
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