A black couple looking for an apartment in Queens has filed a housing discrimination lawsuit against real estate agent Douglas Elliman and the homeowner after they allegedly received racist text messages from the agent before a scheduled showing.
Lisa Renee Olaso and her fiancé, Julien Christopher, were preparing to move to New York from Delaware when they arranged to visit a rental property in Flushing. But before they toured the house, Olasso said she received a text message from her Douglas Elliman real estate agent that left her devastated.
The message read: “Ugh. They’re black…”
Olasso thought the message was addressed to the owner, but it was accidentally sent to her.
“She sent it to us by mistake. But it should belong to the owner,” Olasso said.
Olasso said she confronted the realtor about the news and received an apology. According to Olasso, the agent tried to explain away the comment by citing previous black tenants who she claimed had caused trouble in the neighborhood.
But Olasso said the explanation did little to ease the emotional impact.
“It doesn’t change the pain. It doesn’t take away the pain you caused us that day,” Olasso said.
The incident, which occurred in June, prompted Olasso to share her experience on social media before she and Christopher ultimately decided to take legal action.
Their lawsuit names real estate agent Douglas Elliman and the homeowners as defendants, alleging violations of federal, New York state and New York City housing discrimination laws.
Attempts to obtain a response from those involved were unsuccessful. No one opened the door at the Flushing property the couple planned to visit. At Douglas Elliman’s office in Flushing, staff asked NBC New York to leave. The real estate agents charged in the lawsuit did not respond to requests for comment.
A Douglas Elliman spokesman said the agent no longer works for the company, adding in a statement that the real estate company “has a zero-tolerance policy against discrimination of any kind.”
Attorneys involved in the case did not respond to requests for comment.
This story was originally reported and broadcast by NBC New York. Artificial intelligence tools helped convert the story into a digital article, which NBC New York reporters edited for publication.