Penalty for One-Person-Per-Apartment Rule Affirmed: 9th Cir.

A Seattle landlord is on the hook for restricting studio apartments to single person occupancy, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed Nov. 19.

The court in an unpublished opinion upheld a partial summary judgment against Breier-Scheetz Properties LLC and part-owner Frederick Scheetz under the Fair Housing Act. A district court ordered the defendants to pay $27,302 in actual damages and $100,000 in punitive damages, and issued an injunction ordering them to change their occupancy policy.

The ruling is a win for the plaintiff, the nonprofit Fair Housing Center of Washington.

Limiting studio apartments to just one ...