Couple files housing discrimination lawsuit over racist text. NBC 4’s Greg Cergol with the latest.
A Black couple searching for an apartment in Queens has filed a housing discrimination lawsuit against a real estate agent, Douglas Elliman, and the owners of a home after allegedly receiving a racist text message from the agent before a scheduled property visit.
Lisa Renee Olaso and her fiancé, Julien Christopher, were preparing to move from Delaware to New York when they arranged to visit a rental property in Flushing. But before they could tour the home, Olaso says she received a text message from an agent with Douglas Elliman Realty that devastated her.
The message read: “Ugh. They are black…”
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Olaso believes the message was intended for the property’s owner but was accidentally sent to her.
“She mistakenly sent it to us. But it was supposed to go to the owner,” Olaso said.
Olaso said she confronted the real estate agent about the message and received an apology. According to Olaso, the agent attempted to explain the comment by referencing previous Black tenants who she claimed had caused trouble in the neighborhood.
But Olaso 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,” Olaso said.
The alleged incident, which occurred in June, prompted Olaso to share her experience on social media before she and Christopher ultimately decided to take legal action.
Their lawsuit names the 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 responses from those involved were unsuccessful. No one answered the door at the Flushing property the couple had planned to visit. At the Douglas Elliman office in Flushing, staff asked NBC New York to leave. The real estate agent accused in the lawsuit did not respond to a request for comment.
A Douglas Elliman spokesperson said the agent is no longer with the company, adding in a statement that the realty firm “has a zero-tolerance policy for discrimination of any kind.”
The agent involved did not respond to a request for comment.
This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC New York. AI tools helped convert the story to a digital article, and an NBC New York journalist edited the article for publication.