Mobile home park accused of discrimination

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By RACHEL PETERSON
Sun Staff Reporter
02/13/2006

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A Mexican couple who tried to move into Greenlaw Mobile Home Park in Flagstaff allegedly was discouraged, discriminated against and ultimately denied access to a trailer they owned because it was located on the park's property.

Now the park owner faces a lawsuit brought against the company by Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard.

Goddard said the park managers acted illegally under the Arizona Fair Housing Act. Park owner Jean Osborne said the claims are inaccurate and have been "devastating" for the park owners.

The charges are being brought on behalf of homeowner Imelda Rivera Berumen, who purportedly was denied access to a trailer last summer that was donated to her and located at the Greenlaw park. Berumen told attorneys the park discouraged her from applying, and then denied four applications from her because they were incomplete. A fifth was accepted and then overturned because the manager believed a Social Security number of Berumen's co-applicant wasn't his, and his identification card was expired.

Berumen also allegedly was harassed by the managers threatening to call immigration services if she didn't stop complaining about the decision.

The Fair Housing Act prohibits landlords from refusing to rent, or requiring different terms and conditions, because of an applicant's national origin.

While Osborne said she wouldn't comment on the specifics of the case, she said the charges claiming racial discrimination are "unfair."

"Our park has a number of Hispanic people in it. Our managers are Hispanic. I can't understand why this has taken the turn it has," she said. "It's just so unfair."

Their application process for all tenants includes a Social Security number, birth date, current address and telephone number.

Berumen's application was denied because of too few credit references, length of employment, no credit line, and that a social security number on the application was fraudulent, according to court documents.

A number of park residents also told investigators that mobile home park manager Kathy Bayham has forbidden illegal immigrants to stay with family members who were legally living in the park, according to the document.

Osborne said this is the second incident the park has had since it was opened in 1965; the other one has been settled.

"Some of the claims that this lady has made are just not true. We deny them 100 percent," she said. "It's been a good, clean park for so many years. It's been a quiet park. Most of the people are really happy to be there. It's just been devastating for us."

Rachel Peterson can be reached at rpeterson@azdailysun.com or 556-2253.