Landlord hauled into court for refusing Section 8

A Bronx apartment owner, who’s a regular on the city’s “worst landlords” list, will now have to defend his business practices in court.

Rosalba Tejada Gonzalez and the Fair Housing Justice Center filed a civil suit against Ved Parkash and one of his property companies, Parkash 2051 LLC, accusing him of violating the city’s Human Rights Law for failing to accept Section 8 housing vouchers.

The suit centers on Gonzalez, 49, who has lived in a rent-stabilized apartment at 2051 Grand Concourse owned by Parkash since 2004. She suffers from severe depression and arthritis, according to the suit, forcing her to live off Social Security disability income totaling just $770 monthly.

To help make her nearly $1,000 rent payments, Gonzalez sought help from the city housing authority, which started providing her with Section 8 vouchers. That would allow Gonzalez to reduce her rent burden to $441.

Except, at least according to the lawsuit, Parkash’s company rejected the voucher and forced Gonzalez to pay full rent. 

Gonzalez called the Fair Housing Justice Center, who in turn reached out to other properties owned by Parkash around the Bronx, claiming none would accept the voucher.

To refuse a voucher, according to the plaintiffs, is to violate the city’s administrative code, which prohibits landlords from discriminating against anyone seeking to rent or purchase real estate based on that person’s lawful source of income.

“Ved Parkash continued to score high marks as one of the city’s worst landlords, and this suit is another example of his unabashed disregard for the law and basic inhumanity,” said Megan O’Byrne, a staff attorney with The Legal Aid Society who filed the suit, in a release. “It’s truly a wonder he can sleep at night knowing his tenants live in deplorable conditions, and those he’s denied housing to for illegal reasons suffer on the streets.”

Parkash, who is listed in public advocate Letitia James’ 100 Worst Landlords Watchlist, did not return calls for comment. Last year, he ranked fourth on the list with 992 violations from the city’s Housing Preservation and Development department in just four buildings, all of which were in the Bronx. Those numbers were a significant improvement from his ranking atop the list in 2015.

Parkash added a new property in Kingsbridge late last year, however, when he bought 162 rent-stabilized apartments on Kingsbridge Terrace for a reported $27.5 million. It joined a reported 60 buildings Parkash owns throughout all five boroughs.

“When landlords who control large numbers of affordable rental units flagrantly violate the law by refusing to consider tenants with rental subsidies, they are directly contributing to homelessness resulting in a greater financial burden on all New York City taxpayers,” said justice center executive director Fred Freiberg in a release. “In a city where there is a scarcity of affordable rental housing, it is not only illegal, it is unconscionable for a rental housing provider to summarily refuse to accept tenants with rental subsidies.”

Gonzalez and the justice center want a Bronx supreme court judge to declare Parkash and his company are violating city code and prevent them from denying any such vouchers in the future. They also seek damages — including punitive — against Parkash. 

A civil complaint represents just one side of a dispute, and does not immediately include a response from the opposing side. A court has yet to adjudicate any of the claims made in the suit, and at this point, represent only the beliefs and opinions of the plaintiffs.