Settlement amount

[yesiheard]

I live in the state of Virginia. I am in the process of a settlement in a racial discrimination case. My complaint is being handled by HUD, who are awaiting my reply on an amount I would like to obtain from the respondents who discriminated against me. I understand I do not have to participate in the conciliation process, but I do not want to go through the long process of a court case as this is a housing dispute. I know I can recover my lost wages, moving expenses, lawyer fees, medical coverage, loan application fees, which I have come up with a total. My problem is that I know that I am able to be compensated for all the stress that I have endured for the past eight months, but what type of dollar amount should I be seeking. I am now under the care of a physician for the stress and health problems this has caused me. I have never gone through a situation like this before. I do not want to seem "greedy," but I do want enough to cover for my future lost wages and medical costs. Any feedback will be greatly appreciated. I am not in a financial position to retain a lawyer in this matter as this situation has caused us a lot of financial hardship. Thank you for your help in this matter.

 

[Cvillecpm]

Don't Hold your Breath

Don't hold your breath for any money. If they pay, it will be the landlord's insurance company and you do have to go through all of the HUD procedures which could take as long as 5 years, unless you want to hire private attorney. HUD is asking for your "damages" now to make a first "pass" at the landlord/landlord's attorney will say NO WAY and HUD goes on from there. Landlord's insurance carrier will pay their attorney fees to deal with HUD, meanwhile your HUD case worker will change 3 times and your file will get lost at least twice. The statistics on numbers of complaints filed v amount of claims settled and monies provided to complaintants is very, very small. Buy a lottery ticket.

 

[yesiheard]

There are two people that are the landlords in this case. As far as I know they have not been able to find a housing attorney, and if they do, they will not be able to afford the attorney's fee. The landlords are wanting to settle this issue so it does not go to court as I believe they do not have an insurance company to file this case under. I have been told the date the case will be reviewed is July 16, 2001, and a decision will be made whether to send the case to the attorney general.

One of the landlords in this matter is my sister, the other is her friend. They are not wealthy and have a few other houses that they rent. I feel since they are the ones wanting this conciliation to take place, they will be willing to pay, but I am not holding my breath.

I thank you for you quick response. Hopefully, this situation will work out for us so we can get our life back in order.