A lady who was facing eviction from her Manhattan apartment due to her three emotional support parrots will receive $165,000 in damages and an additional $585,000 for her apartment as part of a consent decree settled by federal prosecutors. This agreement, announced by federal prosecutors, resolves a dispute between Meril Lesser and the board of the Rutherford cooperative apartment building in Manhattan’s Gramercy Park neighborhood, where Lesser lived with her parrots Layla, Ginger, and Curtis.
Lesser bought an apartment at the Rutherford back in 1999 and moved in with her birds. Complaints started in 2015 from a neighbor named Charlotte Kullen, who expressed distress over the noise caused by the parrots. Despite 15 visits from inspectors from the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, no excessive noise was found.
Although Lesser provided letters from her psychiatrist stating her need for the birds for her mental well-being, the Rutherford board initiated eviction proceedings in May 2016. Subsequently, Lesser left and sublet her apartment, filing a fair housing complaint with the Department of Housing and Urban Development in 2018. HUD concluded that there was probable cause to believe the Rutherford had violated Lesser’s fair housing rights.
Instead of settling, the Rutherford proceeded to federal court, leading the Department of Justice to file a lawsuit due to statutory requirements. Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams stated that the consent decree, approved by a federal judge on Aug. 16, signifies the largest recovery by the federal government for an individual with disabilities whose housing provider denied them the right to have an assistance animal.
Williams emphasized that this resolution should prompt all housing providers to review whether their policies comply with federal law. Peter Livingston, the attorney for the Rutherford co-op board, expressed contentment with resolving the case. As per the terms of the agreement, aside from the monetary compensation, the Rutherford must establish a reasonable accommodation policy for assistance animals and allow federal oversight to ensure compliance. Furthermore, they are required to drop the eviction proceedings against Lesser in housing court. Lesser did not respond to attempts to contact her for comments.