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'Whites Only' Deed Sparks Lawsuit
cbsnews ^ | 4 22 05 | Dionne Walker

Posted on 04/22/2005 10:54:48 PM PDT by freepatriot32

The modest brick house, with its yard full of wilting tulips and rusted old cars, isn't a candidate for the pages of Better Homes and Gardens.

But on a spring day in 2002, it was just what Nealie Pitts had in mind. She approached the owner, Rufus T. Matthews, and asked the price.

According to court documents, Matthews said the house was selling for $83,000 - but that a deed restriction meant only whites were eligible to buy it.

"I was hurt and angry, like he had slapped me in the face," Pitts, who is black, said in an e-mail.

Nearly three years later, the Virginia Office of the Attorney General said it will soon take Matthews to court for the alleged fair housing law violation.

It's a bittersweet victory for fair housing proponents, who wonder how many other people are turned away by racially restrictive deed covenants.

"We very rarely encounter anybody who believes they can be enforced," said Connie Chamberlin, president of Housing Opportunities Made Equal (HOME). "We are aware they're certainly out there."

In milder forms, covenants can be used to control things like the color homeowners can paint their houses.

But in the Jim Crow South, they were often used to keep neighborhoods white. Racially restrictive covenants were ruled illegal by the Supreme Court in 1948.

"Many people don't even know they're in their deeds," Chamberlin said, adding would-be homebuyers can ask to have the racist language removed. "That can't be used as a reason to stop a sale."

According to court documents, Matthews told Pitts his house in suburban Richmond was "not for colored. We decided we are going to keep this area right here all white."

The next day she contacted HOME, which sent out a black test buyer.

"Precisely the same thing happened," Chamberlin said. "We have it on tape."

On Thursday, Matthews told The Associated Press that he would sell his home only to a white buyer. But he denied the house was for sale, saying a sale sign he had was for items in his yard. "The house has never been for sale," he said.

Matthews is accused of violating the Virginia Fair Housing Law. The same code says officials can attempt an out-of-court settlement in cases where the law has been violated.

At an April 13 meeting, the Virginia Fair Housing Board rejected a settlement offer. Board Chairman David Rubinstein declined to detail why it refused the proposal from the attorney general's office.

But Thomas Wolf, an attorney representing Pitts, said the offer would have required Matthews take two hours of class on fair housing law, at taxpayer expense.

"That is not a serious settlement proposal given the facts of the case," Wolf said. "Were they planning to pass out Happy Meals with little Confederate flags?"

Emily Lucier, a spokeswoman for Attorney General Judith Williams Jagdmann, could not explain how the proposal was formulated, but said settlement is not unheard of in discrimination cases.

Pitts is seeking $100,000 in damages in a separate case against Matthews. Lucier said because Pitts has gotten her own lawyer, the office cannot legally seek monetary damages in the civil matter.

Instead, she said, the office will continue pressing for injunctive relief and education. A court date has not been set


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Editorial; Extended News; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events; Philosophy; US: Virginia
KEYWORDS: afrocentricity; attorneygeneral; constitutionlist; culturewar; deed; dixie; dixielist; fakehatecrimes; govwatch; housing; kkk; lawnhockies; lawsuit; libertarians; only; porchswingers; propertyrights; skinhead; sparks; virginia; whites
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To: EveningStar
IIRC, SCOTUS ruled the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to be Constitutional. If that's the case, then it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks.

It most certainly does matter, especially if a political movement is being defined. The Supreme Court has indirectly reversed itself many times by approaching issues with previously unused arguments and questions.

161 posted on 04/23/2005 4:36:26 PM PDT by jackbob
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To: EveningStar
IIRC, SCOTUS ruled the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to be Constitutional. If that's the case, then it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks.

It most certainly does matter, especially if a political movement is being defined. The Supreme Court has indirectly reversed itself many times by approaching issues with previously unused arguments and questions.

162 posted on 04/23/2005 4:36:48 PM PDT by jackbob
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Comment #163 Removed by Moderator

To: freepatriot32

I see the professional troublemakers are thawing out...


164 posted on 04/23/2005 4:53:05 PM PDT by Old Professer (As darkness is the absence of light, evil is the absence of good; innocence is blind.)
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To: CurlyBill

"You're right, but it wouldn't be a news item... and there would be no condemnation of the person who inserted the clause."

Actually your wrong.

All such covenants are unenforceable, and the attempt to enforce any such racial make up in a community is a violation of fair housing law.

IT'S ALSO STUPID TO DO SO.

If your attempting to sell a home, a seller (with any common sense) wants the greatest number of buyers possibe.

The more buyers (demand) = the greater the price.

Any seller who doesn't get that is dumb as a rock.


165 posted on 04/23/2005 4:54:35 PM PDT by rwilson99 (South Park (R)
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To: seacapn

Oh, about the same kind that would ask a court to make a guy sell a house he does't want to sell...


166 posted on 04/23/2005 4:54:40 PM PDT by Old Professer (As darkness is the absence of light, evil is the absence of good; innocence is blind.)
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To: beaver fever

"My suspicions aren't about race but money. Why are a rich couple going door to door trying to buy property in a poor neighborhood? "

Could they be... investors?


167 posted on 04/23/2005 4:55:49 PM PDT by rwilson99 (South Park (R)
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To: thirst4truth

"The National Association of Realtors has over a million members, it is the biggest non union trade organization in the nation. They fight everyday for our private property rights, and monitor legislation to protect land owners rights."

Please God. Do not speak for Realtors, and try to make this a property rights issue.

The fair housing law in play dates back to the Civil War.


168 posted on 04/23/2005 4:57:16 PM PDT by rwilson99 (South Park (R)
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To: seacapn
Oh, about the same kind that would ask a court to make a guy sell a house he does't want to sell...

"On Thursday, Matthews told The Associated Press that he would sell his home only to a white buyer. But he denied the house was for sale, saying a sale sign he had was for items in his yard. "

169 posted on 04/23/2005 4:58:38 PM PDT by Old Professer (As darkness is the absence of light, evil is the absence of good; innocence is blind.)
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To: freepatriot32
OOOooooOOOOooooo, a LAWSUIT!!! It looks like someone found their "winning lottery ticket."
170 posted on 04/23/2005 4:59:53 PM PDT by bannie (The government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend upon the support of Paul.)
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To: Regulator
I don't think that statement is correct. Individual foreigners and foreign-based corporations are always buying, inhabiting, using, and selling property within the U.S. It's called 'freedom.'
171 posted on 04/23/2005 5:07:41 PM PDT by Cultural Jihad
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To: freepatriot32

ping for later


172 posted on 04/23/2005 5:54:39 PM PDT by HolgerDansk ("Oh Bother", said Pooh, as he chambered another round.)
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To: RicocheT
She should be allowed to buy his house but she's not entitled to any of his money.If he is breaking the law with his racist beliefs then he should be punished by the law.He's a bigot but her lawsuit makes her look greedy in my opinion.
173 posted on 04/23/2005 6:09:34 PM PDT by rdcorso (The Democratic Party Has Become An Abomination)
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To: rdb3
Witness the infestation, my friend.

And people get surprised when racial slurs and offensive photos like the idiot this past week show up on FR.

174 posted on 04/23/2005 6:18:37 PM PDT by mhking (I have my towel. Do you have yours?)
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To: mhking
And people get surprised when racial slurs and offensive photos like the idiot this past week show up on FR.

Indeed. And I'm not attempting to be facetious when I use the term "infestation." We know where it's coming from, although they appear to be far more slick than anyone anticipated.

Hiding in plain sight, really.


175 posted on 04/23/2005 6:37:36 PM PDT by rdb3 (To the world, you're one person. To one person, you may be the world.)
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To: staytrue; .45MAN; cyborg
A little racism is no big deal.

This is why most of the good people are leaving FR.

176 posted on 04/23/2005 7:02:00 PM PDT by Hildy
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To: staytrue

What tribe are you with?


177 posted on 04/23/2005 7:05:26 PM PDT by dennisw ("Sursum corda")
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To: ClintonBeGone

I'd much rather any civil penalty be paid to Pitts than to the bureaucracy.


178 posted on 04/23/2005 7:17:46 PM PDT by drlevy88
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To: Dan Evans

Ridiculous, though she probably would have done better to socialize her desires by word of mouth at several local churches.


179 posted on 04/23/2005 7:21:33 PM PDT by drlevy88
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To: drlevy88
I'd much rather any civil penalty be paid to Pitts than to the bureaucracy.

Why should he be rewarded?

180 posted on 04/23/2005 7:22:00 PM PDT by ClintonBeGone (Malvone = MMP)
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