The San Francisco Jewish Community Relations Council reported today it was investigating charges by a Jewish apartment hunter who said she had been told to her face by an apartment owner that Jews were not wanted in the building.
The complainant said she had called on the managing owner of a six-story apartment building to rent a vacant apartment and that at the outset, she had been asked if she was Jewish. When she said she was, the apartment owner declared “No Jews are going to live here.” The amazed applicant told the owner that she knew of several Jewish families living in the building. The owner said that when they vacated their apartments, the units would not be rented to Jews.
The Jewish applicant then asked “What have you got against Jews?” and the reply was “they cook smelly fish.” That statement ended the interview. The woman reported the matter to the JCRC which immediately notified the State Fair Employment Practices Commission which enforces the Rumford Fair Housing Law. However, it was found that the complainant had waited past the 60-day statute of limitations provided in the Rumford law. The JCRC said the case was being investigated “vigorously” also through other channels.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
