Only on 11

05:20 PM EDT on Friday, July 22, 2005

When Delvin and Corez Logan found a house for rent in the classifieds, they believed it was an answer to their prayers -- until the Logans found out the owner would not rent to them because they are black.

The Logans and their two children were desperate to move from their crime-filled neighborhood in Louisville. So Delvin wasted no time calling on owner Arthur Moody.

The house on Bonaventure Boulevard in Okolona, across from an elementary school, seemed like a perfect fit.

“We were looking for a place where our kids could feel a little bit safer,” says Delvin.

Moody, a former public school principal and teacher, owns ten houses on this block. In April, Logan recorded a phone conversation. It followed a prior conversation he had with Moody.

Moody: I rent these ten houses and I reserve three for blacks and seven for whites.

Logan: Three for blacks and seven for whites.

Moody was a principal at Cane Run Road Elementary for 20 years, retiring in 1989. He told Logan he does not discriminate. Instead, Moody claims he follows the same formula the school system does -- hiring black and white teachers based on percentages.

Moody: I keep a quota, pretty much.

Logan: You keep a quota?

Moody: Of blacks and whites… Doesn't get overdone in one way or another.

Moody was not at home. When asked if her husband was a racist, his wife Shirley told WHAS11 News: “Of course not. He was the principal at Cane Run Elementary… He thought by having his rental property that the same type of percentage, they would not have to bus the kids. It’s logic.”

The Moodys say they believe in diversifying neighborhoods, but on their own block here in Okolona, it’s 100 percent white.

Zager: Is he aware that this is a violation of federal law?

Moody: Well, he is now. But who knew?

“What we have here is someone claiming, speciously I think, to maintaining a diverse neighborhood by limiting the number of African American families he will allow to move in,” says Fair Housing Council Executive Director Tony Baize.

Logan: So that means you won't let me rent 3726?

Moody: Well, if you are a black person, I would like to reserve that or keep that quota going.

“I was overwhelmed by that,” Corez Logan says. “I didn't think people thought like that any more.”

Louisville's Human Relations Commission is investigating Moody and his company, Bonaventure Realty, but it declined comment. The Logans say there is nothing Moody can do to make it right.

“This is the first time I have ever been discriminated against before in my life, so it was really devastating,” says Delvin.

Web story produced by Jay Ditzer.