Réza Amiryavari

The state alleged Amiryavari discriminated by questioning a Hispanic tester about his finances and requiring him to obtain a mortgage preapproval and sign an exclusive buyer’s agreement, but not requiring the same of a white tester, the administrative law judge's ruling shows. Amiryavari testified that the differences were related to his perception that the white tester appeared to be more motivated and knowledgeable about home-buying. The state also charged that he warned the white tester to avoid Elmont, a predominantly non-white area, and instead recommended areas with more predominantly white populations, such as Franklin Square and East Meadow. Amiryavari said he made those recommendations because the white tester said his wife worked at Nassau Community College. The administrative law judge found there was “no evidence" Amiryavari steered the testers to different areas based on their race. However, the judge ruled Amiryavari engaged in "unlawful discriminatory conduct" for imposing different requirements on the two testers and showed incompetency by discussing school ratings, which the judge wrote are a proxy for a neighborhood’s demographic makeup. He also found the agent did not meet continuing education requirements. Amiryavari did not respond to requests for comment.