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By Ron Zeitlinger for The Jersey Journal

A cancer survivor who owns a medically prescribed service dog says her rights were violated when a landlord refused to rent an apartment in Secaucus because of a “no-pets” rule, and now the state Division of Civil Rights is allowing the case to move forward.

The Division on Civil Rights announced today it has issued a finding of probable cause against a Hudson County apartment building owner and a real estate agency that listed his rental units for allegedly refusing housing to a Khalill and Jackie Smart of Secaucus.

Khalill and Jackie Smart, a breast cancer patient also diagnosed as having post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of her illness and treatment, were denied when they sought to rent an apartment advertised in December, their complaint says.

Landlord Ray Saoud, who owns the nine-unit apartment building on Maple Street in Secaucus, and Peterson Real Estate, also of Secaucus, which handled the property, were named by the Attorney General’s Office in the complaint.

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