A complaint filed by Beck House owner Robert Rosenthall with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development claims city officials are discriminating against him by forcing him to follow the city’s ordinances on restoring historic buildings, and not making white homeowners obey the code.

The complaint dated Oct. 28 was received by the city Monday. It is the latest salvo in the city’s ongoing 12-year battle with Rosenthall to either restore or sell the 139-year-old house at 1011 South St. he has owned since 1989. The house is in the city’s historic district and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

City officials have 20 days to respond to the complaint.

His complaint to HUD is not the first time Rosenthall, who is black, has accused the city of discrimination. In a Sept. 19, 2013, letter to the Board of Mayor and Aldermen, he accused Community Development Director Victor Gray-Lewis of using the city code “to take my property to give my property to a white group.”

In the HUD complaint, Rosenthall accuses the city of “engaging in policies and practices that deny him the same rights as white residents by subjecting him to various maintenance codes with the refurbishment of his home,” and prohibiting him from using materials available at local suppliers.

The complaint centers on his desire to install a metal roof on the Beck House instead of using asphalt shingles, which are allowed as a substitute for the home’s original slate roof. The board in 2013 denied his request to install the roof.

He applied to install the metal roof because it would last longer than a composite roof made of asphalt or fiberglass, which is also approved by the city’s regulations.

He adds, “the white property owner across the street (from his home) was allowed to place a red metal roof in the same district — and at least four other white owners in the same community have metal roofs with no action taken against them.”

The restoration of the homes in Vicksburg’s historic district is governed by city ordinance, which established the historic district and sets the regulations for restoring homes. The ordinance requires homeowners performing restorations to use the same materials originally used in the home’s construction or substitute materials approved by the Board of Architectural Review. Some of the restoration materials are special order pieces that are not available locally.

Peggy Shaeffer, who owns the house with the red metal roof at 1015 South St., said she did not get a permit from the city to install the roof and at one point was told by the city to stop the work. She had the work completed, she said, and was taken to Municipal Court and ordered to pay a fine “of a couple of hundred dollars.” According to the sign in Shaeffer’s yard, the house, known as Corey’s Place, was built in 1886.

No one from the city, she said, told her to remove the roof and replace it with asphalt shingles.

“I can understand his (Rosenthall’s) frustration,” she said. “He wants to put a permanent roof on his house and they won’t let him. It’s expensive to restore these old homes, and when we put money in these homes, it’s an investment. An investment in history.”

The Board of Architectural Review in March 2013 approved a metal roof for Main Street Market, which is in the historic district and owned by board member Betty Bullard, who recused herself from voting.

At the time, the board members said Main Street Market was a different situation because it was a commercial building and the roof was not an element of the building’s overall architecture.

Metal roofs, they said, are allowed on older commercial buildings in the Historic District under the city’s ordinance.

Although the Beck House’s parapet, or balcony area, includes metal, the roof on the Beck House was part of its architecture and had never been metal.

Built in 1875 by former Vicksburg Mayor R.F. Beck, the Beck House had been in disrepair since 2003. City officials condemned the house in early 2012 in an effort to get Rosenthall to begin repairs.

He got a building permit in late December 2012, began repairs, stopped and then resumed work later in 2013.

The Board of Mayor and Aldermen in late 2013 transferred Rosenthall’s case to Community Court, which handles cases involving building code regulations.