North Chelmsford real estate company Prime Properties Inc. and its agent, Joan Eident, are being sued for violating state anti-discrimination law by Attorney General Martha Coakley’s office.

A housing discrimination complaint was filed in Middlesex Superior Court alleging that the defendants refused to rent to a single mother because she has a young child, according to a statement.

"The Commonwealth’s anti-discrimination law prohibits landlords and real estate professionals from refusing to rent to prospective tenants because they have children," Coakley said. "Massachusetts is facing critical housing needs and compliance with these laws is of the upmost importance in ensuring that residents are afforded the fair treatment and equal opportunity that they deserve."

The complaint states that Eident contacted the prospective tenant in October 2009, in response to her phone and e-mail inquiries to an online advertisement for housing in North Chelmsford. The complaint alleges that during a conversation with Eident, the prospective tenant told the agent that she had a young daughter that would be living with her, at which time Eident told her that she could not live in the property because she had a child, according to a statement.