11/27/2020

The Elizabeth landlord who has been sued by the Department of Justice for allegedly “demanding” sexual favors from tenants in exchange to assist them with obtaining housing has discussed settling the case, according to court documents.

Joseph Centanni, 73, of Mountainside, has had settlement discussions with federal authorities after they sued him for violating the Fair Housing Act in August for allegedly sexually harassing tenants from at least 2005 to 2019, according to documents filed in federal court Monday.

To read the full article, click here

11/27/2020

A Cincinnati landlord was indicted federally in 2018 on accusations of offering tenants free rent for sex and subjecting them to "severe, pervasive and unwelcome sexual harassment." That case was nearing an end in U.S. District Court this month, but the defendant, John Klosterman, 70, was arrested Tuesday and charged with menacing by stalking in a new case involving a tenant.

To read full article in the Cincinnati Enquirer, click here

8/25/2020

"The U.S. Justice Department filed a lawsuit against a New Jersey landlord Wednesday alleging the man, who owns hundreds of rental units in and around Elizabeth, sexually harassed tenants and applicants, including demanding sexual favors in exchange for housing, for more than a decade."

To read the full article, click here

8/25/2020

"Landlord Joseph Centanni, who received $100,000 in federal payments each month, threatened to evict tenants who didn't submit to his sexual demands, the Justice Department alleges."

To read the full NBC News Article, click here

7/28/2020

"Rule upholds Department’s commitment to fair treatment of all individuals while allowing shelter providers to establish an admissions policy that best serves their unique communities"

WASHINGTON - U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson today announced a proposed modification to the 2016 portion of the Equal Access rule. The Equal Access rule requires all HUD funded housing services to be provided without discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

To read HUD announcement in full, click here

7/28/2020

"The proposed modification would turn away people whose gender identity does not match their biological sex"

"On Wednesday, [July 1, 2020] the Department of Urban Housing and Development proposed a modification that would allow homeless shelters to deny transgender people access to single-sex shelters of their gender identity.

This modification to the 2016 portion of the Equal Access rule “requires all HUD-funded housing services to be provided without discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity,” a statement from HUD said."

To read the full HousingWire article, click here

7/28/2020

“The rank cruelty of this proposed rule is a new low for this administration which continues its relentless attack on … transgender people.”

"July 24, 2020

(Washington, DC, July 24, 2020) – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today unveiled a proposed new rule that would empower federally funded emergency single-sex homeless shelters to turn away people seeking emergency housing based on the subjective determination of shelter staff about whether the person before them appears sufficiently masculine or feminine to be housed in that facility. The rule was published in the Federal Register today."

To read the full Lambda Legal article, click here

7/28/2020

'The Trump administration announced a proposal on Wednesday to allow federally-funded housing services to turn away individuals whose gender identity does not match the sex they were assigned at birth. The proposed rule, according to Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, would "better accommodate religious beliefs of shelter providers."

To read the full CBS News article, click here

6/23/2020

Actress and activist Suzzanne Douglas interviews three courageous women who share their moving stories about sexual harassment in housing situations---and how they fought back. The stories range from a landlord groping a prospective tenant to a tenant being threatened with eviction if she didn’t have sex with the property manager. Learn how the Fair Housing Act protects you from sexual harassment in housing situations.

To Listen to the HUD podcasts, click here: Safe at Home Podcasts

4/22/2020

"Some landlords are taking advantage of the coronavirus outbreak, soliciting sexual favors in lieu of rent payments from economically vulnerable tenants, according to advocates.

Khara Jabola-Carolus, executive director of the Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women, said her office has received more reports of landlords sexually harassing their tenants in the last two weeks than it had in the two years since she started working there, including cases of landlords offering to move in with tenants and sending sexually explicit photos to them after they communicated concerns about paying April rent.

While the number of cases wasn't necessarily astronomical — the commission received 10 reports about nine landlords — Jabola-Carolus said they were especially notable given such cases go "vastly underreported."

to read full article, click here

4/22/2020

"Some disgusting US landlords are taking advantage of the coronavirus crisis by trying to coerce their cash-strapped tenants into “sex-for-rent” agreements, according to a disturbing new report.

In Hawaii, the state’s Commission on the Status of Women has seen 10 complaints of sexual harassment by landlords since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, BuzzFeed News reported.

“We’ve received more cases at our office in the last two days than we have in the last two years,” Khara Jabola-Carolus, the executive director of the commission, told the outlet last week.

In the Chicago area, Sheryl Ring, the legal director at Open Communities, a legal aid and fair housing agency, said that her organization has seen a threefold increase in housing-related sexual harassment complaints over the past month."

to read full article, click here

4/22/2020

Advocates say they have seen a spike in reports of landlords soliciting sex in exchange for rent from vulnerable tenants, NBC News reports.

The spike in solicitation comes as unemployment has climbed to more than 22 million in the span of just four weeks since businesses began shutting their doors during the coronavirus pandemic. The massive unemployment spike has nearly wiped out the 22.4 million jobs created in the 11-year recovery that followed the last recession in 2009.

to read the full article, click here

4/17/2020

Amber JamiesonBuzzFeed News Reporter

Posted on April 15, 2020, at 6:01 p.m. ET

“We’ve received more cases at our office in the last two days than we have in the last two years,” one women's advocate told BuzzFeed News

To read the full article, click here

4/16/2020

"This week, Hawaiʻi observed an increase in reports of landlords on multiple islands pressuring “arrangements” and sexual conduct from women unable to pay rent due to lost income from the COVID-19 crisis. This tells us that there is likely an increase in unreported incidents.

Landlord sexploitation is the latest byproduct of the pandemic. This is because the responses to COVID-19 — fast and furious in some states, and, in others, molasses slow — all failed to factor in gender and the “non-crisis” reality of male violence waiting around every corner for women, femme identified and non-binary people."

written by:

Khara Jabola-Carolus

Read the full article by clicking here

4/16/2020

Sexual harassment in housing is illegal. If you or someone you know has been a victim, please call 1-844-380-6178 or email fairhousing@usdoj.gov

https://www.justice.gov/crt/sexual-harassment-housing-initiative-how-report

El Departamento de Justicia lanza una campaña de concientización pública con víctimas de acoso sexual en vivienda.

El acoso sexual en la vivienda es ilegal. Si usted o alguien que conoce ha sido víctima, por favor llame al 1-844-380-6178 o envíe un correo electrónico a fairhousing@usdoj.gov   

https://www.justice.gov/crt-espanol/iniciativa-en-contra-del-acoso-sexual-en-la-vivienda-c-mo-presentar-una-denuncia

To View the Full 30 sec. PSA, click here

4/16/2020

This video explains how DOJ may be able to help if you or someone you know has been sexually harassed by a landlord, property manager, maintenance worker, or someone else with control over housing.  You will hear from people who have experienced sexual harassment about what that experience was like, as well as what it was like to report the harassment and work with DOJ.  You will also hear from a DOJ official about how DOJ may be able to help and some other resources that you may want to consider.

Sexual harassment in housing is illegal. If you or someone you know has been a victim, please call 1-844-380-6178 or email fairhousing@usdoj.gov

https://www.justice.gov/crt/sexual-harassment-housing-initiative-how-report

Click here to view the full video

4/16/2020

"Happy Fair Housing Month!
This year’s commemoration occurs at a time when a global pandemic is threatening the health of millions and dramatically changing the fundamental ways in which we socialize, travel, shop, even attend school. And there’s no quick end to it in sight, so please continue doing all you can to keep yourselves and your families safe."

To read the full statement, please click the following title: Hud Assistant Secretary For Fair Housing And Equal Opportunity Fair Housing Month Message

2/04/2020

The Department of Justice announced today that Thong Cao and his wife, Mai Cao, will be obligated to pay $160,000 in damages and civil penalties to resolve a Fair Housing Act lawsuit alleging that Thong Cao sexually harassed numerous female tenants since at least 2009 at residential properties he owned or operated in Wichita, Kansas. Mai Cao is named as a defendant in this lawsuit because she owned or co-owned certain rental properties at which harassment took place.

Click here to read the DOJ news on this case

11/04/2019

Justice Department Launches Public Awareness Campaign with Victims of Sexual Harassment in Housing.

Sexual harassment in housing is illegal. If you or someone you know has been a victim, please call 1-844-380-6178 or email fairhousing@usdoj.gov
https://www.justice.gov/crt/sexual-harassment-housing-initiative-how-report

El Departamento de Justicia lanza una campaña de concientización pública con víctimas de acoso sexual en vivienda.

El acoso sexual en la vivienda es ilegal. Si usted o alguien que conoce ha sido víctima, por favor llame al 1-844-380-6178 o envíe un correo electrónico a fairhousing@usdoj.gov   
https://www.justice.gov/crt-espanol/iniciativa-en-contra-del-acoso-sexual-en-la-vivienda-c-mo-presentar-una-denuncia

Click here to see: Sexual Harassment in Housing--Public Service Announcement

11/04/2019

This video explains how DOJ may be able to help if you or someone you know has been sexually harassed by a landlord, property manager, maintenance worker, or someone else with control over housing.  You will hear from people who have experienced sexual harassment about what that experience was like, as well as what it was like to report the harassment and work with DOJ.  You will also hear from a DOJ official about how DOJ may be able to help and some other resources that you may want to consider.

Sexual harassment in housing is illegal. If you or someone you know has been a victim, please call 1-844-380-6178 or email fairhousing@usdoj.gov
https://www.justice.gov/crt/sexual-harassment-housing-initiative-how-report

Click here to view: Working with DOJ to Stop Sexual Harassment in Housing

8/28/2019

Robert N. Hatfield rented, sold, and financed homes in Wilkes County, North Carolina. DOJ received reports that he made unwelcome sexual comments to female applicants and tenants, groped female applicants and tenants, offered to reduce or eliminate payments in exchange for sexual acts, and took or threatened to take away housing benefits from residents who rejected his advances. DOJ filed a lawsuit on July 13, 2017 against him. He settled the case on April 12, 2019. The settlement prohibits Hatfield from renting, selling, or financing residential properties, and requires him to pay $550,000 to 17 residents and applicants he harassed.

Click here to read additional recent cases

8/08/2019

HUD conducts Round Table Forums and pursuits cases of Sexual Harassment in Housing.

Click here to read more about recent DOJ cases and sexual harassment in housing

8/08/2019

"The Justice Department today announced the one-year anniversary of its initiative to combat sexual harassment in housing. Since its launch in October 2017 and nationwide expansion in April 2018, the Department has seen a major upswing in both reporting and enforcement. Over the past year, the Department has:

• Opened 34 new sexual harassment matters. This is more than any previous year and nearly five times the number of matters opened in the prior year."

Click here to read the DOJ press release on sex discrimination cases

8/08/2019

Bringing Sexual Harassment in Housing Out from Behind Closed Doors

BY CHRISTINA COLÓN

"During Frank Tenuta’s 33-year tenure as an attorney, he’s heard various versions of how it begins.

“I was in the shower and all of a sudden I heard my landlord out there saying, ‘Hey, anybody here? I knocked and nobody answered so I just came in.’”

Tenuta’s first case of sexual harassment in housing occurred in the mid-to-late 1980s. The woman was behind on her rent. The landlord said he would look the other way if she performed sexual favors."

Click here to read Sojourner's article on sexual harassment in housing

5/30/2019

"This page contains links that will help you understand what sexual harassment in housing looks like and how it violates the Fair Housing Act. The links will also identify ways to prevent and eliminate sexual harassment when it occurs."

Click here to go to HUD's training Page

5/30/2019

We invite you to read the fact sheets, view the videos, and complete the training module 

Click here to learn more about HUD's Sexual Harassment Prevention Training Initiative

5/30/2019

This year [2019], throughout the month of April, the “Humans of HUD” photoblog will feature victims of sexual harassment in housing, highlighting the personal testimonies of survivors and those who helped them. 

Click here to view Humans of HUD photo blog

5/30/2019

"Raquel Hubbard-Hall lived in fear of her landlord, who stalked her inside her home.

Walter Ray Pelfrey would repeatedly show up to fix appliances that weren’t broken, and, once inside the Oklahoma City home Ms. Hubbard-Hall shared with three young children, he would make lewd remarks and sexual advances."

Click here to read the Washington Times Article

4/01/2019

highlight ABC Nightline's recent story: Uncovering Rampant Sexual Harassment in Housing Systems, which features women who share their stories of abuse and the impact the experience had on their lives, as well as how HUD and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) helped them to obtain the justice they deserved, and in one case, a $2.7 million settlement. 

Click here for ABC News article: Uncovering rampant sexual harassment in housing

3/05/2019

"Encontrar vivienda puede ser estresante, sobretodo si su presupuesto es ajustado, está solo y no cuenta con muchas opciones. Y cuando alguien que le ofrece un lugar para vivir lo acosa sexualmente, esto lo puede dejar sintiéndose inseguro y humillado."

Haga clic aquí para leer el artículo: Cómo luchar contra el acoso sexual en la vivienda

3/05/2019

"Finding housing can be stressful, especially if money’s tight, you’re on your own, and you don’t have a lot of options. And when someone who can grant you a place to live sexually harasses you, it can leave you feeling unsafe and humiliated."

Click here to read the article: Fighting Back Against Sexual Harassment in Housing

3/05/2019

The Justice Department today [Wednesday, July 1, 2015] announced that Southeastern Community and Family Services Inc. (SCFS), a public housing agency that administers the Section 8 voucher program in Scotland County, North Carolina, and two of SCFS’ former employees have agreed to pay more than $2.7 million in monetary damages and civil penalties to settle consolidated Fair Housing Act lawsuits brought by the Justice Department and private plaintiffs.  SCFS was formerly known as Four-County Community Services Inc. 

Click here to read the DOJ Charges against Scotland County, North Carolina Housign Authority

3/05/2019

"This action was filed on October 26, 2015 by the United States to enforce Title
VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, as amended by the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988 (“Fair Housing Act”), 42 U.S.C. §§ 3601-3631."

Click here to read the Settlement Agreement US v Kansas City Kansas Housing Authority

3/05/2019

"The Justice Department today [Friday, September 29, 2017] announced that the Kansas City, Kansas, Housing Authority (KCKHA) and three of its former employees have agreed to pay $365,000 to resolve a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by the department in 2015.  So far this year, the Justice Department has filed or settled four cases alleging unlawful sexual harassment of women in housing."

Click here to read the DOJ charges

3/05/2019

For Autumn Weaver, having a home meant everything.

"It was my independence," Weaver, 33, said. "It was me finally being able to do it on my own without any help."

Click here to read the ABC News article: Uncovering rampant sexual harassment in housing

3/05/2019

ABC News  video Published on Feb 26, 2019

Khristen Sellers went to court after she says she was solicited for sex by a man who had the power to evict her - and dozens of other women with alarmingly similar stories came forward.

Click here to view the YouTube video (9 min 43 sec.)

11/16/2018

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today charged Chad David Ables, the owner of a mobile home park in Lexington, TN, with discrimination for allegedly pressuring two female tenants, a same-sex couple, to perform sexual favors for him instead of paying rent. 

Click here to read the HUD Press release and charges.

9/24/2018

PHOTO: Charlie Craig and David Mullins at their suburban Westminster, Colorado home in 2014. Brennan Linsley/AP

Many Americans still associate LGBTQ life with urban “gayborhoods.” But the Masterpiece Cakeshop case highlights how sexual diversity in suburbia is growing.

Click here to read the full article

9/14/2018

“St. Andrew agrees that our ruling in Hively v. Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana, 853 F.3d 339 (7th Cir. 2017) (en banc), holding that discrimination based on sexual orientation qualifies as discrimination based on sex under Title VII, applies with equal force under the FHA.”

Click here to read the Seventh District Court decision

9/14/2018

The decision issued Monday is an important step forward in clarifying fair housing protections for LGBTQ people.

Click here to read the Rewire news article

8/13/2018

[Photo]This woman says employees of a North Carolina housing agency assaulted her. She did not want her face shown. Photo by Jessica Lussenhop for the BBCSexual harassment is a topic that’s not often addressed in the community development field, but it should be.

Staci Berger was revolted when she read Jessica Lussenhop’s account of women who were sexually harassed, threatened, and assaulted at the hands of employees of a nonprofit housing agency in North Carolina. “It was like a kick in the gut just to read it,” recalls Berger, who is the executive director of the Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey. When a predator “has a key to your house, the place that’s supposed to be most safe . . . It’s just evil.”

Click here to read the Shelter force article

8/13/2018

Across the U.S., sexual harassment and assault at the hands of landlords, property managers, and others in the housing industry can drive poor women and their children into homelessness. It is a problem badly understood and virtually unstudied.

Click here to read the Shelterforce article

7/27/2018

Click here to read the full Newsweek article

7/27/2018

Click here to read and/or download the lawsuit

7/27/2018

ST. LOUIS • A St. Louis County senior community has denied housing to a married lesbian couple who have been together for nearly four decades because of the couple’s sexual orientation, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court.

Mary Walsh, 72, and Bev Nance, 68, both of Shrewsbury, say the Friendship Village senior living community, which has locations in Sunset Hills and Chesterfield, denied occupancy to them to live at the Sunset Hills community in 2016 because their relationship violated its cohabitation policy that defines marriage as “the union of one man and one woman, as marriage is understood in the Bible,” according to the lawsuit.

The case may mark the latest front-line legal clash in deciding questions of sex discrimination and religious freedoms, legal observers say.

Click here to read the full article

7/23/2018

The Department of Justice today announced the release of a public service announcement (PSA) aimed at raising awareness and reaching victims of sexual harassment in housing. To enhance the effectiveness of the campaign, the Department has enlisted the assistance of victims to share their experiences and help convey the message that sexual harassment in housing is a violation of civil rights.

Click here to view the DOJ PSA video

7/09/2018

The Justice Department has filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against the owner of a Cullman rental property alleging his actions violated the Fair Housing Act, the Department announced Monday [July 9, 2018].

The Department names Randy Hames and his rental property company, Hames Marina, LLC as defendants in the lawsuit.

Click here to read the Alabama Local article.

6/18/2018

Fifty years ago this year, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Fair Housing Act into law. The act bans discrimination in housing based on race, religion, national origin, sex, disability and family status. The president noted that the Fair Housing Act “Proclaims that fair housing for all — all human beings who live in this country — is now a part of the American way of life.” Unfortunately for some, this ideal has fallen short. 

click here to read the Detroit News article

6/05/2018

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced it is recognizing the 50th anniversary of the Fair Housing Act with its new initiative to increase awareness and reporting of sexual harassment in housing.

The new initiative with the U.S. Department of Justice, announced by HUD Secretary Ben Carson and Attorney General Jeff Sessions, will create an interagency task force to combat sexual harassment in housing. It also includes an outreach toolkit and a public awareness campaign.

To read Housing Wire's full article click here

6/05/2018

Photo credit: Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group
While the #MeToo movement has shed light on workplace sexual harassment in California’s technology sector, entertainment industry, politics and beyond, little attention is paid to the same abuses between landlords and tenants. But tenants-rights lawyers say the harassment Bay Area women are reporting — from unwanted touching to offers of free rent in exchange for sex — is particularly chilling because it involves someone with keys to the victim’s home and the power to take that home away. And with local rent prices soaring, many women can’t put an end to the harassment by moving out, because they can’t afford to live anywhere else.

Click here to read the Mercury News article

5/08/2018

WASHINGTON - Today, [April 30, 2018] the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced three settlements of claims involving allegations of sexual harassment totaling approximately $125,000 in relief for complainants.

Click here to read HUD's press release

4/23/2018

Photo by Lum3n.com from Pexels

Today, [Tuesday, April 12, 2018] as the Department of Justice recognizes the 50th Anniversary of the Fair Housing Act, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the nationwide rollout of an initiative aimed at increasing awareness and reporting of sexual harassment in housing. The announcement includes an interagency task force between the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Justice Department to combat sexual harassment in housing, an outreach toolkit, and a public awareness campaign. This three-pronged approach will strengthen the Department’s efforts to combat sexual harassment in housing.

Click here to read more from the DOJ

4/18/2018

Photo by Chris Schippers from Pexels

The Justice Department announced today [April 11, 2018] that it has filed a lawsuit alleging that Douglas S. Waterbury, a residential property owner and landlord in the Oswego, New York, area subjected female tenants and potential tenants to egregious sexual harassment in violation of the Fair Housing Act.  Along with Douglas Waterbury, the Department’s complaint names his wife and business partner, Carol A. Waterbury, and two residential property companies, Ontario Realty Inc. and E&A Management Co., as defendants. 

Click here to read the DOJ Press release

4/16/2018

In 1982, Tammy Shellhammer, a young white woman, walked into the Toledo Fair Housing office because she felt she was the victim of discrimination by her landlord, Norman Lewallen. In their interactions, Lewallen was sexually aggressive with her and had begun to demand that she pose for nude photos, perform oral sex, or have intercourse with him. When she repeatedly refused, Lewallen evicted Tammy and her husband. Tammy suspected she was not the only woman in the building who had been harassed, but worried no one would come forward to fear of losing their place to live. 

Click here to read the full story

3/29/2018

Click here to view or listen to the news broadcast

3/22/2018

In October [2017], the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division announced the Sexual Harassment in Housing Initiative (SHHI). The initiative specifically seeks to increase the Department’s efforts to protect individuals from harassment by landlords, property managers, maintenance workers, security guards, and other employees and representatives of rental property owners.  In 2017, the Justice Department recovered more than $1 million in damages for harassment victims.

Click here for more about the DOJ Sexual Harassment in Housing Initiative

Click here for DOJ Press Releases & Recent Cases regarding SHHI

3/22/2018

The Justice Department today announced a settlement with two St. Louis landlords, Hezekiah and Jameseva Webb, to resolve a lawsuit alleging that they violated the Fair Housing Act by subjecting fifteen female tenants in their rental properties to sexual harassment over the course of two decades.

In October, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division announced the Sexual Harassment in Housing Initiative (SHHI). The initiative specifically seeks to increase the Department’s efforts to protect individuals from harassment by landlords, property managers, maintenance workers, security guards, and other employees and representatives of rental property owners.  In 2017, the Justice Department recovered more than $1 million in damages for harassment victims. This is the first settlement announcement in 2018.

Click here to read DOJ's announcement

Click here to read the Settlement Agreement

3/16/2018

By MICHAEL TARM, AP Legal Writer

A court has heard oral arguments in a 70-year-old's potentially landmark case alleging a Chicago-area senior living center did nothing to stop residents from hurling slurs and spitting on her because of her sexual orientation.

Click here to read the full article

3/16/2018

An April [2017] decision by a Colorado U.S. district court judge extended the Fair Housing Act (FHA) to include prohibiting discrimination against gays, lesbians and transgender people, mirroring a landmark ruling in Chicago's Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals regarding discrimination.

by Kacie Whaley | Jun. 5, 2017, 12:29pm

Click here to read the full article

1/18/2018

By Jessica Lussenhop BBC News, North Carolina,11 January 2018

"Across the US, sexual harassment at the hands of landlords, property managers and others in the housing industry can drive poor women and their children into homelessness. It is a problem badly understood and virtually unstudied."

 Click here to read the full article.

12/11/2017

Today, the Metropolitan Fair Housing Council of Oklahoma, Inc. (MFHC, Inc.) announced a settlement of $800,000 of a sexual harassment lawsuit by a Consent Decree, signed by the Honorable Chief Judge Joe Heaton, United States District Court of the Western District of Oklahoma on December 7, 2017. 
Click here to read the press release.. 
Click here to read the consent decree and complaint.

12/04/2017

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced today it is charging the owner and landlord of several rental properties in Wichita, Kansas, and his wife, who co-owned one of the properties, with housing discrimination after the landlord allegedly sexually harassed two female tenants at his properties. HUD’s charge further alleges that he also made discriminatory statements based on one of the women’s race.  Click here to read HUD's press release..

11/17/2017

U.S. District Judge Raymond P. Moore concluded that the FHA’s ban on sex discrimination prohibited discrimination against a same-sex couple, one of whom is trans. His decision marks the first time a federal court has applied the FHA to anti-LGBTQ discrimination.

Click here to read the full article.

11/06/2017

Under the Fair Housing Act, sexual harassment and abuse in housing is illegal. But many women don’t know that’s the case — and so never report it. That’s where a new Department of Justice initiative comes in. Earlier this month, the department’s civil rights division launched a program to encourage more women to report harassment and abuse from landlords, property managers, and other rental property staff, and created a new reporting pipeline that brings local law enforcement together with Justice Department officials.

Click here to read the full interview.

10/31/2017

The Justice Department today announced a new initiative to combat sexual harassment in housing.  The initiative specifically seeks to increase the Department’s efforts to protect women from harassment by landlords, property managers, maintenance workers, security guards, and other employees and representatives of rental property owners.

The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division enforces the Fair Housing Act, which prohibits discrimination in housing on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, familial status, national origin, and disability.  Sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination prohibited under this law. 

Click here to read the full article.

10/24/2016

WASHINGTON – When a home is a place of violence, residents are vulnerable to losing their housing through eviction, coercion, or abuse.  Today, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development finalized a new rule to protect the housing of survivors of domestic and dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking.

Click here to read the full article.

9/13/2016

HUD published a final rule formalizing legal standards under the Fair Housing Act for sexual and other forms of harassment in housing. In addition, HUD is issuing Fair Housing Act guidance on local “nuisance ordinances” that may lead to housing discrimination against survivors of domestic violence and other persons in need of emergency services.

HUD is issuing its Nuisance Guidance as the country marks the 22nd anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). Through the VAWA 2013 reauthorization, protections have been expanded to nearly all HUD programs. Previously, only residents of public housing and Section 8 tenant-based and project-based programs were covered.

Click here to read full article