A Michigan landlord, Mohamad Hussein, has agreed to pay $185,000 in damages and a civil penalty to the government to resolve the Fair Housing Act (FHA) lawsuit concerning Hussein’s sexual harassment of actual and prospective female tenants, according to a release from the U.S. Department of Justice.
Hussein has owned and managed more than 15 rental properties in and around Dearborn Heights, Michigan, since 2013.
The Justice Department said Hussein will pay $185,000 in damages to eight former and prospective female tenants harmed by the harassment and a civil penalty to the United States under the terms of the proposed consent decree, approved by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
“Hussein will be required to take steps to vacate any retaliatory eviction judgments obtained against these tenants. He will be permanently enjoined from personally managing rental properties in the future and will be required to retain an independent property manager to manage any rental properties he owns.
“Finally, the consent decree will require Hussein to implement non-discrimination policies and complaint procedures to prevent sexual harassment at his properties in the future and to take fair-housing training,” according to the release.
The complaint alleges that Hussein made unwelcome sexual comments and advances, and offered actual and prospective female tenants housing-related benefits in exchange for engaging in sex acts with him or sending him sexually explicit images. According to the complaint, many of these instances took place in the spring of 2020, during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, when it was difficult to secure housing in Michigan. The complaint also alleges that Hussein sent sexually explicit images of himself to prospective female tenants.
“No one should be denied the right to housing because they refuse to submit to a landlord’s sexual demands,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Justice Department is committed to vigorously enforcing the Fair Housing Act and seeking justice for those sexually harassed by landlords and other housing providers.”
Landlords Ordered To Pay $500,000 In Damages in Sexual Harassment Lawsuit
