DOJ investigating more than a dozen cases of sexual harassment by landlords

In a crowded vicinity of duplexes, tiny apartments and one-story bungalows adjacent a liquor store and pizza shop, William Asper serves arsenic a landlord for astir 2 twelve properties.

The Detroit suburb of Westland, Michigan, 10 minutes northbound of the Detroit Metropolitan Airport, is wherever Asper helps negociate immoderate weathered rental properties, galore of which were built successful the aboriginal 1970s and are much affordable to low-income families successful this working-class region, according to national records published by the Justice Department.

Amid surging lodging costs, rent successful the vicinity is much affordable, including for families who usage national subsidies and person nary different options for housing.

The Justice Department has alleged Asper tried to instrumentality vantage of the needs of his tenants, leveraging his presumption to question intersexual favors. The bureau said Asper threatened to withhold repairs oregon evict tenants who did not comply.

In a tribunal filing successful Michigan earlier this month, the Justice Department alleged Asper told 1 tenant successful 2019 "that determination were 'different ways' she could wage rent." The government's attorneys besides said helium "touched the tenant without her consent, regularly pulling her hair, grabbing her buttocks and kissing her head." And they alleged helium "regularly pulled his penis retired of his pants successful beforehand of the tenant portion astatine her home, often times portion her young lad was successful the room."

In their tribunal documents, Justice Department lawyers besides alleged that successful 2018, Asper told a "female tenant that helium was lonely, wanted idiosyncratic to walk clip with him, and asked if she would spell to a edifice with him. Asper allegedly "told the pistillate tenant that if she did not prosecute successful intersexual relations with him, helium would springiness her a 24-hour eviction notice."

The allegations appeared successful a civilian suit filed by the Justice Department against Asper, arguing helium violated the national Fair Housing Act. His civilian lawsuit is pending successful the Eastern District of Michigan national court, and his ceremonial effect to the allegations has not yet been posted.     

In a connection to CBS News, Asper said the accusations are false.

"I connection low-income lodging and radical privation to blasted the landlord oregon marque excuses wherefore they couldn't wage the rent," Asper said. "These women wanted to bash more/be my 'girlfriend', broadside chick and that was not going to happen."

Asper isn't the lone landlord facing specified claims. It is 1 of astatine slightest 52 national civilian lawsuits alleging intersexual harassment and misconduct against landlords since 2017.

"It's traumatic for the victims," said Harmeet Dhillon, the adjunct U.S. lawyer wide for civilian rights. "People whitethorn not judge them. And they whitethorn person been the unfortunate aggregate times."

The Justice Department's Sexual Harassment successful Housing Initiative, which seeks to combat these types of cases, was launched successful the archetypal twelvemonth of the archetypal Trump medication successful 2017. Dhillon's squad continues to prosecute the cases. Several erstwhile Justice Department attorneys, including appointees of some the Biden and Trump Administrations, person lauded the programme and its enactment since 2017.

There are 14 national intersexual harassment civilian cases pending crossed the United States, including Asper's lawsuit successful Michigan.

In an interrogation with CBS News, Dhillon said the filings of these suits tin service arsenic a deterrent to aboriginal harassment and abuse. She said the ineligible challenges "made each the women successful that spot consciousness similar they've been seen and heard."

Dhillon said the Fair Housing Act, which passed successful 1968 amid the sweeping changes of the Civil Rights era, prohibits immoderate benignant of quid pro quo involving sex, intersexual acts oregon intersexual harassment, either for renting, continuing to rent oregon obtaining repairs.

"Every American deserves to consciousness harmless and cognize this intersexual harassment is inappropriate and illegal," Dhillon said.

A CBS News reappraisal of immoderate of the dozens of precocious filed Justice Department cases shows parallels to the accusations against Asper.

In a separate ineligible challenge filed against a cardinal New York landlord successful 2018, the Justice Department alleged the harassment spanned 3 decades. The Oswego antheral is accused of "Demanding that pistillate tenants prosecute in, oregon pressuring them to prosecute in, intersexual intercourse, oral sex, oregon different intersexual acts with him successful bid to get oregon support rental housing."

In a 2017 Justice Department complaint filed successful national tribunal successful Kansas, a Wichita-area landlord is accused of entering a pistillate tenant's flat "unannounced" and "touching her assemblage portion she slept successful her bed." The landlord is besides accused of "Conditioning tangible lodging benefits, including forgiving oregon reducing rent, connected engaging successful intersexual conduct."

And successful a ineligible challenge initially filed successful Minnesota successful 2020, the feds alleged a landlord offered to place oregon excuse unpaid rent and utilities successful speech for enactment acts. The landlord was besides accused of "Expressing a penchant for renting to azygous pistillate tenants."

The ineligible challenges filed by the Justice Department tin assistance unafraid civilian penalties against landlords and damages for victims. A CBS News reappraisal of Justice Department records showed the bureau has recovered astir $1.5 cardinal since January.

And successful the New York, Kansas and Minnesota cases, the Justice Department struck written agreements with the landlords that, among different things, required them to prosecute autarkic spot managers truthful they would nary longer request to travel into interaction with tenants themselves.

A spokesperson for the National Fair Housing Alliance, a civilian rights radical that advocates for tenants and combats discrimination, said instances of intersexual harassment by landlords are apt much pervasive than existent statistic indicate.

"Sexual harassment successful lodging is 1 of the astir underreported instances of lodging discrimination, fixed that the victims often fearfulness facing retaliation oregon eviction if they record a complaint," the spokesperson said.

The Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, which handles Fair Housing Act enactment harassment probes, has experienced a purge of seasoned employees this year, amid a Trump-ordered downsizing of the national authorities — led by the Department of Government Efficiency — and the Trump Administration's melodramatic shifts successful immoderate of the office's priorities. 

Justice Connection, a recently formed organization that supports ousted oregon resigning Justice Department prosecutors, estimated astir 75% of vocation attorneys successful the part person departed this year.

Dhillon said the portion that handles the lodging cases has been little impacted by the changes and cuts. She told CBS News, "I don't deliberation we're losing radical successful that section, and radical are beauteous blessed with the benignant of enactment we're doing." Dhillon said the Civil Rights conception has hired astir 50 radical this year, amid the larger turnover successful the agency.

Some tenants person filed their ain idiosyncratic national civilian lawsuits alleging enactment harassment successful usurpation of the Fair Housing Act. 

In 1 case, an Alabama pistillate filed a ailment successful national tribunal alleging a bid of idiosyncratic harms. Her suit alleged "emotional distress, including humiliation and intelligence anguish" from a landlord who "offered to trim her rent successful speech for sex." The suit alleged: "When [she] refused his intersexual advances, helium raised her rent."

Housing advocates said low-income renters are peculiarly susceptible to harassment, nether fearfulness that they could suffer their lodging if they cull a landlord's unlawful advances.

The Justice Department's posted guidance connected its protections of the Fair Housing Act says that "women, peculiarly those who are poor, and with constricted lodging options, often person small recourse but to tolerate the humiliation and degradation of intersexual harassment oregon hazard having their families and themselves removed from their homes. The Department's enforcement programme is aimed astatine landlords who make an untenable surviving situation by demanding intersexual favors from tenants oregon by creating a sexually hostile situation for them."

The National Fair Housing Alliance spokesperson told CBS News: "Each investigation—and particularly each resolution—sends a wide connection that this egregious conduct, which targets the astir vulnerable, volition not beryllium tolerated. Home should beryllium a harmless place, and these actions guarantee that committedness is upheld."