The court found that this conduct did not qualify as a violation of federal fair housing law.

In another:

"[The landlord asked] the plaintiff for dates on repeated occasions, placed signs which read "I love you" in her work area, and twice attempted to kiss her. - Weiss v. Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of Chicago, 990 F.2d 333 (7th Cir. 1993)

Here again, a landlord's behavior is not considered a violation of federal fair housing law.:

In yet another still:

"The plaintiffs were a married couple who were evicted from their apartment allegedly because Mrs. Shellhammer refused her landlord's requests to pose for nude photographs and to have sex with him." - A New Look at Sexual Harassment

Had the landlord allowed the couple to continue living in his rental complex, this too would not have been a violation of federal fair housing law.

In a final example:

"A single mother who was in the process of moving her mobile home into the defendant's trailer park when he asked her out socially on three different occasions. After she had moved in and made clear to him that she did not want to go out with him, a series of disputes arose between them, which resulted in his threatening to evict her and her ultimate decision to move out." - A New Look at Sexual Harassment

This landlord's behavior, according to the court, is not in violation of federal fair housing law.

Ironically, this blog post could be seen as free legal advice for "career sexual harassing landlords." Indeed, the title satirically alludes to this fact. However, my hope is that instead this post draws attention to this issue such that it will eventually translate into the passage of stronger fair housing laws.

Although federal legislation can be passed to address this harassment loophole, another effective approach is the passage of state and local fair housing law. Both states and cities can and do have their own fair housing law, which may be more comprehensive than federal law under the fair housing act.

For example, New York City explicitly protects people from discrimination based on sexual orientation, while the federal Fair Housing Act of 1968 does not.

Be aware that your state or local government may have passed more stringent laws, and if they have not, please support efforts to do so. It's important that tenants know and exercise their rights.

As a last point, in the case upon which the introductory hypothetical was based, the court states:

"The problem with Brown's complaint is that although DiCenso may have harassed her, he did so only once - DiCenso's comments vaguely invited Brown to exchange sex for rent, and while Dicenso caressed Brown's arm and back, he did not touch an intimate body part, and he did not threaten Brown with any physical harm.

This alone did not create an objectively hostile environment."

One would think that in 2006 we had come further than permitting this type of behavior

- even "just once."

If you have been a victim of housing or employment discrimination please contact:

The New York City Human Rights Commission
The New York State Division of Human Rights
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

*This post is obviously focused on female tenants and male landlords. Obviously, female landlords may also harass male tenants. In addition, if people are interested in the same-sex jurisprudence, I can do the research and let you know.

If you or your organization is interested in learning more about or working on these types of civil justice issues, please feel free to contact me at cdugger@drummajorinstitute.org.
Cyrus Dugger
Senior Fellow in Civil Justice
Drum Major Institute for Public Policy