DETROIT — The Department of Justice is suing a Michigan landlord, alleging he sexually harassed female tenants during the pandemic by soliciting sexual favors in exchange for housing or utility bill payments.
According to the lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Mohamad Hussein engaged in this misbehavior between 2017 and 2020 while renting out 26 homes he owned in Dearborn Heights, a city in the Detroit metropolitan area.
Prosecutors allege that many of his misdeeds took place in the spring of 2020, during the first wave of COVID-19 when Michigan was in lockdown and it was difficult to secure housing in the state.
According to the lawsuit, Hussein’s misconduct ran the gamut: He made unwelcome sexual comments and sexual advances to women; sent sexually explicit images of himself to prospective tenants, demanded sex acts from prospective tenants or sexually explicit images in exchange for housing, and offered benefits — such as paying utility bills, lowering rent or lowering security deposits — to women who agreed to his demands.
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Damages to compensate victims
The lawsuit seeks an unspecified amount of money from Hussein to compensate the victims of his alleged harassment.
“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, which filed the lawsuit.
In court documents, prosecutors said these incidents were part of a broader pattern of sexual harassment by Hussein, and that his conduct caused women to suffer “fear, anxiety, and emotional distress, and interfered with their ability to secure and maintain rental housing for themselves and their families.”
Hussein could not be reached for comment. An attorney of record for Hussein was not listed in federal court documents.
‘Everything will be secret don’t worry’
Federal prosecutors detailed multiple examples of harassing and discriminatory behavior by Hussein in the lawsuit.
In April 2020, a prospective female tenant met Hussein to tour one of his homes. After the meeting, Hussein texted the woman and said other people were interested in the home, but that he was trying to work with her.
“You take care of me, I take care of you,” read one of his texts.
He also asked the woman to send him nudes and texted: “let’s have a little fun,” “everything will be secret don’t worry,” and “I want to do you honey.”
The woman rejected Hussein’s sexual advances and told him that “he was violating her fair housing rights.”
Hussein then refused to proceed with her rental application unless she paid more than $1,400. The woman chose not to pursue the application further.
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Proposition to a 19-year-old
In March 2019, after showing a woman property, Hussein sent her a text stating that if she performed oral sex on him, then they could come to an agreement.
She declined, though Hussein continued to text her and ask her for oral sex. He also sent her nude photos of himself, but the prospective tenant rebuffed his advances and blocked his number.
A year later, he contacted the same woman again, this time using a new phone number. He stated that he had a home available. She scheduled a tour, though once she arrived at the house and saw Hussein, she realized it was the same man who had harassed her a year earlier.
During the tour, Hussein asked her to meet him later, alone, so they could “talk business.” He texted her later, saying, “We going to do it right??”” and “so you can give me a blow then right??”
The woman did not pursue the rental property.
That same month, a 19-year-old woman and her father reached out to Hussein for a rental house. Hussein responded to the woman, but ignored her father’s inquiries, and gave her a tour of one of his properties.
The woman told Hussein she liked the house and called her father to schedule a time for him to see it. Shortly after, she texted Hussein and asked when they could pay their security deposit. Hussein responded: “You seem (like) a really nice girl. I like you … Maybe we can get together sometimes.”
The woman told him she was only 19. Hussein, who was then 48, said, “Does age matter lol”.
The woman rejected his advances and stopped pursuing the rental property.
DOJ uses Sexual Harassment in Housing Initiative
The Justice Department is seeking more tips in this case and is urging individuals who believe that they may have been harassed by Hussein to contact the housing discrimination tip line at 833-591-0291.
The lawsuit is part of the Justice Department’s Sexual Harassment in Housing Initiative, which was launched in 2017. It seeks to address and raise awareness about sexual harassment by landlords, property managers, maintenance workers, loan officers or other people who have control over housing.
Since launching the initiative, the Justice Department has filed 29 lawsuits alleging sexual harassment in housing and recovered more than $9.8 million for victims.
USA TODAY NETWORK
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