A Toledo landlord accused of sexually harassing female tenants living in properties he owned and managed is one of three defendants who agreed to pay a total of $100,000 in a Fair Housing Act lawsuit settlement, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Thursday.
The lawsuit filed back in 2019 in U.S. District Court in Toledo alleges Anthony Hubbard made unwelcome sexual advances and comments to multiple female tenants, sending them unwanted sexual text messages, videos and photos, and offering to reduce or excuse their monthly rental payments, security deposits, and utility fees in exchange for sexual acts.
The lawsuit also alleges Mr. Hubbard entered the homes of female tenants without their consent and without prior notice. In addition to Mr. Hubbard, his mother Ann Hubbard, brother Jeffery Hubbard, and companies PayUp LLC and No Joke Properties Inc. are named as defendants in the lawsuit and are parties to the settlement. The Department of Justice alleges Mr. Hubbard also carried out some of his harassments on behalf of the other defendants.
Reacting to the news of the settlement, Christina Rodriguez, a staff attorney for the Fair Housing Center — which helped a client file a separate complaint with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission — said the settlement is a win for fair housing in the community and hopes it prevents any future incidents of harassment among landlords.
“The allegations obviously are very serious, but this is a large penalty that will send a message throughout the community that this is absolutely not OK, and you could pay largely for it,” Ms. Rodriguez said.
Stephen Hartman, a defense attorney for the three defendants and two companies, said in an interview with The Blade Thursday, his clients are not admitting guilt, and reached a settlement to avoid going to trial.
“Sometimes it’s better to take the uncertainty out of litigation, and settle the case rather than roll the dice in a trial because you never know what a jury is going to do,” the attorney said. “...We intended to fight the allegations, but at the end of the day, we’ve reached a resolution that seems fair and equitable, so we decided to take the unknown out of the equation.”
The complaint alleges between 2007 and 2008, Mr. Hubbard made unwelcome sexually inappropriate comments to a female tenant about her body, both in person and via text message. He also allegedly requested that she have sex with him, requested pictures of her breasts in exchange for a picture of his penis, offered to exchange sex for rent payment, and entered her home without her permission or any notice, the complaint states.
On multiple occasions from 2013 to 2017, Mr. Hubbard pressured a second female tenant who was unable to pay her full rent amount to have sex with him in exchange for a rent reduction and property repairs, the complaint alleges.
U.S. officials also accuse Mr. Hubbard of sexually harassing a third female tenant multiple times from 2013 to 2014. He offered to reduce her security deposit amount in exchange for sex and “entered the home of this tenant without her permission in an effort to see her naked and sexually harassed her via text message on multiple occasions, sometimes sending sexually explicit text messages in the middle of the night asking her what she was wearing and for pictures of her body,” the complaint states.
The complaint also alleges Mr. Hubbard “continuously pressured a female tenant” for sex, sent her videos of people engaging in sex acts via text message, and asked her by text if she was home alone in 2015.
The Blade spoke with an unidentified woman in 2020 who said Mr. Hubbard preyed upon her dire financial situation, sent harassing text messages and made sexual advances, after he agreed to lower her rent payment.
Mr. Hartman has maintained Mr. Hubbard didn’t act in a predatory manner, stating to The Blade in 2020 that accusations that Mr. Hubbard refused to provide maintenance services or that he took adverse housing actions such as eviction against female tenants who objected to sexual advances, “just didn’t happen.”
“He categorically denies that he’s ever discriminated in his operation of his housing business,” Mr. Hartman said previously.
The settlement still must be approved by U.S. District Court in Toledo. Under the settlement, the defendants would pay a total of $90,000 to three women and a $10,000 civil penalty to the U.S. government. Mr. Hubbard would also be prohibited from continuing to manage rental housing under the settlement, and would require him to retain an independent property manager to manage any rental properties he owns now or in the future. The settlement also requires defendants to receive fair housing training and implement comprehensive non-discrimination policies and complaint procedures.
“Exploiting any person’s basic housing needs as a way to sexually harass, demean and control them violates the law,” said Bridget Brennan, acting U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Ohio. “We remain committed to rooting out homeowners and landlords who target vulnerable residents seeking safe and affordable housing opportunities for them and their families.”
Ms. Rodriguez said the settlement makes clear that in cases of harassment, multiple people could be held responsible for the inappropriate actions of a few people.
“In this case, there’s more than one respondent,” she said. “Obviously one or two of them were the main actors, but when you’re in the business of property management, everyone who is involved becomes responsible for the acts of one agent of that business. So, I think it encourages property management companies to really make sure that all of their employees are treating tenants fairly.”
First Published July 22, 2021, 3:42 p.m.
