Dearborn Heights landlord will pay $185k fine after sexually harassing female tenants

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(FOX 2) - A landlord who managed more than a dozen rental properties in and around Dearborn Heights will pay $185,000 in damages to the federal government after he sexually harassed several women who lived at the residences.

Mohamad Hussein violated the Fair Housing Act subjected women who were living at one of his 15 properties, or were interested in renting a unit, to sexual harassment, including offering prospective tenants "housing-related benefits in exchange for engaging in sex acts with him," the justice department said in a news release.

The lawsuit against Hussein was filed in March 2023. Under the terms of the agreement with the government, Hussein will pay the damages to eight women. He'll also vacate evictions he ordered that were retaliatory, the government said.

He's also be required to retain an independent property manager to operate any rental properties he owns.

"Housing is one of our most basic needs, and no one should have to endure sexual harassment in order to keep a roof over their head," said U.S. Attorney Dawn N. Ison for the Eastern District of Michigan.

The assistant attorney general for the department's civil rights division said it was committed to holding predatory landlords accountable.

The suit is one of 39 filed by the government since 2017 - when the Sexual Harassment in Housing Initiative was launched by the DOJ.