Justice Department investigating more than a dozen cases of sexual harassment by landlords against female tenants

In a crowded neighborhood of duplexes, small apartments and one-story bungalows, near a liquor store and a pizzeria, William Asper owns nearly two dozen properties.

It is in the Detroit suburb of Westland, Michigan, 10 minutes north of the Detroit Metropolitan Airport, that Asper helps manage some blighted rental properties, many of which were built in the early 1970s and are more affordable for low-income families in this working-class region, according to federal documents released by the Justice Department.

Amid rising housing prices, rents in the neighborhood are more affordable, including for families who rely on federal subsidies and have no other housing options.

The Justice Department alleged that Asper attempted to take advantage of the needs of his tenants, leveraging his position to obtain sexual favors. The agency said Asper threatened to withhold repairs or evict tenants who did not comply.

In a Michigan court filing earlier this month, the Justice Department alleged that Asper told a tenant in 2019 “that there were ‘different ways’ for her to pay her rent.” Government lawyers also said he “touched the tenant without her consent, regularly pulling her hair, grabbing her buttocks and kissing her head.” And they alleged that he “regularly removed his penis from his pants in front of the tenant while he was at her home, often while her young son was in the room.”

In their court papers, Justice Department lawyers also claimed that in 2018, Asper told a “tenant that he was lonely, wanted someone to spend time with him, and asked if she would go to a hotel with him.” Asper allegedly “told the tenant that if she did not have sex with him, he would give her a 24-hour eviction notice.”

The allegations emerged in a civil lawsuit filed by the Justice Department against Asper, arguing that he violated the federal Fair Housing Act. His civil case is pending in federal court in the Eastern District of Michigan and his official response to the allegations has not yet been released.

In a statement to CBS News, Asper said the accusations were false.

“I provide low-income housing and people want to blame the landlord or make excuses for not being able to pay the rent,” Asper said. “These women wanted to do more/be my ‘girlfriend,’ a side chick and that wasn’t going to happen.”

Asper is not the only owner facing such claims. This is one of 52 federal civil lawsuits alleging sexual harassment and misconduct against owners since 2017.

“It’s traumatic for the victims,” said Harmeet Dhillon, assistant U.S. attorney general for civil rights. “People may not believe them. And they may have been victims of it multiple times.”

The Justice Department’s Housing Sexual Harassment Initiative, which aims to combat these types of cases, was launched during the first year of the first Trump administration in 2017. Dhillon’s team continues to track these cases. Several former Justice Department lawyers, including appointees from the Biden and Trump administrations, have praised the program and its work since 2017.

There are 14 federal civil sexual harassment cases pending in the United States, including the Asper case in Michigan.

In an interview with CBS News, Dhillon said filing these lawsuits can serve as a deterrent to future harassment and abuse. She said the legal challenges “have made all the women on this property feel like they have been seen and heard.”

Dhillon said the Fair Housing Act, passed in 1968 amid the sweeping changes of the civil rights era, prohibits any form of quid pro quo involving sex, sexual acts or sexual harassment, whether to rent, continue to rent or obtain repairs.

“Every American deserves to feel safe and know that this sexual harassment is inappropriate and illegal,” Dhillon said.

A CBS News review of some of the dozens of recent filings with the Justice Department shows parallels to the charges against Asper.

In a separate legal challenge filed against a Central New York landlord in 2018, the Justice Department alleged the harassment lasted three decades. The Oswego man is accused of “demanding or pressuring tenants to engage in sexual intercourse, oral sex or other sexual acts to obtain or maintain rental housing.”

In a 2017 Justice Department complaint filed in federal court in Kansas, a Wichita-area landlord is accused of entering a tenant’s apartment “unannounced” and “touching her body while she slept in her bed.” The owner is also accused of having “conditioned the tangible benefits of housing, in particular exemption or reduction of rent, to sexual behavior”.

And in a legal challenge originally filed in Minnesota in 2020, the federal government alleged that a landlord offered to ignore or excuse unpaid rent and utilities in exchange for sexual acts. The landlord was also accused of “expressing a preference for renting to single tenants.”

Legal challenges filed by the Department of Justice can help secure civil penalties against property owners and damages for victims. A CBS News review of Justice Department records showed the agency has recovered about $1.5 million since January.

And in the New York, Kansas and Minnesota cases, the Justice Department entered into written agreements with landlords that, among other things, required them to hire independent property managers so that they no longer needed to come into contact with tenants themselves.

A spokesperson for the National Fair Housing Alliance, a civil rights group that advocates for tenants and combats discrimination, said instances of sexual harassment by landlords are likely more widespread than current statistics indicate.

“Sexual harassment in housing is one of the most underreported cases of housing discrimination, as victims often fear retaliation or eviction if they file a complaint,” the spokesperson said.

The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, which handles sexual harassment investigations under the Fair Housing Act, has seen a purge of veteran employees this year, amid a Trump-ordered federal government downsizing — led by the Department of Government Effectiveness — and the Trump administration’s dramatic shifts in some of the office’s priorities.

Justice Connection, a newly created company organization which supports ousted or resigned Justice Department prosecutors, it is estimated that nearly 75 percent of the division’s career attorneys have left this year.

Dhillon said the unit that handles housing cases has been less affected by the changes and cuts. She told CBS News, “I don’t think we’re losing people in this section, and people are pretty happy with the type of work we do.” Dhillon said the civil rights section has hired about 50 people this year, amid greater turnover within the agency.

Some tenants have filed their own federal civil lawsuits, alleging sexual harassment in violation of the Fair Housing Act.

In one case, an Alabama woman filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging a range of personal harms. Her complaint alleged “emotional distress, including humiliation and mental anguish” from a landlord who “offered to reduce her rent in exchange for sex.” The lawsuit alleged: “When [she] having refused her sexual advances, he increased his rent.”

Housing advocates have said low-income tenants are particularly vulnerable to harassment, for fear of losing their housing if they reject a landlord’s illegal advances.

Guidance issued by the Department of Justice on the Fair Housing Act’s protections states that “women, particularly those who are poor and have limited housing options, often have little recourse other than to tolerate the humiliation and degradation of sexual harassment or risk having themselves and their families evicted from their housing.”

The spokesperson for the National Fair Housing Alliance told CBS News: “Every investigation – and especially every resolution – sends a clear message that this egregious conduct, which targets the most vulnerable, will not be tolerated. Home should be a safe place, and these actions ensure that the promise is kept. »