What is sexual harassment in housing?
There is no fixed definition of sexual harassment in housing. The law defines it in broad and general terms. It is when a landlord, property manager, or other individual who works in the housing industry makes unwelcome sexual comments or advances, verbal or physical, toward a tenant, prospective tenant, or guest. It also includes stalking behavior and retaliation when the victim rebuffs the advance.
Common Examples of Sexual Harassment
Stalking
Showing up at your home repeatedly for no reason
Letting himself into your home without permission
Calling or driving by to “check on you”
Telling you that you’re not allowed to have male guests
Requests
Asking you out on dates
Asking you for nude or sexual photos
Asking you for kisses, hugs, or other touching
Asking you for sex
Threatening to evict you or evicting you if you don’t give in to a request like these
Offers
Offering to reduce your rent in exchange for sex, dates, naked photos, or other sex-related favors
Offering to repair things in your home, upgrade your appliances, do landscaping, or provide other housing-related benefits in exchange for sex, dates, naked photos, or other sex-related favors
Threatening to evict or evicting you if you don’t accept an offer like these
Comments
Telling you how pretty you are
Making comments about your sex life or dating life
Making comments about your hair or body
Making comments about his sex life or dating life
Making comments about his body to you
Making comments about sex generally
Touching
Touching you without your permission anywhere
Touching an intimate part of your body
Kissing you
Sexual assault or rape
Options for Survivors
What can I do if I need help right away?
If you are in an emergency situation, you should call 911. If you need professional, crisis support, please call (800) 656-4673, which is the 24/7 crisis support hotline for survivors of sexual harassment and abuse provided by RAINN.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, or “HUD”
Like the Department of Justice, HUD investigates and takes action on housing discrimination complaints. HUD has a simple process for filing a complaint of discrimination that you can follow with or without a lawyer.
Fair Housing Agencies
A fair housing agency is a non-profit, local organization that provides support, counseling, and advocacy for survivors of all forms of housing discrimination, including sexual harassment. We can connect you to a local fair housing agency.
Other State Agencies
Many states have agencies like HUD that assist survivors with housing discrimination. We can help you locate the appropriate agency in your state.
The U.S. Department of Justice
The U.S. Department of Justice has a Sexual Harassment in Housing Initiative. (Spanish here.) You can report your situation to the Department, with or without a lawyer, and they can investigate and civilly or criminal prosecute your harasser.
A Private Lawsuit
Sexual harassment in housing is against federal law. Survivors can obtain money to compensate them for their emotional and physical suffering, and attempt to force their harassers out of the housing business to protect women in the future. The lawyers behind the Harassment Free Homes Project represent survivors in federal lawsuits across the country. We can help you determine if this option
Which option is right for me?
It depends on what happened to you and what your goals are. Many survivors want:
To feel safe, to move away from the harasser or get the harasser to stop
To take away the harasser’s power to harass other women in the future
To obtain money to compensate them for what the harasser did
We can help you meet these goals.
There are a lot of options and ways to get help. We have a great deal of experience with all of them. If you contact us, we will discuss your situation and your goals and help decide what option makes the most sense for you.
And we won’t charge you a thing.