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Trends in the Law Regarding Housing Issues
By Diane Vaksdal Smith

Owners of commercial residential properties should be aware of a developing trend in the law. More often, Plaintiffs are suing landowners, property managers and other persons or entities that engage in the business of property management for creating a hostile living environment or allowing a hostile environment to exist.

Federal and state laws prohibit discrimination in the rental of a dwelling or in the provision of services in connection with a rental. See, e.g., the Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. § 3604(b); C.R.S. § 24-34-502. Under these laws, a person may not be subjected to differing treatment because of disability, race, creed, color, sex, marital status, familial status, religion, national origin, or ancestry. It has long been understood that refusal to rent a dwelling because of discrimination against a person in a protected class will subject the lessor or property owner to liability under the civil rights laws.

At least 8 federal courts have applied the concepts of sexual harassment to lessors or property owners, to hold that a lessor or property owner who creates a hostile living environment may be liable for a civil rights violation. Likewise, liability may be imposed for allowing a hostile living environment to exist, once the lessor or property owner discovers or should have discovered its existence.

The claim may arise in one of two ways. First there is quid pro quo harassment: that is, quid pro quo harassment occurs when housing benefits are explicitly or implicitly conditioned on sexual favors. Second, a hostile housing environment claim may be actionable when the offensive behavior unreasonably interferes with the use and enjoyment of the premises. The harassment must be sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter the conditions of the housing arrangement, rather than isolated or trivial. The offensive acts need not be sexual in nature. Instead, it is enough to show that they would not have happened but for the claimant’s gender.

Claims of this type have been brought against individual property owners, entities that rent spaces in a trailer park, condominium associations, and apartment buildings, and persons employed by or representative of those entities. The damages for such claims typically can include economic losses, pain and suffering damages, punitive damages and awards of attorneys’ fees and costs.

Please feel free to contact us if you would like more information on these issues or if we can assist you with preventive maintenance to avoid lawsuits of this type. Our attorneys are well versed in the issues in this field and are available to provide the type of assistance you need.

® 2001 Diane Vaksdal Smith, Esq.

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Burg Simpson Eldredge Hersh & Jardine, P.C. is a law firm serving the Rocky Mountain Region. The firm has offices in Denver, Colorado, Cody, WY, Cincinnati, Ohio, & Phoenix, AZ. The Firm is responsible for the content on the website,this information is not to be interpreted as providing legal services,
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