The Issue The issue is whether respondent committed a violation of the Fair Housing Act as alleged in the petition for relief filed on August 21, 1996.
Findings Of Fact Based upon all of the evidence, the following findings of fact are determined: Petitioner, Melanie A. Hils, resides in Jacksonville, Florida. She is disabled by virtue of “birth defects in (her) legs,” and she receives a monthly disability check from the Social Security Administration, her sole income. Respondent, Advantage Property Management, Inc., is a Subchapter S corporation owned by Vernon L. Dean and is engaged in the business of managing residential rental properties in Jacksonville, Florida. In this case, petitioner contends that respondent, through the actions of its owner, violated the Fair Housing Act while she was a tenant in a property managed by respondent. Respondent denies the allegation. A preliminary investigation by the Commission on Human Relations (Commission) resulted in a Determination of No Reasonable Cause. The facts underlying this controversy are not lengthy but they are sharply in dispute. Petitioner first met Dean in March 1993 when she executed a lease agreement with him to rent an apartment at 1614 LaRue Avenue. She stayed in that apartment until April 30, 1994, when she moved into her husband’s mobile home. On June 8, 1995, petitioner signed a one-year lease with respondent to rent a one-bedroom apartment located at 2905 Downing Street. She agreed to pay $285.00 per month, including water. Shortly after she moved into the apartment, the hot water heater became inoperative, and petitioner called respondent’s office manager, Barbara, to request that a repair be made. The water heater was repaired by a local plumbing service on June 20, 1995. In her petition for relief, petitioner alleged that Dean made four unannounced visits to her apartment between June 12 and July 5, 1995. At hearing, however, she claimed that, without notice or invitation, he visited her on five occasions between the same dates, and they spoke for approximately thirty minutes each time. Petitioner says that respondent visited her to see if she “got moved in okay,” say “hello,” check the breaker on the water heater, “see if (her) hot water heater had been fixed,” and on the last visit, to “pick up her rent check” for July. On each of those occasions, she says they discussed a variety of subjects, ranging from music to boating, but nothing offensive or of a sexual nature. Except for a visit to check the water heater breaker, respondent denies that he ever visited the apartment. Assuming, however, that these visits occurred as described, they still did not constitute sexual harassment or rise to a level of being so pervasive or severe as to alter the terms, conditions or privilege of her tenacy. Petitioner also says that respondent, while in an excited state and breathing irregularly, telephoned her early one Sunday morning suggesting that she ”have sex with him.” Respondent denies that such a call ever occurred, and his testimony is accepted on this issue. On July 5, petitioner says respondent appeared at her front door and asked for the July rent check. She described him as having “a very angry look on his face.” Petitioner’s contention that respondent followed her into the bedroom when she was writing a rent check and “took (her) glasses off,” but nothing more, is not deemed to be credible. Indeed, petitioner did not even allege this occurred in her complaints filed with HUD and the Commission. On August 29, 1995, petitioner gave respondent thirty days’ notice on her lease. She did so after receiving a telephone call from an unidentified person who said nothing but played a song with lyrics which “frightened” her. There is no evidence that respondent was the person who made the call. Although she remained in the apartment until at least the end of September, petitioner acknowledged that Dean never returned to the apartment after July 5. Given the totality of the circumstances, it is found that a hostile housing environment based on sexual harassment did not occur. Accepting petitioner’s allegation that respondent made five unwelcome visits to her apartment, such visits were not so severe or pervasive as to alter the terms, conditions or privilege of petitioner’s tenency. Petitioner has requested quantifiable damages, fees and costs occasioned by her leaving respondent’s apartment. When she gave thirty days notice before the expiration of her lease, she lost her $200.00 deposit. She also incurred moving expenses of $150.00. She then signed a seven-month lease on an apartment on Oak Street for $260.00 per month, but later found it unsatisfactory because of foul odors and repairs which were never fixed by the landlord. When she terminated that lease before its expiration, she lost her $260.00 security deposit. On December 5, 1995, she moved into the Kings Inn at Regency, a motel, for which she paid a weekly rent of approximately $161.50. She departed the motel on July 8, 1996, and moved into an apartment in the Riverside area, where she has lived since July 1996. Petitioner asks for the difference between the rent paid at Downing Street and the higher rents she has paid since that time, plus any lost security deposits. In addition, she has incurred costs to pursue this action, including fees for a deposition and transcript. She has also asked for the payment of a “civil penalty” to the Jacksonville Area Legal Aid, Inc., which represented her in this action, and for damages for the “emotional distress suffered due to Respondent’s sexual harassment.”
Recommendation Based on the foregoing findings of fact and conclusions of law, it is RECOMMENDED that the Commission on Human Relations enter a final order denying the petition for relief.DONE AND ENTERED this 6th day of May, 1997, in Tallahassee, Florida. DONALD R. ALEXANDER Administrative Law Judge Division of Administrative Hearings The DeSoto Building 1230 Apalachee Parkway Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1550 (904) 488-9675, SUNCOM 278-9675 Fax Filing (904) 921-6847 COPIES FURNISHED: Migdalia Figueroa, Esquire 126 West Adams Street Jacksonville, Florida 32202 Vernon Dean Filed with the Clerk of the Division of Administrative Hearings this 6th day of May, 1997. Advantage Property Management, Inc. 1974 Fulton Place Jacksonville, Florida 32207 Sharon Moultry, Clerk Commission on Human Relations Building F, Suite 240 325 John Knox Road Tallahassee, Florida 32303-4149 Dana A. Baird, Esquire Commission on Human Relations Building F, Suite 240 325 John Knox Road Tallahassee, Florida 32303-4149
