We wanted to make advocates aware of a settlement agreement reached between
a Michigan domestic violence survivor, a private housing complex, and a
property management company that will offer anti-discrimination protections
and the options of early lease termination and/or relocation to victims of
domestic violence, stalking, dating violence, and sexual assault.



The settlement follows a federal sex discrimination lawsuit filed last year
by the ACLU Women's Rights Project and the ACLU of Michigan on behalf of
Tanica Lewis, a survivor of domestic violence who was evicted based on
property damage caused by her ex-partner, against the property management
company Management Systems, Inc., its residential manager, and landlord
North End Village, located in Detroit. The suit charged that the
defendants' policy of holding domestic violence victims accountable for the
behavior of their abusers, or so-called "guests," constituted sex
discrimination under the federal Fair Housing Act and also violated the
low-income housing tax credit law. The settlement agreement provides
protections that are not available under the federal Violence Against Women
Act.



The press release about the settlement appears below. The case documents in
Lewis v. North End Village, including the affirmative policies the
defendants agreed to implement as part of the settlement, are available at
www.aclu.org/fairhousingforwomen.



Sandra Park, Staff Attorney
Women's Rights Project | American Civil Liberties Union
125 Broad Street, 18th Floor, New York, NY 10004
T: 212.519.7871 | F: 212.549.2580 | spark@...
www.aclu.org/womensrights





Private Housing Company Won't Evict Domestic Violence Victims After ACLU
Lawsuit


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 26, 2008



CONTACT: Maria Archuleta, ACLU national, (917) 892-9180 or 549-2666;
media@...

Rana Elmir, ACLU of Michigan, (313) 578-6816

DETROIT - A groundbreaking settlement agreement finalized today between a
domestic violence survivor, a private housing complex and a property
management company offers victims of domestic violence, stalking, date rape
and sexual assault far reaching protections from eviction and
discrimination.



The settlement follows a federal sex discrimination lawsuit filed by the
American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Michigan on behalf of Tanica
Lewis - a domestic violence survivor who had been evicted from her apartment
because of her abuser's behavior- against the property management company
Management Systems, Inc. and the housing complex North End Village.
Management Systems manages 50 housing communities in Detroit and Flint,
Michigan and Toledo, Ohio, including North End Village. The lawsuit charged
that under the federal Fair Housing Act, Management Systems' policy of
evicting domestic violence victims because of their abusers' actions
constitutes sex discrimination in violation of the federal Fair Housing Act
and Michigan's Civil Rights Act.



"We commend Management Systems and North End for recognizing that landlords
should not blame women for the criminal acts perpetrated against them," said
ACLU Women's Rights Project staff attorney Sandra Park. "All too often,
landlords force victims of domestic violence out of their homes, based on
the stereotype that victims can control the violence and have chosen not to
do so. We hope that this settlement encourages other private housing
companies to enact proactive policies that comply with federal law and help
rather than harm women."



The settlement goes beyond the federal Violence Against Women Act's (VAWA)
housing law in both substance and scope and serves as an exemplary model for
private housing policies throughout the country. VAWA applies only to public
and voucher housing and does not affirmatively provide for early lease
termination and/or relocation to tenants who must flee violence.



Under the settlement, North End Village and Management Systems, Inc. will
not evict or discriminate against tenants because they have been the victims
of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault or stalking, whether
or not the abuser is residing in the tenant's household. The property
management company will also offer early lease termination and relocation to
tenants who have been the victims of such abuse and need to leave their
homes to ensure their safety.



Tanica Lewis ended a relationship with Reuben Thomas in 2005 and obtained a
personal protection order a few months later in 2006 after he harassed and
stalked her. She informed the management company of the order that
prohibited Thomas from coming near her home in North End Village. On March
1, 2006, however, Thomas broke the windows of her home and kicked in her
door. Lewis immediately reported the incident to the police as well as to
the residential manager of the property. Thomas was ultimately convicted of
home invasion and ordered to pay restitution. Nonetheless, based on this
incident, Management Systems Inc. issued Lewis a 30-day notice of eviction
on March 13, 2006, stating that she had violated the portion of her lease
that said she would be liable for any damage resulting from "lack of proper
supervision" of her "guests." As a result of the eviction, Lewis and her two
young daughters could not return home and lived in a shelter. Later, they
found another apartment but the rent was much higher and was farther from
Lewis' job. She also had to arrange new, and more costly, childcare
arrangements.



"When I reported the domestic violence, first to the police and then to my
housing manager, I thought I was making myself and my children safer.
Instead, my landlord threw us out of the apartment and we had nowhere to
go," said Lewis. "I hope other women in private housing who are brave enough
to come forward about their abusers don't suffer the same way."



Studies from across the country confirm the connection between domestic
violence and homelessness. The 2005 Hunger and Homelessness Survey by the
United States Conference of Mayors found that half of the U.S. cities
surveyed reported that domestic violence is a primary cause of homelessness.
Another 2005 investigation by the Anti-Discrimination Center of Metro New
York, a fair housing group, found that 28 percent of housing providers in
New York City either flatly refused to rent to a domestic violence victim or
failed to follow up as promised when contacted by an investigator posing as
a housing coordinator for a domestic violence survivor assistance program.



"Landlords often only learn about domestic violence because victims have
sought the help of police or the courts," said Kary Moss, Executive Director
of the ACLU of Michigan. "When victims know that they may face eviction if a
landlord finds out about the abuse, they are less likely to seek this
assistance and more likely to submit to the abuse. We hope that other
private housing companies will follow Management Systems' lead and put in
place policies that help end the cycle of violence which sometimes compels
women and their children to live on the streets."



The ACLU has successfully challenged similar discriminatory policies in
housing across the country. In another case in Michigan, the Ypsilanti
Housing Commission (YHC) agreed, after the ACLU intervened, to end a policy
that led to the eviction of Aaronica Warren, a domestic violence victim. The
YHC had relied on a "one-strike rule" in its lease that permitted it to
evict tenants if there was any violence in a tenant's apartment - even if
the tenant was the victim of the violence.



In addition, after the ACLU became involved, a federal court in Vermont
issued a first-of-its-kind ruling in Bouley v. Young-Sabourin in 2005,
holding that discriminating against victims of domestic violence can
constitute sex discrimination under the Fair Housing Act. The judge ruled
that when a landlord seeks to evict a tenant immediately after she has been
the victim of a domestic assault, the protection the Fair Housing Act
provides against sex discrimination is applicable.



Lewis is represented by Park, Emily Martin and Lenora M. Lapidus of the ACLU
Women's Rights Project, and Moss and Michael J. Steinberg of the ACLU of
Michigan.



The settlement and other legal documents are available online at
www.aclu.org/fairhousingforwomen