Housing and Civil Enforcement Cases
Chabad Jewish Center of The Big Island v. County of Hawaii (D. Haw.)
On March 29, 2024, the United States filed a Statement of Interest in Chabad Jewish Center of the Big Island, et al. v. County of Hawaii, et al. (D. Haw.), a case brought under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA). Plaintiffs, a Chabad Jewish Center and its Rabbi, Levi Gerlitzky, filed their complaint against the County of Hawaii and its planning director after the County assessed thousands of dollars in fines against Plaintiffs and prohibited them from operating a house of worship in a residential zone without a use permit, even though analogous nonreligious meeting facilities do not require a use permit. The complaint, filed in conjunction with a motion for preliminary injunction, alleges that the County’s zoning code and conduct has substantially burdened Plaintiffs’ religious exercise and treats Plaintiffs’ worse than comparable secular uses in violation of RLUIPA. In its Statement of Interest, the United States supports Plaintiffs’ argument that the Hawaii County zoning code, on its face, treats religious uses less favorably than nonreligious assembly uses, in violation of RLUIPA’s equal terms provision.
United States v. Jimmie Bell et al. (W.D. Mo.)
On March 25, 2024, the United States filed a complaint in United States v. Jimmie Bell et al. (W.D. Mo.). The “election” complaint alleges that Jimmie Bell, the owner and manager of residential rental properties in Springfield, Missouri, discriminated on the basis of sex, in violation of the Fair Housing Act (FHA), by sexually harassing a female tenant from 2017 through 2019. The United States’ complaint also included a “group of persons” claim under the Fair Housing Act, based on additional victims that were identified during the Department’s investigation. The case was referred to the Division after HUD received a complaint, conducted an investigation, and issued a charge of discrimination.
United States v. Ariel Solis, et al. (D.N.M.)
On March 6, 2024, the United States filed a complaint in United States v. Ariel Solis, et al. (D.N.M.). The complaint alleges that between 2010 and 2022, Ariel Solis, a property manager in Albuquerque, New Mexico, engaged in a pattern or practice of sexual harassment against female tenants at St. Anthony Plaza Apartments in violation of the Fair Housing Act (FHA). The lawsuit further alleges that Solis’s employer, PacifiCap Properties Group, LLC, and the owners of St. Anthony Plaza, St. Anthony Limited Partnership and PacifiCap Holdings XXXVIII, LLC, are vicariously liable for Solis’s discriminatory conduct because Solis acted as their agent when he sexually harassed tenants at St. Anthony Plaza.