U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana issued the following announcement on April 28.
As the country adopts drastic measures to slow the spread of COVID-19, many Americans have lost their jobs and many more have seen their wages curtailed. These losses have forced many to seek abatements or suspensions of their rent, with reports that nearly one third of Americans were unable to pay their April rent at the beginning of the month.
Many landlords responded to these circumstances with understanding and care, by working with their tenants to weather the current crisis. However, there have been reports of other property owners who have demanded sexual favors and other acts of unwelcomed sexual conduct in exchange for deferral of rent payments. Such behavior is despicable and illegal.
In a recent memo, the Attorney General instructed every U.S. Attorney across the country to take legal action against anyone trying to capitalize on the current crisis by sexually harassing those in need of housing. "The pandemic is dangerous enough without wrongdoers seeking to profit from public panic and this sort of conduct cannot be tolerated." said Attorney General Barr. To address predatory practices by unscrupulous landlords, Attorney General Barr directed Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, Eric Dreiband, and Christina Nolan, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Vermont to oversee and coordinate U.S. Attorneys’ Offices efforts to devote all necessary resources to investigate reports of housing-related sexual harassment resulting from the current crisis.
U.S. Attorneys’ Offices will work with all Department of Justice offices, federal agencies, as well as state, local, and tribal officials to combat housing related sexual harassment. State, local, and tribal authorities are on notice that the Justice Department and U.S. Attorneys stand ready to take aggressive action against housing-related sexual harassment whenever and wherever it occurs. “Our office remains on alert to assist victims of sexual harassment and will aggressively investigate reports of landlord predatory practices related to COVID-19,” said U.S. Attorney Peter G. Strasser. “The victimization of tenants during this national crisis will not be tolerated and violators will be prosecuted.”
Original source can be found here.