U.S. Department
of Justice
United States v. Joel Nolen et al. (E.D. Cal.)
On June 20, 2025, the court entered a consent order resolving the claims against Joel Lynn Nolen, Shirlee Nolen, and Nolen Properties, LLC in United States v. Joel Nolen, et al. (E.D. Cal.). The consent order permanently bars Joel and Shirlee Nolen from contacting tenants harmed by his harassment and from managing residential rental properties and requires defendants to provide training and adopt policies and procedures to prevent future discrimination at residential rental properties that they own or manage. Joel and Shirlee Nolen must establish a $960,000 settlement fund to compensate 19 aggrieved persons and pay a $40,000 civil penalty to the United States. On September 27, 2024, the Court entered a consent order resolving the claims against the defendants Nancy Canale, as trustee of the Bernard Canale and Nancy Canale 1998 Revocable Trust, and Bernard Canale, by and through his successor in interest Nancy Canale (the “Canale Defendants”), and requiring them to establish a $100,000 settlement fund to compensate aggrieved. On April 6, 2023, the United States filed an amended complaint. The original complaint, which was filed on February 23, 2023, alleged that Joel Nolen discriminated on the basis of sex in violation of the Fair Housing Act (FHA) because he sexually harassed multiple female tenants since at least 2011. The original complaint also named as defendants Shirlee Nolen and Nolen Properties, LLC because they co-own or co-owned properties where harassment occurred at the relevant times. The amended complaint added the Canale Defendants because they co-owned properties where harassment occurred at the relevant times.
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