U.S. Department
of Justice
United States v. Katz and All Real Estate Services in Montana, LLC (D. Mont.)
On May 17, 2017, after a six-day jury trial, the jury returned a verdict in favor of the United States in United States v. Katz and All Real Estate Services in Montana, LLC (D. Mont.), a Fair Housing Act election referral from HUD. The jury awarded a total of $37,000 in damages, consisting of approximately $31,000 in compensatory and punitive damages to the former tenant and approximately $6,000 in compensatory damages to the fair housing group that assisted her with her HUD complaint. The complaint, which was filed on October 6, 2014, alleged that defendants charged a $1000 pet deposit for a service animal owned by a tenant with traumatic brain injury, despite being requested to waive the deposit as a reasonable accommodation pursuant to section 804(f) of the Fair Housing Act. The complaint also alleged that defendant Katz threatened to evict the tenant after she sought the return of the deposit in violation of sec. 818 of the FHA.
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