U.S. Department
of Justice
United States v. Mark Bell, et al. (W.D. Mo.)
On April 29, 2026, the United States entered into a settlement agreement in United States v. Mark Bell, et al. (W.D. Mo.). The complaint, which was filed on March 25, 2024, and amended on May 20, 2024, alleges that Jimmie Bell, the owner and manager of residential rental properties in Springfield, Missouri, violated the Fair Housing Act by sexually harassing and retaliating against female tenants for over a decade. Under the settlement agreement, defendants must pay $250,000 to former tenants harmed by Jimmie Bell’s harassment, make good faith efforts to have all retaliatory evictions against these tenants removed from public court records and credit reports, cease any ongoing efforts to obtain payments from former tenants who faced retaliatory evictions, and obtain training. In addition to Jimmie Bell, the complaint named property owners Fourth Bell LLC and the trustee of Second Bell Trust as defendants; Jimmie Bell died during the litigation and Mark Bell was substituted as successor defendant. The case was referred to the Division after HUD received a complaint, conducted an investigation, and issued a charge of discrimination.