Friday, March 27, 2020

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE 'SEXUAL HARASSMENT INITIATIVE' REPRESENTATIVE AANJALI' ANDERSON SENDS ME A REPLY LETTER TODAY ON BEHALF OF THAT FEDERAL OFFICIAL'S HOUSING AND CIVIL ENFORCEMENT SECTION OF THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE CIVIL RIGHTS DIVISION IN WASHINGTON, D.C.

I am very grateful to the U.S. Department of Justice "Sexual Harassment Initiative Contractor" Aanjali’ Anderson in that federal agency's Housing and Civil Enforcement Section of their Civil Rights Division in Washington, D.C., for the reply e-mail letter I received from that very helpful federal official today:


----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Anderson, Aanjali (CRT)
To: John McMillan
Cc: Anderson, Aanjali (CRT)
Sent: Friday, March 27, 2020, 11:10:34 AM CDT
Subject: RE: 3-24-20 question for U.S. Department of Justice Fair Housing Office


Dear Mr. McMillan:


Thank you for contacting the Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Housing and Civil Enforcement Section. Inquiries to our office are responded to in the order they were received. A representative from our office will contact you as soon as possible.

If you believe that you have been discriminated against in housing, including being sexually harassed by your housing provider, or another person with control of your housing, you may want to file a complaint with HUD. Filing a complaint with HUD is free and does not require an attorney.

Please note that Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 3601 et seq., prohibits sexual harassment in housing and other forms of housing discrimination including race, color, religion, national origin, sex, familial status and disability. Additionally, the Fair Housing Act prohibits retaliation against an individual who has complained about a possible violation of his or her housing rights. The Department of Justice and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) share responsibility for enforcing the Fair Housing Act. HUD is the agency with primary responsibility to investigate individual complaints of discrimination.

If you believe you have been discriminated against in housing, you may contact HUD to request an investigation of your complaint. Your complaint must be filed with HUD within one year after the alleged discriminatory incident occurred. HUD will then investigate the complaint and determine whether or not there is reasonable cause to believe that discrimination occurred. If HUD determines there is reasonable cause to believe that discrimination occurred, it will issue a “charge of discrimination,” and the case will proceed either in federal court or in a hearing before a HUD administrative law judge. Either way, a government attorney will prosecute the case at no cost to you.


A description of the Fair Housing Act and the HUD complaint process is contained in a brochure titled “Fair Housing: Equal Opportunity for All,” which we have enclosed for your review. We have also enclosed a copy of another HUD brochure -- titled “Are You a Victim of Housing Discrimination?” -- which contains a form for filing a complaint with HUD. If you want to file a complaint with HUD or have questions about the information included in these brochures, please contact HUD at:

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
https://www.hud.gov/topics/housing_discrimination
(800) 669-9777

A HUD representative will be able to answer your questions and assist with the filing of a complaint.

You may also file a lawsuit under the Fair Housing Act without filing a complaint with HUD. See 42 U.S.C. § 3613. If you wish to do so, you must file the lawsuit within two years of the alleged discriminatory incident.

You may want to speak with a private attorney to determine what claims, if any, you may have under applicable federal and state laws. If you do not have an attorney, you may find your state bar association or local legal assistance agency helpful in locating an attorney to discuss your complaint. To find the offices that may be able to help you, please visit:

American Bar Association
https://www.americanbar.org/groups/legal_services/flh-home/
(800) 285-2221

Legal Services Corporation (Legal Aid offices)
https://www.lsc.gov/what-legal-aid/find-legal-aid
(202) 295-1500

Aanjali’ Anderson
United States Department of Justice
Civil Rights Division
Housing and Civil Enforcement Section
Sexual Harassment Initiative Contractor
_____

From: John McMillan
Sent: Tuesday, March 24, 2020 8:03 PM
To: FAIRHOUSING, CRT (CRT) ; City of Austin EEOC/Fair Housing Administrator Enrique Serrano ; Margaret Moore ; Kirk Watson ; Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt ; charles.wood@texasattorneygeneral.gov; District 4 ; sarah@nshhcoalition.org; icehumantrafficking.helpdesk@dhs.gov; Hernandez Sally [TCSO] ; Texas Rangers 2015 ; takebackhope@tlsc.org; Darla Dixon ; Federal Law Enf. Officers Assn ; Commissioner Jeffrey Travillion 2019 ; Jeff Libby ; Rosie Truelove ; Patrick B. Howard ; help@humantraffickinghotline.org; Polarisproject Info ; arthur.fortune@austintexas.gov; brooke.grona-robb@dallascounty.org; Texas Tenants Union ; Austin Mayor Steve Adler ; City of Austin Interim City Attorney Anne Morgan ; CountyAttorneyDavidEscamilla ; human.trafficking@ag.ny.gov; Humantrafficking ; TRA General Counsel Kenneth Besserman ; Governor's Office of Texas Open Records Administrator ; Travis County Commissioner Brigid Shea ; Gerald Daugherty ; David Maxwell ; Austin Police Dept. Asst. Chief Troy Gay ; central_texas@cruz.senate.gov; United States Senate ; Thomas ; ITVERP ; Joyfulheartfoundation Info ; Rep. Sheryl Cole (2019 CentralTX) ; ACLU ; Piper Stege Nelson ; Safeaustin Info ; State Comptroller Criminal Investigations Division Chief Martin Cano ; Doc Webmaster ; Ftc Webmaster ; US Marshals (USMS) ; Joebiden Info ; tulsioffice@mail.house.gov; press@warren.senate.gov; Mike Henderson ; Texas Legal ; Texas Association Against Sexual Assault Atty Kaiser 2016 ; Rainn Info ; Texasadvocacyproject Info ; State Senator Joan Huffman ; marcos.johnson@austintexas.gov; Dave Mahoney ; Andre Adams ; Jeff Pender ; U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Devlpt (TX regional office) ; DFPS Office Of Consumer Relations ; Public Information
Subject: 3-24-20 question for U.S. Department of Justice Fair Housing Office

To:Civil Rights Division,
U.S. Department of Justice,
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW,
Washington, DC 20530-0001,
Main office number: (202) 514-3847
Your Civil Rights Division's toll-free phone number citedly for reporting alleged possible sexual harassment of a tenant by a landlord or property owner:
1-844-380-6178
"Sexual Harassment in Housing Initiative - How to Report"

March 24, 2020

Dear U.S. Department of Justice "Sexual Harassment in Housing" Investigators and Prosecutors,

Would you please clarify for me in writing any and all specific contexts in which a rent-paying official apartment tenant in Austin, Texas, would be permitted by your "Sexual Harassment in Housing Initiative" office of the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., to file a legal complaint to that particular office that your federal agency might then investigate?

Also, do you know which legal options a rent-paying official tenant in Austin has in attempting to file a legal complaint of the above type if a circumstance were to occur in which that tenant's apartment management team has specifically declined in writing to provide him or her with the name and contact information for the actual property owner of the commercial real-estate property in which that tenant resides as a rent-paying official management-team-approved tenant?

Thank you in advance for your very helpful reply letter to me on this.


Sincerely and Best Wishes,


John Kevin McMillan, a single-by-choice, longtime-celibate-by-choice, permanently-drinking-alcohol-free, civil and law-abiding and honest, platonicly polite, gainfully-employed, non-Hispanic Anglo adult male rent-paying official tenant inside a management-approved solo-occupancy efficiency apartment unit in north Austin.
Home phone: (512) 342-2295.
Home address ever since June 21, 2019:
Pebble Creek Apartments, 8805 North Plaza Drive, Apt. 2418 (in Building 17), Austin, TX 78753.

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