Fair Housing Threat Following Lease Termination

[Rosie Sanchez]

State: TX

Here is the situation.

Last week a tenant came in and verbally attacked our office manager. This tenant was irate. He was shouting, screaming, and threatening our office manager because our maintenance technician was resurfacing a tub in a different unit and claimed that the fumes were strong. (The irate tenant does woodworking/crafting and uses strong chemicals daily).

My office manager felt unsafe and suspected that the tenant was under the influence of drugs, so she called the police, closed the office for 1 hour, issued a lease violation, and immediately walked the other unit where the tub was being resurfaced. Our maintenance tech was following all precautions, he had fans going, and the doors and windows were open for ventilation. Neighboring tenants were also home at the time and did not complain of fumes. We took statements from each of the tenants in that building to confirm they were home and did not smell fumes. While the office was closed for 1 hour, a new applicant was turned away and refused to come back because he thought the office was closed.

The next day, the tenant came back, and the same thing happened. Yelling, shouting, screaming, and threatening our office manager. This time he was not wearing a mask. In Texas, there is a $1,000 fine for people who do not wear masks in public places. During office hours we have a barred metal door with plexiglass closed and locked to prevent tenants from entering the office due to COVID-19. This tenant was sticking is mouth around the plexiglass, in between the bars shouting at my office manager. At this point, we decided to terminate the lease.

Our lease has a nuisance clause it in which states the following is a violation of the lease agreement and grounds for lease termination:

-behaving in a loud, unruly, or obnoxious manner,

-threatening the comfort, health, safety, or rights of others (tenants, Landlord’s agents)

-disrupting the Landlord’s business operations

All three apply to this tenant’s actions.

The tenant’s wife refers to herself as a “property manager” and claims to work at another apartment complex in town, not sure if this is true. I got an email from her today stating that she was filing a Fair Housing complaint against us for terminating their lease. In the past, she has made vague comments to our office manager about her husband refusing to take his medication. Our lease termination letter did not mention anything about a disability or mental illness.

My understanding is that Fair Housing protects tenants against discrimination but does not prevent tenants from being held to the terms of the lease.

Naturally, we are concerned about this Fair Housing threat. We want to proceed with an eviction because these tenants sound unlikely to move on their own. We indicated on the lease termination notice that the tenants have until 6/29/2020 to move out or an eviction will be filed.

What is our best course of action?

If we do proceed with an eviction, how can I best prepare my office manager?

[Kyle J.]

I would stick to the facts, and the specific lease violations, as you've outlined them here.  And avoid any mention/comment about medication or anything else that could potential be construed as having Fair Housing applicability.  It's just not relevant.  

I'd assume since this is an apartment complex, and you have a leasing office and a office manager as well as other employees (i.e. maintenance technician), that this is a professionally run operation and you also have an attorney/legal counsel (or you should).  I'd also consult that person too, just to be on the safe side and because they likely know your specific situation and your local laws the best.

Good luck.