To end a lawsuit brought by the Department of Justice, Hesperia agreed to end a program that gave contact with police as a valid ground for eviction. The Justice Department claimed the city’s “crime free” housing program intentionally discriminated against minority groups.
The city decided to end the lawsuit based only on a sound financial decision for Hesperian residents, and did not admit liability, wrote Hesperia’s counsel, J. Pat Ferraris of Homan Stone & Rossi.
Hesperia continues to deny the allegations brought by the Department of Justice, Ferraris wrote.
The “Crime Free Rental Housing” ordinance required rental property owners to evict tenants if notified by the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department that they were alleged to have engaged in any criminal activity near the property, regardless of arrests or charges. According to the Dec. 2, 2019, complaint, the Sheriff’s Department said noise violations or having a medical marijuana card could trigger eviction.
The program mandated landlords evict tenants that the Sheriff’s Department reported from Jan. 1, 2016, to July 18, 2017, and afterward made the evictions optional.
The Justice Department’s complaint claimed the Sheriff’s Department used its discretion to target African-American and Latino renters in Hesperia’s minority areas, and that city councilmembers wrote the ordinance with the intent to target minority renters. The lawsuit also named the Sheriff’s Department as a defendant..
The Sheriff’s Department declined to comment, saying the settlement is still being worked out.
“Until the case is approved by a Federal Judge and the case is dismissed, we are unable to comment at this time,” wrote Gloria Huerta, San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department public information officer.
Twelve federal prosecutors worked on the suit.
“So-called ‘crime-free’ ordinances are often fueled by racially discriminatory objectives, destabilize communities and promote modern-day racial segregation,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division in a press release.
“These ordinances can uproot lives, force families into homelessness and result in loss of jobs, schooling, and opportunities for people who are disproportionately low-income people of color. ‘Crime-free’ ordinances may also constitute a discriminatory solution in search of a problem and run afoul of the core goals underlying the Fair Housing Act.
The Department of Justice filed its lawsuit in 2019, based on an investigation from the Department of Housing and Urban Development that found Black renters were four times as likely and Latino renters 29% more likely to be evicted than white renters due to the program. It also found 96% of evictions under the program lived in minority census blocks, in which 79% of rental households live.
City councilmembers cited a “demographics problem” when discussing the ordinance, the complaint claims. One councilmember said the ordinance could straighten out Hesperia’s “issue with a lot of Section 8 housing,” the complaint said.
The Department of Justice shared three instances of families being evicted after they called the police for help. A Black woman was evicted after she made domestic violence calls to the police. A Latina was evicted for calling the police to help her boyfriend, who was having a mental health crisis. A Black family was evicted after the mother called the police for help. They were unable to find another rental in Hesperia because the program placed them on a list provided to landlords. In that case, the parents moved away, and left their daughter to finish high school.
Under the settlement, Hesperia and the Sheriff’s Department will spend $670,000 to compensate people harmed by the program. They also will pay $100,000 in civil penalties, fund $95,000 in affirmative marketing to promote “fair housing” in Hesperia and spend $85,000 in partnerships with community-based organizations.
The settlement must still be approved by a federal judge.
Case information
California Central District Judge Andre Birotte presides.
Alyssa Lareau, Anna Medina, Abigail Nurse, John Fowler, Katherine Hikida and Orly May prosecuted.
James Patrick Ferraris of Redlands’ Homan Stone and Rossi defended Hesperia.
Amy R. Margolies and Shannon Gustafson of Orange’s Lynberg and Watkins defended San Bernardino County and the Sheriff’s Department.
Read the complaint here.
Read the settlement here.
