Man Convicted of Criminal Interference with the Right to Fair Housing (Hate Crime)

Here is another summary of a recent legal case involving a fair housing issue. This case is a little different than the typical fair housing case because it involves the criminal interference with the right to fair housing instead of the usual civil violation. Although this case doesn’t provide much guidance about the "dos and don'ts" under the Fair Housing Act for real estate professionals, I thought it was nevertheless interesting and worth posting.

On Tuesday (October 13, 2009), a Louisiana man plead guilty to firing three shots from a shotgun at the home of three Hispanic men and, after they fled, entering the home and setting a fire that burned it to the ground.

Johnny D. Mathis plead guilty to three criminal counts, including (1) criminal interference with the right to fair housing; (2) use of fire to commit a felony; and (3) use of a firearm during a crime of violence. Each count carries a maximum penalty of ten years in prison, a $250,000 fine, or both. Furthermore, the ten year penalties for use of fire to commit a felony and use of a firearm during a crime of violence are mandatory, meaning that Mr. Mathis now faces a maximum sentence of 30 years and a mandatory minimum of 20 years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for January 13, 2010.

Testimony presented at the plea hearing established that on June 15, 2008, Mr. Mathis fired three shots from a shotgun at the home of three Hispanic men who shared the residence in a rural area of western Louisiana. Mr. Mathis’ home was across the street from the victims’ house. After hearing two shots, the victims fled their house. Once outside, the victims watched as Mr. Mathis fired a third shot into the trees and then entered the house, left briefly, and then returned. Minutes later, the house was engulfed in flames as Mr. Mathis exited the house. Subsequent investigation determined that the fire started in the kitchen where the victims had seen Mr. Mathis. Mr. Mathis admitted that his crime was motivated by the victims’ race and national origin and was intended to interfere with their right to live in their home.

Although this matter did not involve a real estate professional or a real estate transaction, it is important for all real estate professionals to remember that the federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, familial status, national origin and disability. Real estate agents who violate the Fair Housing Act face only civil (monetary) damages and not prison time. The case against Mr. Mathis was different for (hopefully) obvious reasons.

Source: U.S. Department of Justice press release (portions of press release used with permission)

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To learn more about fair housing issues (along with a variety of other real estate topics), please visit us at www.123ConEd.com. We are the leading online provider of Michigan real estate continuing education. All of our courses are fully approved and properly certified by the State of Michigan, and are offered online.

Copyright © 123 ConEd LLC 2009. All rights reserved.

Nationwide Sex Offender Website

The United States Department of Justice provides a link on its website to a national sex offender website, which is known as the Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website ("NSOPW"). The NSOPW is coordinated by the Department of Justice and is a cooperation between all 50 states and the federal government. In addition to including sex offender registration information from all 50 states, it also includes registration information from Puerto Rico, Guam, the District of Columbia, and participating Native American tribes. The NSOPW allows users to submit a single national query to obtain information about sex offenders through a number of search options, including by location/zip code or by offender name.

The NSOPW was created in response to the November 2003 murder of Dru Kathrina Sjodin, who was a student of the University of North Dakota. She was kidnapped and killed by a registered sex offender (who was later caught, convicted and sentenced to death).

In addition to providing a comprehensive national database, the website also provides links to the separate sex offender registries of all 50 states (Public Registry Sites). This is a helpful place to quickly locate the sex offender registry of your specific state.

One more great resource for identifying the locations of registered sex offenders is a website called Family Watchdog. It is an excellent site and very comprehensive and user-friendly. This site displays search results on a map of the search location. The map uses color-coded markers to identify the exact location of registered sex offenders in your area. The color-coded map markers allow users to quickly determine whether the offender was convicted of an offense against children, rape, sexual battery, or a different sexual offense. And, if you click on one of the map markers, a separate window opens that shows a picture of the offender and provides a description of the crime.

As a father of two young children, I was terrified to see how many registered sex offenders live in my general area, which is considered a nice, clean, and safe neighborhood. Scary!

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To learn more about a variety of real estate topics, please visit us at www.123ConEd.com. We are a leading online provider of Michigan real estate continuing education. All of our courses are fully approved and properly certified by the State of Michigan, and are offered online.

Copyright © 123 ConEd LLC 2009. All rights reserved.