Recent Accomplishments Of The Housing And Civil Enforcement Section

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Recent Accomplishments Of The Housing And Civil Enforcement Section
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https://www.justice.gov/crt/recent-accomplishments-housing-and-civil-enforcem... ↗

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servicemembers, including double damages to servicemembers who paid GTA’s early termination charges, and a $50,000 civil penalty to the United States. The settlement also requires GTA to revise its policies to ensure that eligible military servicemembers can end their cell phone service contracts without incurring illegal early termination charges.
On April 22, 2025, the United States entered into a settlement agreement resolving United States v. Tony’s Auto Center (S.D. Cal.). The complaint, which was filed on August 23, 2024, alleges that Tony’s Auto Center, a towing company in Chula Vista, California, violated the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act by auctioning, without a court order, a vehicle belonging to a Navy Lieutenant while he was deployed at sea aboard an aircraft carrier. The settlement agreement requires Tony’s Auto Center to adopt new SCRA-compliant procedures, pay $7,500 in damages to the Navy Lieutenant, and pay a $2,000 civil penalty to the United States.
Sexual Harassment
On April 27, 2026, the court entered a consent order in United States v. Joseph E. Johnson (E.D. Ky.). The complaint, which was filed on December 3, 2024, alleged that Johnson, a landlord in Lexington, Kentucky, sexually harassed female tenants for several decades by, among other things, offering housing-related benefits in exchange for sexual contact, making unwelcome sexual comments and advances to female tenants, subjecting female tenants to unwelcome touching and groping, taking adverse housing-related actions against female tenants who refused his sexual advances, and failing to act when made aware of similar harassing behaviors by one or more of his employees. The consent order permanently bars Johnson from managing rental properties or contacting women harmed by his harassment.