West v. DJ Mortgage, LLC

164 F. Supp. 3d 1393, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 29303, 2016 WL 827248
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Georgia
DecidedFebruary 19, 2016
DocketCIVIL ACTION NO. 1:15-CV-0397-AT
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 164 F. Supp. 3d 1393 (West v. DJ Mortgage, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
West v. DJ Mortgage, LLC, 164 F. Supp. 3d 1393, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 29303, 2016 WL 827248 (N.D. Ga. 2016).

Opinion

ORDER

Amy Totenberg, United States District Judge

This matter comes before the Court on Defendant DJ Mortgage LLC’s Motion to Dismiss [Doc. 6]. Plaintiff Kayla West filed this suit seeking relief under the Fair Housing Act of 1968 (“FHA”) as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 3601, et seq. Plaintiff alleges sexual discrimination and unlawful interference with her rights under the FHA arising from her rental of a single-family home from DJ Mortgage. DJ Mortgage argues that West failed to plead facts sufficient to state a claim. For the reasons set forth below, the Court DENIES Defendant DJ Mortgage’s Motion to Dismiss.

I. STANDARD FOR MOTION TO DISMISS

A complaint should be dismissed under Rule 12(b)(6) only where it appears that the facts alleged fail to state a “plausible” claim for relief. Bell Atlantic v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555-56, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007); Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). The plaintiff need only give the defendant fair notice of the plaintiffs claim and the grounds upon which it rests. See Erickson v. Pardus, 551 U.S. 89, 93, 127 S.Ct. 2197, 167 L.Ed.2d 1081 (2007) (citing Bell Atlantic v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007)); Fed.R.Civ.P. 8(a). In ruling on a motion to dismiss, the court must accept the facts alleged in the complaint as true and construe them in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. See Hill v. White, 321 F.3d 1334, 1335 (11th Cir.2003).

A claim is plausible where the plaintiff alleges factual content that “allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009). A plaintiff is not required to provide “detailed factual allegations” to survive dismissal, but the “obligation to provide the ‘grounds’ of his ‘entitle[ment] to relief requires more than labels and conclusions, and a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action will not do.” Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955. The plausibility standard requires that a plaintiff allege sufficient facts “to raise a reasonable expectation that discovery will reveal evidence” that supports the plaintiffs claim. Id. at 556, 127 S.Ct. 1955. A complaint may survive a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim even if it is “improbable” that a plaintiff would be able to prove those facts and even if the possibility of recovery is extremely “remote and unlikely.” Id.

II. BACKGROUND

In early August 2013, West, a single mother with four children, emailed DJ Mortgage after seeing its Craigslist advertisement regarding a single family home it had available for rental. (ComplY 12.) At the time of West’s email, Gene Andrews was one of DJ Mortgage’s Property Managers, and was responsible for handling maintenance requests, collecting rent, and taking care of tenant needs for the home in question. (Id. ¶¶ 10-11.) Andrews responded to West on behalf of DJ Mortgage and agreed to rent the home to her. (Id. ¶ 13.) After Andrews agreed to rent the home to West, he told West, “I’m gonna need you to give me a hug.” (Id.) West brushed this comment off, because she did [1396]*1396not consider it to be a serious sexual advance from Andrews. (Id ¶ 42.)

A few days later, Andrews arranged to meet West in a parking lot so that she could receive her house keys and sign documents necessary to rent the home, including the rental lease. (Id. ¶¶ 15-17.) At this meeting, Andrews made a far more serious sexual advance towards West. While West sat in the passenger seat of Andrews’ car and signed the rental lease and lead paint forms, Andrews reached over to the passenger seat, lifted West’s skirt, and grabbed her genitals. (Id ¶ 17.) West slapped Andrews’ hand away, exited the vehicle, and drove away in her car. (Id. ¶¶ 17-18.) Despite Andrews’ actions, West still decided to rent the house from DJ Mortgage, because she needed somewhere to live with her four children and had already paid her rental deposit. (Id. ¶ 19.)

Andrews’ advances continued after West moved into the house. For example, on August 23, 2013, West requested that Andrews repair a bedroom door that had fallen off its hinges. After several days of delay, Andrews indicated that a repairmen was being sent out, then promptly asked West on a date, which she declined. (Id. ¶ 22.) Only two days after this incident, West contacted Andrews about a burst pipe, and Andrews again asked West on a date. (Id. ¶ 26.) After West again politely declined, a repairman came out to the house, but only fixed the burst pipe itself and did not repair “the soaked wall or remedy the other effects of the [resultant] flooding.” (Id. ¶ 28.) And just a few weeks later, on September 21, 2013, Andrews requested that West send him a nude picture. West had asked that Andrews send someone to repair mite-infested carpeting. After that repair was completed, West thanked Andrews. Andrews responded by saying, “You welcome. Maybe I can come get my pic.” After West responded “Which one?” Andrews replied by saying “The where [sic] I can see all that sexiness.” (Id. ¶ 35.) West declined all of Andrews’ requests. (Id. ¶¶ 23, 26, 36.)

On those occasions where Andrews did not request a date or nude pictures from West in connection with her repair requests, he allegedly ignored those requests or threatened her with eviction. (Id. ¶¶ 22, 35, 42.) For example, West complained that her furnace was not working on September 14, 2013. In response, Andrews “said that he could get her out, and put other tenants in the property who would not ask that he provide the services and repairs that she was requesting.” (Id. ¶ 33.) And Andrews failed to fix West’s refrigerator and furnace in late September of 2013. When West inquired specifically about the fridge and indicated that her food was going bad, he responded by saying “Do what you have to do.” (Id. ¶¶ 38-39.)

West informed DJ Mortgage of these facts in a letter she sent to it on October 21, 2013. There, she wrote:

every time [Andrews] did something to my home he asked for naked picture or asked to talk privately on the phone which I did not respond[,] so I’m afraid of being homeless because I did not give in to his actions, everything that’s been going on I’ve become stressed with anxiety and panic attacks.

(Id. ¶ 42.)

West explained in the letter that during the two months she had been a tenant she experienced multiple problems with the house.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
164 F. Supp. 3d 1393, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 29303, 2016 WL 827248, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/west-v-dj-mortgage-llc-gand-2016.