Landlord pressured tenants for sex acts, evicted those who refused, feds say. Now he owes
A landlord pressured female tenants into sex acts with him in exchange for rent, then evicted those who refused, federal officials said.
He’s now agreed to pay $390,000 to 12 women, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of Alabama announced in a Feb. 2 news release.
Randy Hames is accused of violating the Fair Housing Act by sexually harassing female tenants in his mobile home complex in Cullman, Alabama, federal officials said in a complaint.
“Sexual harassment by landlords is illegal, immoral and unacceptable,” U.S. Attorney Prim Escalona said in the release.
In a statement to McClatchy News, attorney Kile Turner, who represented Hames, said “the settlement was reached without (his client) admitting liability.”
“After nearly a week of trial, those claims were settled for significantly less than what the Dept. of Justice asked the jury to return,” Turner said.
Since at least 2011, Hames told multiple tenants he would excuse rent payments if they engaged in sexual acts with him but retaliated if they turned him down, officials said.
He is also accused of stalking his tenants by parking in their driveways for long periods of time, peering in through the windows and entering their homes without permission when they were sleeping or showering.
Officials cited specific incidents from 2011 to 2017 and described Hames’ behavior as a “pattern and practice of illegal sexual harassment.”
In one woman’s case, Hames repeatedly entered her home as he pleased because he had never installed a lock on her front door, officials said in the complaint.
He requested that she perform sex acts with him in exchange for rent money, but she refused and asked him to fix her front door lock, officials said.
He evicted her, then continued to harass her at her new residence, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
In another instance, he made physical advances on a woman in front of her toddler, then when she refused him, he posted an eviction notice on her door, federal officials said.
Hames and his company, Hames Marina and Mobile Home Park, are accused of violating the Fair Housing Act, which prohibits housing discrimination.
Hames settled the 2018 lawsuit after a three-day trial before a jury in which prosecutors said they demonstrated “Hames’ longstanding harassment and exploitation of female residents and prospective tenants, and the impact of Hames’ conduct on these women and their families.”
In addition to the civil suit, Hames faced an array of criminal charges stemming from his conduct as landlord, including human trafficking, attempted sexual extortion, soliciting prostitution and stalking.
Turner also clarified the sex crime charges against his client were dismissed. In November 2023, Hames’ pleaded guilty to four amended charges of harassment instead.
In addition to the $390,000 Hames must pay to the 12 women, he is also ordered to pay the government a $10,000 civil penalty.
Cullman is about 50 miles north of Birmingham.
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