Ariel Solis Veleta, Sexual Harassment, New Mexico 2024
Ariel Solis Veleta, a former property manager at St. Anthony Plaza Apartments in Albuquerque, New Mexico, has agreed to pay $360,000 to resolve a lawsuit alleging that he sexually harassed female tenants in violation of the Fair Housing Act.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico in March 2024, alleges that for more than a decade, Solis sexually harassed female tenants at St. Anthony Plaza Apartments, a Section 8 Project-Based Rental Assistance property with 160 units in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The suit alleges that Solis's conduct included making unwelcome sexual comments to female tenants, touching female tenants without their consent, locking female tenants in his office to demand sex acts, and threatening to evict female tenants who did not give in to his sexual demands.
Ariel Solis Veleta, Property Manager, New Mexico, March 2024, $360,000 settlement for sexual harassment
“A home should be a place of refuge, not fear,” said Deputy Assistant Attorney General Kathleen P. Wolfe of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Justice Department will hold property managers and landlords accountable when they target and exploit vulnerable tenants with sexual harassment.”
The consent decree, which still must be approved by the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico, requires Solis to pay $350,000 to tenants harmed by his harassment and a $10,000 civil penalty to the United States. The consent decree permanently bars Solis from contacting tenants harmed by his harassment, permanently bars Solis from managing residential rental properties, and mandates training and the adoption of policies and procedures to prevent future discrimination at residential rental properties owned or managed by defendants.
Individuals who believe they may have been victims of sexual harassment by Ariel Solis or at St. Anthony Plaza Apartments may email Solis.Investigation@usdoj.gov or call the Justice Department’s Housing Discrimination Tip Line at 1-833-591-0291.
Key Facts
- State: New Mexico
- Category: Sex Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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