Landlord Ordered To Pay Damages For Housing Discrimination

Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — An Indianapolis landlord has been ordered to pay $220,000 in damages for violating federal housing law after an ill and bed-ridden tenant was told to move from an apartment in a building she owns.

A federal judge ruled last week on a 2016 lawsuit against Carolyn Smitley.

The lawsuit said Carolyn McGuffin was recovering from a flesh-eating infection when Smitley entered her apartment in 2015 and demanded that she leave. The lawsuit also said McGuffin was harassed and threatened with eviction.

McGuffin died in August 2016. Her estate was awarded $75,000. The Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana was awarded $46,000, and $99,000 in damages will pay for attorney fees.

Smitley told the Indianapolis Star and the Indianapolis Business Journal Wednesday that she didn't discriminate against McGuffin.

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