Which OT'er? - NOLA landlord only rents to "skinny white girls"

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A New Orleans landlord was accused of sexually harassing female tenants and barring prospective male and black tenants from his properties in a lawsuit filed Tuesday.

Coming under fire in the federal suit is Jerry Kelly Jr., who said he manages roughly 100 properties with at least 200 tenants across the New Orleans area.

The suit filed by the Greater New Orleans Housing Fair Action Center says Kelly, 53, made sexual propositions to female tenants and would enter their apartments at random without their permission.

It says Kelly also refused to show his apartments to male “testers” the housing center commissioned to pose as prospective renters. However, he would readily respond to and show properties to female testers, the suit says.

Later that year, a female real estate agent Kelly hired to help lease his apartments contacted the housing center, claiming that Kelly rents only to “young, skinny, white girls,” and that she personally witnessed Kelly turn away more qualified men in order to rent to women, according to the suit.

The agent said Kelly then harassed the female tenants, prompting several of them to move out before their leases were up. Kelly also repeatedly made unannounced visits to her apartment, and “told her he would reduce her rent if she ‘set him up on a date’ with one of her friends,” according to the suit.

Another former tenant said Kelly grabbed her backside when they met to sign the lease, and that he later told her that he “only returned her call because he believed she was attractive, based on the sound of her voice.” Had Kelly known she was married, the woman said he told her, he wouldn’t have bothered.

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