Victoria Sutton has filed a lawsuit against her former landlord after he allegedly evicted her for having a black co-worker over at the home she was renting.
According to the lawsuit, the couple who own the home told her that they don’t let black people on her property and that she had to move out.
In September 2018, Sutton invited over a black man and his 5-year-old son over for play dates with her two daughters. Her landlord, Allen McCoy, shortly came to her home and told her she had to leave.
The lawsuit claims that McCoy called Sutton a “(racial epithet) lover” and said he would call child protective services for having a “(racial epithet) on their property.” He gave her two weeks to move out.
Sutton then called Patricia McCoy, McCoy’s wife, and begged her to let her stay in her home. Sutton said she recorded the conversation and that Patricia can be heard telling her that she didn’t “put up with (racial epithets) in my (house) and I don’t want them in my property.”
“This case is a clear reminder that the pervasive and insidious racism that led to the passage of the Fair Housing Act more than 50 years ago persists to this day,” said Brian Corman, an attorney with Cohen Milstein, a Washington law firm. “America thrives when people of all races and backgrounds are able to live in their communities without fear that they will be thrown out of their homes because of their race or the race of those with whom they associate.”
Patricia said that her eviction had nothing to do with having black guests and everything to do with being filthy.
“It took me four months to get it back to where I could rent it out again,” Patricia said. “I could sue her and make her replace all the stuff she tore up in there. It cost me $5,000 to get the house (back to normal).”
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