United States of America v. David Montanus and Lisa Montanus

Concord, New Hampshire civil litigation lawyers represented the Defendants accused of violating the Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization Act of 2022 (VAWA), 34 U.S.C. § 12495.

In May 2025, the Department of Justice alleged that Defendants David and Lisa Montanus violated VAWA when they unlawfully penalized the complainant by evicting her after she sought police assistance for domestic violence.
“Tenants have a right to request law enforcement and emergency services when they need assistance,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “No one should be faced with the choice of calling for help or losing her housing.”

“Violence against women will never be tolerated in New Hampshire,” said U.S. Attorney Erin Creegan for the District of New Hampshire. “Penalizing survivors of violence with eviction for seeking help revictimizes them. We will use all available legal tools to protect the civil rights of victims.”

“I will not allow women seeking police intervention in a domestic violence situation to later be victimized with an eviction because they sought the assistance of our brave police,” said Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity Craig Trainor. “Secretary Turner’s HUD is dedicated to protecting women from violence and ensuring that the fair housing rights of all Americans are protected.”

In 2022, Congress reauthorized VAWA and added provisions that strengthened housing protections for people who require emergency assistance at their homes, including survivors of domestic violence. VAWA provides a right to seek law enforcement or emergency assistance, and prohibits housing providers from taking adverse actions, including eviction or threat of eviction, when a tenant, resident, occupant, or guest seeks emergency assistance.

The case was referred to the Civil Rights Division after the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) received a complaint, conducted an investigation, and issued a charge of discrimination.

34 U.S.C. § 12495 provides:
(1) Right to Report

Landlords, homeowners, tenants, residents, occupants, and guests of, and applicants for, housing—
(A) shall have the right to seek law enforcement or emergency assistance on their own behalf or on behalf of another person in need of assistance; and
(B) shall not be penalized based on their requests for assistance or based on criminal activity of which they are a victim or otherwise not at fault under statutes, ordinances, regulations, or policies adopted or enforced by covered governmental entities.

(2) Prohibited penalties

Penalties that are prohibited under paragraph (1) include—
(A) actual or threatened assessment of monetary or criminal penalties, fines, or fees;
(B) actual or threatened eviction;
(C) actual or threatened refusal to rent or renew tenancy;
(D) actual or threatened refusal to issue an occupancy permit or landlord permit; and
(E) actual or threatened closure of the property, or designation of the property as a nuisance or a similarly negative designation.
(c) ReportingConsistent with the process described in section 5304(b) of title 42, covered governmental entities shall—
(1) report any of their laws or policies, or, as applicable, the laws or policies adopted by subgrantees, that impose penalties on landlords, homeowners, tenants, residents, occupants, guests, or housing applicants based on requests for law enforcement or emergency assistance or based on criminal activity that occurred at a property; and
(2) certify that they are in compliance with the protections under this part or describe the steps the covered governmental entities will take within 180 days to come into compliance, or to ensure compliance among subgrantees.

(d) Implementation

The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and the Attorney General shall implement and enforce this subpart consistent with, and in a manner that provides, the same rights and remedies as those provided for in title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.).
(e) Subgrantees

For those covered governmental entities that distribute funds to subgrantees, compliance with subsection (c)(1) includes inquiring about the existence of laws and policies adopted by subgrantees that impose penalties on landlords, homeowners, tenants, residents, occupants, guests, or housing applicants based on requests for law enforcement or emergency assistance or based on criminal activity that occurred at a property.

The settlement requires the Defendants to comply with VAWA and prohibits them from making adverse credit reports regarding the complainant’s tenancy. If the Defendants acquire rental properties during the three-year term of the settlement, they must report those acquisitions to the United States and undergo VAWA training. The Defendants must also pay $25,000 to compensate the complainant and her minor children.