God Help Us!
Landlord must pay in sex-for-rent case
BY RICK RUGGLES, WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
Ten women were awarded a total of $66,152 Thursday in a civil trial in which Omaha landlord John R. Koch was accused of seeking sex in lieu of rent.
The federal Department of Justice had asked the jury for awards totaling $1.9 million. Nine of the 19 women who had accused Koch of Fair Housing Act violations didn't receive any compensation.
The 12-person jury deliberated in federal court in Lincoln for five days.
Koch's attorney, Matthew McBride, said his client was relieved the trial was over. When the Justice Department asks for $1.9 million and the jury awards $66,152, that says much about the case, McBride said.
"The only thing I can tell you is that I'm impressed by the diligence of the jury," the attorney said.
The women asked for compensation for rent, security deposits, moving expenses and other actual costs. They also asked for punitive damages against Koch.
The woman who wore a hidden tape recorder after taking her complaint to the Fair Housing Center in Omaha was awarded a total of $31,556.
That woman captured on tape a conversation with Koch in which the two talked about the prospect of having sex so she could gain occupancy to a rental unit.
Another woman was awarded $5,327, but the jury awarded eight women less than $4,000 each
Well, Mr. Landlord Koch may not be finished with the Dept of Justice if they decide to prosecute him criminally under the Civil Rights Act. Hopefully, all of this will do wonders for his vacancy rate.