Between 2006 and 2011 the Iowa Civil Rights Commission engaged in a practice of filing housing discrimination charges against landlords, which it would then settle through “donations” that went directly to the commission rather than the state’s general fund, reports Jason Clayworth at the Des Moines Register. “The requests came after sting operations in which representatives of the commission would, for example, pose as prospective tenants and tell landlords over the phone that they needed a service dog for anxiety reasons and quiz them as to whether a pet deposit would apply to them.”
4 Comments
The Jesse Jackson Model of government.
Um, “donations?”
Exactly what part of “shakedown” is unclear?
How is this not a criminal conspiracy? Hello, RICO any one? Oh, and help me out here: Explain to me as a hypothetical land lord how is it different if an anxiety “service” dog sh**s all over the carpet versus a family pet dog sh**ting all over the carpet? In both cases, the carpet will need to be replaced, hence the pet deposit to cover it.
At least the donations were paid to the state agency — unlike when you wrap a $20 bill around your driver’s license when you hand it to the cop who pulled you over.