UPDATED: MD AG Brown Announces Judgement Against Eastern Shore Landlord for Violating Civil Rights Laws

November 27, 2025/Mari Lou

UPDATED – 11/27/25 – Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown has won an historic judgement against a Wicomico County group which engaged in gender-based discrimination in housing. Brown announced a nearly $2.5-million judgement against Eric Sessoms and Mt. Vernon Group, LLC. – the lawsuit was filed in 2024. Sessoms operates and manages Eastern Shore rental properties owned by the Mt. Vernon Group. An investigation found that Sessoms exploited women facing housing instability – offering reduced rent and other housing benefits in exchange for sexual favors. Earlier this week the Wicomico County Circuit Court granted the Civil Rights Division’s requests for injunctive relief, restitution for tenants and prospective tenants harmed by Sessoms’ conduct, civil penalties, and the costs of the investigation and litigation against Sessoms and Mt. Vernon Group, LLC.

Additional information from AG Brown:

The Civil Rights Division’s investigation found that Sessoms exploits women facing housing instability, offering reduced rent and other housing benefits in exchange for sexual favors. He subjects tenants and applicants to unwanted sexual advances, coercive conduct, voyeurism, and sexual assault, targeting them based on gender in clear violation of federal and state fair housing laws.  

On Tuesday, the Wicomico County Circuit Court granted the Civil Rights Division’s requests for injunctive relief, restitution for tenants and prospective tenants harmed by Sessoms’ conduct, civil penalties, and the costs of the investigation and litigation against Sessoms and Mt. Vernon Group, LLC.    

The Court’s Order found that the defendants, Eric Sessoms and Mt Vernon Group, LLC, violated both the federal Fair Housing Act and Maryland anti-discrimination laws, prohibiting discrimination in housing. In doing so, the Court prohibits Sessoms from working in the residential rental industry in any capacity and requires Mt Vernon Group, LLC to appoint a new resident agent. Mt Vernon Group, LLC is further required to conduct training on an annual basis for all owners, agents, and employees that covers gender-based discrimination and sexual harassment in housing.   

The Court’s order also provides monetary relief to the victims of Sessoms and Mt Vernon Group, LLC’s discriminatory conduct; in total, the defendants are required to pay a monetary judgment of $2,495,000. This amount includes $2,325,000 to compensate women tenants and prospective tenants harmed by the defendants’ discrimination. The remaining monetary damages include $170,000 in civil penalties to the state to ensure that this gender-based discrimination does not persist. In addition to the $2.495 million judgment, the state was awarded $111,711.25 for the cost of investigation and litigation. 

“This $2.49 million judgment puts predatory landlords on notice that we will hold them accountable. These survivors showed tremendous courage coming forward, and today’s ruling ensures they receive justice,” said Attorney General Brown. “No one should have to endure sexual harassment to keep a roof over their head.”  

It is unlawful for landlords to sexually harass tenants or prospective tenants or take retaliatory actions against tenants or prospective tenants who refuse or report a landlord’s sexual advances. The Attorney General and the Civil Rights Division take allegations of this nature seriously. You can report civil rights violations to the Office of the Attorney General by email at civilrights@oag.maryland.gov, or you can submit a complaint on our website at https://oag.maryland.gov/i-need-to/Pages/civil-rights-division.aspx or by calling 410-576-6300, and an investigator will follow up with you. 

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ORIGINAL STORY – 07/19/24 – Maryland’s newly established Civil Rights Division has filed its first lawsuit in the Circuit Court for Wicomico County. The suit is against Eric Sessoms and the Mt. Vernon Group for engaging in a pattern or practice of gender-based discrimination in housing. The investigation by the Civil Rights Division found reasonable cause to believe that Sessoms, in his management role, subjected women who were tenants and prospective tenants to unwelcome and severe or pervasive sexual harassment. The Division is seeing injunctive relief, restitution for tenants and prospective tenants harmed by Sessoms’ conduct, civil penalties and costs of the investigation and litigation.

Additional information from AG Brown’s release:

Sessoms operates and manages Eastern Shore rental properties owned by Mt. Vernon Group, LLC.  The investigation conducted by the Civil Rights Division found that there is reasonable cause to believe that, in his management role, Sessoms subjected women who were tenants and prospective tenants to unwelcome and severe or pervasive sexual harassment in violation of the Fair Housing Act and Maryland’s anti-discrimination laws.  

“For too long predatory landlords have taken advantage of people in financial and housing crisis by abusing their power as housing providers to make sexual demands of tenants or prospective tenants – often low-income women and single mothers,” said Attorney General Anthony Brown. “In Maryland, that ends today. This historic filing puts landlords on notice: you cannot sexually harass your tenants. And if you do, the Office of the Attorney General will take action.”  

The complaint alleges that Eric Sessoms specifically preyed on vulnerable women either experiencing, or at risk of experiencing, homelessness. He targeted women facing financial difficulties to exploit those vulnerabilities. He offered housing benefits, like reduced rent, in exchange for sexual favors and subjected women tenants and prospective tenants to unwanted sexual advances, unwelcome sexual contact, unsolicited sexual comments, and other egregious conduct in a discriminatory fashion on the basis of his tenants’ and prospective tenants’ gender.  

“Maryland is already suffering from a tragic housing crisis, impacting so many families—primarily women with children—who are left with too few options. Landlords, like Sessoms, who take full advantage of women in desperate situations and broker in insidious, gender-based discrimination, cannot be tolerated,” said Vicki Schultz, Executive Director of Maryland Legal Aid, the state’s largest provider of free civil legal services.  “We are proud to have partnered with the Attorney General’s Civil Rights Division on this case from day one, and we will continue collaborating on behalf of Maryland’s most vulnerable people and communities.” 

The Civil Rights Division seeks injunctive relief, restitution for tenants and prospective tenants harmed by Sessoms’ conduct, civil penalties, and the costs of the investigation and litigation against Eric Sessom and Mt. Vernon Group, LLC. 

It is illegal for landlords to take retaliatory actions against tenants or prospective tenants who refuse a landlord’s sexual advances or who report or object to harassing behavior. If you have any information to share about Eric Sessoms or Mt. Vernon Group LLC., please call 1-833-282-2977 or email MDvSessoms@oag.state.md.us.

Sexual harassment in housing is prohibited by Md. Code Ann., State Gov’t § 20-705 and provisions of Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, as amended, 42 U.S.C. §§ 3601-3619 (“Fair Housing Act”). Housing providers may not engage in unwanted sexual conduct which may include, but is not limited to, making sexual comments about someone’s appearance, suggesting tenants engage in sex acts in exchange for housing benefits, and any physical contact that someone either did not consent to or was coerced into participating in. It is illegal even if the person being subject to the sexual harassment did not experience the loss of a housing opportunity or other economic loss.  

The Civil Rights Division of the Office of the Attorney General was launched on January 1, 2024. The Division was formed after Attorney General Brown successfully sought the authority to enforce federal, state, and local civil rights laws from the Governor and the General Assembly upon assuming Office in 2023, which was a first in Maryland history. The Division reflects Attorney General Brown’s broader commitment to justice and equity and has already undertaken several additional investigations into patterns of civil rights violations across the state. 

You can report civil rights violations to the Office of the Attorney General by email at civilrights@oag.state.md.us or you can submit a complaint on our website at https://www.marylandattorneygeneral.gov/Pages/CivilRights/default.aspx or by calling 410-576-6300 and an investigator will follow up with you.  

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