ATHENS, Ohio — The Justice Department said Thursday that the owners and operators of rental properties in and around Athens County have agreed to pay $480,000 to settle a federal lawsuit alleging a former rental manager sexually harassed female tenants and prospective tenants for nearly two decades, violating the Fair Housing Act.

The settlement resolves a lawsuit filed in August 2023 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio alleging that Joseph Earl Lucas, a former Amesville resident, subjected women to severe and pervasive sexual harassment from at least 2004 to 2023, including pressuring women for sex or sexual contact in connection with housing.

Under the agreement, the Justice Department said Jacob and Emily Bush and Joie and Jeremy Carr will pay $470,000 to women harmed by Lucas’ alleged conduct and a $10,000 civil penalty to the United States. The government said the defendants held ownership interests in properties that Lucas managed and kept him as their manager. Jacob Bush and Joie Carr are Lucas’ grandchildren.

The settlement also bars the property owners from allowing Lucas to manage their rentals, requires them to adopt anti-harassment policies and procedures, and mandates fair-housing training focused on the Fair Housing Act’s prohibition on sexual harassment, the department said.

“No one should have to endure sexual harassment to keep a roof over his or her head,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon said in a statement announcing the settlement. U.S. Attorney Dominick S. Gerace II for the Southern District of Ohio said his office will continue enforcing the Fair Housing Act against landlords and property managers who engage in exploitative conduct.

The investigation that led to the lawsuit included the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Inspector General, officials said.

The settlement is part of the Justice Department’s Sexual Harassment in Housing Initiative launched in 2017, which the department said has resulted in 52 lawsuits and nearly $16.6 million recovered for victims. The department urged anyone who believes they have experienced housing discrimination or sexual harassment by a landlord or property manager to contact its housing discrimination tip line.