A Clearfield County landlord on Tuesday answered a federal civil rights complaint that he has, over a period of years, sexually harassed and sought sexual favors from several female tenants in violation of the Fair Housing Act and the Civil Rights Act of 1968.

The landlord, Timothy Britton of DuBois, was charged in May by the U.S. Department of Justice with subjecting female tenants to acts of sexual discrimination “including unwelcome and severe or pervasive sexual harassment.”

The government, for instance, stated he reduced rent or excused late or unpaid rent to female tenants in exchange for sexual acts.

He, it is alleged, subjected female tenants to “unwelcome sexual touching” and requested “unwelcome sexual acts from female tenants.”

It was charged in one incident that his comments and actions made one tenant “feel uncomfortable and not safe in her home” and when she made a complaint to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, he initiated eviction proceedings against her.

The petition that was filed by Attorney General Merrick Garland, and several government attorneys including Amie S. Murphy, deputy chief of DOJ’s Housing and Civil Enforcement in Washington, is seeking to enjoin Britton from further discrimination against his female tenants, and is asking monetary damages.

Pittsburgh attorney Colin J. Callahan on Tuesday filed Britton’s answer to the lawsuit, which denied all the charges brought against him.

“The complaint fails to identify the tenants claiming to be victims and fails to identify all of the alleged properties at issue in violation of (Britton’s) due process rights,” the answer stated.

According to the government’s civil complaint, Britton is the owner and operator of Britton Enterprises LLC, a company which operates under the name of Tim’s Apartments, located on Main Street in Falls Creek.

The complaint stated the company owns or operates 40 residential rental properties in or around DuBois, Falls Creek, Brockway and Reynoldsville.

It noted that Britton is actively involved in management of the firm and performs duties like showing the properties to prospective tenants, collecting rent, overseeing maintenance work and communicating with the tenants having difficulty paying rent.

The answer to the government’s complaint denies Britton is actively involved as described in the lawsuit.

It denies the allegations that Britton offered to reduce rent to excuse late or unpaid rent in exchange for sexual acts.

The answer denies accusations of unwelcome touching and sexual harassment and denies the incident in which a female tenant allegedly filed a complaint with HUD.

And the answer denies the government’s charge that Britton displayed a “longstanding pattern of illegal sexual harassment” of multiple tenants from at least 2016 to the present.

The defense also asserts that the government’s complaint is barred by several legal doctrines, including the statute of limitations.

And, it stated, the complaint is barred because many of Britton’s actions were “taken for legitimate, nondiscriminatory reasons unrelated to any protected characteristics of any tenants.”

It also noted Britton’s alleged actions against tenants “were taken in response to unlawful or fraudulent actions by the individual tenants.”

Federal District Judge Stephanie L. Haines in Johnstown is presiding over the civil rights lawsuit.