LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The federal civil trial of a landlord accused of requiring his Section 8 tenant to sign a sex contract in order to rent a house was back in federal court Monday.
The case resumed after being paused in mid-August, but the re-start was short-lived.
At a status conference last Friday, U.S. District Judge Andrew Gordon refused to delay the trial any further so, on the eve of it resuming, Defendant Allan Rothstein filed bankruptcy saying his business-related debts outweigh his assets.
During a 10-minute hearing Monday morning, the case was stayed pending the bankruptcy proceeding, which will likely impact any monetary damages Rothstein would pay if he loses the case.
The judge and plaintiff's attorneys had hoped to have the trial wrapped up this week.
During the previous pause, a new witness came forward.
The tenant in this case, Candy Torres, is a single mother and so is the new witness who came forward after seeing our coverage of the case in August.
She's a widow with young children who wanted to stay in the same home for schooling. She's expected to testify this week about how landlord Allan Rothstein asked her for sexual favors to work off late fees on her rent.
Torres says she signed Rothstein's sex contract to keep the house she'd already moved into with her five children.
"With respect to this document concerning, basically, extorted sex, there's a problem there," said Attorney Bruce Flammey, a housing law expert who we asked to analyze the case back in August.
"I think we have to say thank God for strong women," Flammey said, "because I think it's a valid point that this (sex contract) is designed to be utilized against people who don't have the resources to stand up."
Documents filed Friday show all the payments Rothstein received from the Southern Nevada Regional Housing Authority.
The lawsuit claims the nearly $25,000 in federal funds for Torres' rent should have been all Rothstein collected from her but she alleges he charged her illegal extra fees.
The trial was initially paused after a week of testimony in August.
Rothstein, who's approximately 80 years old, claimed his health was compromised due to death threats he received after media coverage of the case.
In court records filed Friday he claims he is still having cognitive issues.
"Nobody in their right mind would go to the trouble to draw up a contract like this." Flammey said.
