A Richmond, Virginia, landlord was captured on audio recording, cursing his former tenant and calling her a “n—ger,” all because she asked him to make repairs to the home in which she lived.
Winter Whittaker was initially drawn to the East End home because of the affordable price. The single mother thought she could make a home for her two children there; however, the issues soon began popping up one after the other, NBC12 reports.
“Rodents, fleas…It would leak constantly, in my bedroom, in my living room…The hole inside the house, it was leaking from the gutters. That was the final straw for me,” Whittaker told the news station.
The landlord in question, Den Parsons, would do quick fixes, which never fully resolved the issues, and so she kept having to call him.
That’s when his behavior quickly escalated.
“He was like ‘If you don’t like it, move.’ I was like ‘Ok, it’s easy for you to say move,’” Whittaker said.
The working mom said that he started calling her the “b-word” consistently over five months every time she issued a complaint.
As the problems continued, Whittaker decided to make a recording of their conversations, during which he used the racial slur in between all the other foul language.
“I need the ceilings fixed,” she said during the phone call.
“I didn’t hear a good goddamn thing you said because you don’t mean sh-t to me,” Parsons responds sharply. “Get the hell out of my goddamn house. The quicker the better.”
“I don’t got to get out until my lease expires,” Whittaker reminds him.
“B-tch, shut the f–k up and leave me alone,” Parsons responded.
“You’re going to fix what you’re supposed to fix,” Whittaker said.
“You ain’t nothing but a goddamn tenant,” the landlord replied.
The conversation quickly disintegrated to talks about court.
“I’ll see you in court then,” Whittaker could be heard saying.
“I don’t give a good goddamn,” Parsons replies flippantly. “You’re just another dumb ass n–ger I got to go to court with and I go to court every damn day with them.”
Whittaker said that she began to fear for her life, given that the landlord would have a key to her residence.
She reached out to attorney Helen Hardiman who helped her with her case.
“She would call me and say, ‘I’m afraid to stay here at night. I don’t know what he’s going to do,’” Hardiman said.
“Certain demographics of people are targeted by certain landlords who know that they can take advantage of these kinds of tenants,” the attorney added.
Whittaker and the landlord never ended up going to court, deciding to settle the matter. The details of the settlement were not disclosed, however, no lawsuit was ever filed against Parsons, who was also never found to be liable for any wrongdoing, NBC12
notes.
Parsons declined to respond to the news station’s requests for comments.
As for Whittaker, she finished her lease with Parsons and is now in a new residence.