AMESVILLE, Ohio — A March 19 settlement agreement officially concluded the U.S. Department of Justice sexual harassment case against local landlord Joe Lucas.
“Defendant Lucas is permanently prohibited from owning, operating, or performing any Property Management Responsibilities at any residential rental property other than through an Independent Manager,” the settlement agreement states.
The agreement notes that the Athens County landlord is retired and no longer manages properties as it is. He has dementia and required a court appointed guardian to represent his interests, according to court records.
The March 19 settlement also prohibits Lucas from any contact with aggrieved parties in the case; bars Lucas from any contact with tenants at properties at issue in the case; and mandates that he not enter any of those properties.
The agreement states that once settlement terms for Lucas and his co-defendants are fulfilled, Lucas will be released from claims that could have been brought against him related to the fraudulent transfer of his properties.
The DOJ could have brought claims against Lucas “arising from Defendant Lucas’s transfer of real properties to family members,” the agreement states.
Lucas transferred the majority of the properties he owned to his family members in the year immediately before the DOJ’s initial complaint, according to an investigation by tenant advocacy group United Athens County Tenants. Lucas’s family managed over 70 residential rentals in and around Athens County, according to the DOJ’s lawsuit.
Lucas, of Amesville, sexually harassed female tenants for at least 20 years, according to the DOJ’s lawsuit. The DOJ amended its initial lawsuit to include Lucas’s grandchildren, Jacob Bush and Joie Carr, as well as their spouses, Emily Bush and Jeremy Carr.
The amended complaint alleged that Lucas sexually harassed tenants at properties his family members owned, while acting in his capacity as a property manager.
Monetary issues in the case were fully resolved through a Dec. 18, 2025, settlement agreement between the DOJ and Lucas’s family members. Under that agreement, Lucas’s family members agreed to pay $470,000 “to women harmed by Lucas’ harassment,” as well as a $10,000 civil penalty.
While that agreement was being negotiated, Lucas asked that the court appoint a guardian ad litem, or representative, to represent Lucas’s interests in the case due to his dementia diagnosis.
Because Lucas’s motion was pending, he did not participate in the negotiations that led to the Dec. 18, 2025, settlement agreement.
“The Bush and Carr Settlement provided, however, that the Agreement would also satisfy the United States’ claims for monetary relief, provided that Defendant Lucas and the United States reached an Agreement on preventive relief,” states the March 19 settlement agreement between the DOJ and Lucas.
The March 19 agreement provides that preventative relief, fully resolving the case. The agreement says claims against Lucas and his family members will be dismissed as long as they fulfill the terms of their agreements.
