A woman has sued her former landlords, a husband and wife, alleging the husband sexually assaulted her at her apartment and that the couple then evicted her after she complained to police. The suit, claiming violations of the federal Fair Housing Act and Nevada Fair Housing Law, was filed on behalf of the woman in federal court Wednesday by Las Vegas attorney Andréa Vieira and civil rights attorney Thomas Kayes against Markiovic and Alma Cardona. The plaintiff began renting an apartment from the Cardonas in or around 2017, the complaint said.
Markiovic Cardona would ask her “inappropriate questions” like if she had a boyfriend, according to the suit, and say he “couldn’t believe she was single.” The Cardonas could not be reached for comment Thursday. Initially, Cardona visited the unit rarely and brought his son with him when he did so.
But in May 2022, he came to the rental without his son. “He told (the plaintiff) she was too beautiful to be single and that she needed a man around,” the complaint alleged. ‘Touching (her) breasts’ Then, on October 2, 2022, Cardona came over to do work at the apartment.
The plaintiff fell asleep in her room, the suit claimed, and woke up to Cardona “touching (her) breasts” and “touching (her) body and face with his mouth.” She told him to stop and pushed him away, the complaint said. “He mumbled an excuse and left.
” The plaintiff then called the police, but Cardona sent multiple texts asking to return to the apartment, according to the suit. Cardona pleaded guilty to a charge of open or gross lewdness in October 2023, under a deal that specified that if he successfully completed his probation, he could withdraw his plea to that charge and plead guilty to lewd or dissolute conduct instead. He made his plea via an Alford agreement, meaning he only admitted that prosecutors had enough evidence to convict him.
District Judge Monica Trujillo sentenced him to a nine month suspended sentence and 12 months probation. He was ordered to register as a sex offender and have no contact with the woman who is the plaintiff in the federal suit, according to court documents. The Review-Journal typically does not identify victims of sex crimes.
Rent hike, eviction After the assault, the complaint said, Alma Cardona raised the plaintiff’s rent by $300 a month and tried to evict her. Four days before the Cardonas sent her an eviction notice, the plaintiff had also complained about maintenance issues in the unit, according to the lawsuit. At Cardona’s sentencing, his attorney, Matthew Stromenger, said the victim had “moved out,” according to a court transcript.
“He evicted her based on her having complained about this matter,” said Deputy District Attorney Suzanne Rorhus. “At the final eviction hearing, Mr. Cardona tried to physically attack (the plaintiff),” the suit alleges.
Stromenger said at the sentencing that he objected to “the eviction stuff.” “That was stuff that happened afterwards and there was more to it than that,” he said. The Cardonas did not return her security deposit within 30 days of the end of her tenancy in violation of state law , said the lawsuit.
The suit also accused Markiovic Cardona of assault and battery and Alma Cardona of negligence as the property owner and manager. “Just because the guy’s your landlord doesn’t mean he has the right to bust into your house and scare you, much less bust into your house and touch you,” Kayes said in a phone interview Thursday..
