A Black Mom Is Suing Her Landlord After He Tried To Evict Her And Allegedly Said He’d “Rather Put A White Family In This Unit”

An Ohio mother is suing her landlord after she said he started eviction proceedings because she’s Black.

Dermisha Pickett filed a counterclaim on Tuesday against her landlord, Sergey Briskman, accusing him of discrimination, intentional infliction of emotional distress, violating housing laws, and punitive damages after she said he told her, “I just don't want want [sic] any African Americans in this unit at this time.” He originally filed for her eviction on March 9; according to her claim, she moved out to a temporary home to avoid conflict.

According to the original eviction complaint, Pickett was notified to move out within the next 30 days on Jan. 12, with her landlord claiming her rental agreement was expiring. Pickett denied that the agreement had expired or that she was notified at that time in her counterclaim.

On Feb. 10, Briskman texted her that he was only taking action against her because of her race, according to text messages attached to her counterclaim.

“I will not rent [to] African Americans again. I don't know why the previous landlord did,” the text message said.

Briskman’s lawyers did not respond to BuzzFeed News’ request for comment.

According to her counterclaim, Pickett and her six children, who range in age from 4 to 14, had lived in the Section 8 apartment unit since 2014. Pickett, who the lawsuit says is disabled, particularly found it conveniently located to medical facilities.

Pickett started experiencing problems with Briskman in 2021, a year after he bought the property, according to the counterclaim.

As a Section 8 apartment, the unit was subjected to yearly inspections. According to the complaint, the most recent inspection in January indicated that certain items in the apartment needed to be repaired in order to qualify for Section 8; when Pickett notified Briskman of that, he refused.