DOJ Aggressively Pursuing Accessibility Cases

On February 24, 2014, the Department of Justice announced that a federal district court in Jackson, MS approved a settlement of a DOJ lawsuit against the original owners and developers of nine apartment complexes in Mississippi, Louisiana and Tennessee. The complexes contain more than 800 ground floor units that are required to comply with the accessibility requirements of the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988 (FHA). In addition, eight of the developments contain leasing offices that were in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accessibility requirements for public use areas.

Under the terms of the settlement, the owners and developers must retrofit the properties to meet FHA requirements. The improvements include reducing door threshold heights, replacing excessively sloped portions of sidewalks, installing new and properly sloped curb ramps, installing cane detection at stairwells, installation of accessible door hardware and ensuring that there are a sufficient number of accessible parking spaces at the properties.

In May 2013, as part of the same lawsuit, the court approved a settlement with the nine architects and civil engineers who were involved in the design of the projects. Those defendants paid a total of $865,000 toward accessibility retrofits and $60,000 to compensate persons harmed by the improper designs.

In a similar case that was settled in December 2013, a WV developer and affiliated entities agreed to pay $110,000 and make all required retrofits to remove accessibility barriers at 30 apartment complexes, involving more than 750 units. All the properties were developed with Low-Income Housing Tax Credits. In this case, the corrective actions include replacing cabinets in bathrooms and kitchens to provide sufficient room for wheelchair users, reducing door threshold heights, replacing excessively sloped portions of sidewalks and installing properly designed curb ramps from parking areas.

These are just two examples of the very aggressive approach being taken by DOJ relative to the FHA design requirements. All owners or multifamily properties built for first occupancy after March 13, 1991 are subject to the law if their complexes have ground floor units or elevators. Owners should be familiar with the requirements of the law and assess their properties for compliance. If properties do not comply, a proactive approach to correction is recommended.

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