The Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio announced today that the owners, developers and builders of 82 multi-family housing complexes have agreed to make extensive modifications to their properties and pay $475,000 to resolve claims that they violated the Fair Housing Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act by designing and constructing apartment complexes that are inaccessible to persons with disabilities.
This agreement resolves one of the largest housing accessibility lawsuits that the Justice Department has filed. The housing complexes at issue are located in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia, and contain more than 3,000 units that are required to have accessible features.
Today’s settlement, which must still be approved by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, resolves the government’s lawsuit, filed in May 2019, against Ohio-based Miller-Valentine Operations Inc. and its affiliated companies. Under the terms of the settlement, the defendants must take extensive corrective actions to make the complexes accessible to persons with disabilities. These include replacing excessively sloped portions of sidewalks, installing properly sloped curb ramps and walkways to allow persons with disabilities to access units from sidewalks and parking areas, providing sufficient room for wheelchair users in bathrooms and kitchens, and removing accessibility barriers in public and common use areas at the complexes. The defendants will pay $400,000 to establish a settlement fund to compensate individuals with disabilities who were harmed by the accessibility violations and $75,000 in civil penalties to the government to vindicate the public interest.
The settlement also requires the defendants to receive training about the Fair Housing Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act, to take steps to ensure that their future multifamily housing construction complies with these laws, and to provide periodic reports to the Justice Department.
“For nearly three decades, federal law has mandated that new multifamily housing be accessible to people with disabilities,” said Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband of the Civil Rights Division. “And yet, after all these years, some in the housing industry continue to ignore their legal obligations by building inaccessible properties that deny individuals with disabilities the opportunity to live in and enjoy housing on equal terms with non-disabled tenants. There simply is no excuse for these violations of longstanding federal law. This lawsuit and its resolution should send an unmistakable message that this Department will work tirelessly to pursue those who deny individuals with disabilities their federally protected right to accessible housing.”
“Today’s settlement, if approved by the court, will achieve two major goals,” said David M. DeVillers, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio. “It will correct actions taken in the past that limited access to housing for people with disabilities and at the same time put steps in place to prevent this from happening in the future.”
The complexes at issue, many of which were built with financial assistance from the federal government’s Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program or other federal programs, are:
Illinois
Twin Lakes Senior Villas, Rantoul, IL
Indiana
Honey Creek, Greenwood, IN
Mill Pond, Muncie, IN
Summit Pointe, Lawrenceburg, IN
Waterbury Apartments, Decatur, IN
Iowa
Meadow Vista Senior Villas, Altoona, IA
Kansas
Galena Estates, Galena, KS
Kentucky
Weaver Farm Apartments, Florence, KY
Missouri
Hampshire Landing, Joplin, MO
North Carolina
Madison Place Senior, Gastonia, NC
Pinecrest Apartments, Walkertown, NC
River Crossing, Charlotte, NC
The Enclave at Winston-Salem, Winston-Salem, NC
The Landings at Steele Creek I, Charlotte, NC
The Landings at Steele Creek II, Charlotte, NC
Twin Cedars I, Hickory, NC
Twin Cedars II, Hickory, NC
Villas at Twin Cedars, Hickory, NC
Ohio
Aspen Grove Apartments, Middletown, OH
Bent Tree Apartments I, Piqua, OH
Bent Tree Apartments II, Piqua, OH
Breckenridge Apartments, Findlay, OH
Bridge Street Landing, Chillicothe, OH
Brookdale Trillium Crossing, Columbus, OH
Brookstone Apartments, Bellefontaine, OH
Carriage Trails Senior Villas, Huber Heights, OH
Cedar Trail, Bellbrook, OH
Cedar Wood Apartments, Mansfield, OH
Cobblegate Square Apartments, Moraine, OH
Deerfield Crossing, Lebanon, OH
Eagles Point Apartments, Kenton, OH
Faith Community Housing, Crestline, OH
Fox Run, Trotwood, OH
Glen Arbors Apartments, Napoleon, OH
Harbour Cove Apartments, Cincinnati, OH
Harmony Senior Village, Williamsburg, OH
Holly Hills Apartments, Jackson, OH
Hoover Place, Dayton, OH
Hunter’s Oak Apartments, Greenville, OH
Indian Trace I, Oxford, OH
Indian Trace II, Oxford, OH
Lake Towne Senior, Walbridge, OH
Lofts at Hoover, Dayton, OH
Lofts at One West High Street, Oxford, OH
Lyons Place I, Dayton, OH
Lyons Place II, Dayton, OH
Mallard Glen, Amelia, OH
Mallard Landing, Marion, OH
Meadow Creek Apartments, Bryan, OH
Meadow View South, Springboro, OH
Oak Wood Apartments, Lexington, OH
Pheasant Run Senior, Dayton, OH
Pine Ridge, Logan, OH
Quail Run Apartments, Van Wert, OH
Queen Esther’s Village, Canton, OH
Riverside Landing at Delaware Place, Delaware, OH
Riverview Bluffs, New Richmond, OH
Sandhurst, Zanesville, OH
Scioto Woods I, Chillicothe, OH
Scioto Woods II, Chillicothe, OH
Siena Village Senior Living, Dayton, OH
St. Bernard Commons, St. Bernard, OH
St. Rita’s Senior Housing, Garfield Heights, OH
Stone Creek Apartments, Moraine, OH
Sycamore Creek Apartments, Sidney, OH
Timber Glen II, Batavia, OH
Timber Ridge Apartments, Dayton, OH
Timberlake Apartments, Vandalia, OH
Walnut Run Senior Villas, Cortland, OH
Waterstone Landing, Perrysburg, OH
Whitehouse Square Senior Villas, Whitehouse, OH
Wind Ridge Apartments, Tipp City, OH
Windsor Place, Beavercreek, OH
Wright Place Apartments, Xenia, OH
Oklahoma
Fairway Breeze Apartments, El Reno, OK
Reserve at Spencer, Spencer, OK
Pennsylvania
Allegheny Pointe, Apollo, PA
Walkers Ridge Apartments, Greensburg, PA
Texas
Gallatin Park Apartments, Gallatin, TX
Oak Ridge Apartments, Nolanville, TX
Silversage Point at Western Center, Fort Worth, TX
West Virginia
Reserve at Oak Spring, Clarksburg, WV
Persons who believe they or someone they know may have been harmed by the inaccessible conditions at any of these properties, either when they or someone associated with them lived there or considered living there, should contact the Justice Department toll-free at 1-833-591-0295 or by e-mail at fairhousing@usdoj.gov.
The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing based on disability, race, color, religion, national origin, sex and familial status. Among other things, the Fair Housing Act requires all multifamily housing constructed after March 13, 1991, to have basic accessibility features, including accessible routes without steps to all ground floor units, and units accessible to wheelchair users and others with disabilities. Enacted in 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act requires, among other things, that places of public accommodation, such as rental offices at multifamily housing complexes designed and constructed for first occupancy after Jan. 26, 1993, be accessible to persons with disabilities. More information about the Civil Rights Division and the laws it enforces is available at http://www.justice.gov/crt.
Source: Department of Justice; this site is made available by CHINA NEWS – 专业中文新闻稿发布