|
Parkview Apartments recently agreed to pay $4,500 to HOME as part of a
conciliation agreement resolving a discrimination complaint filed with the
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
While
conducting accessibility testing at the complex, HOME staff found that the
front entrance of the Parkview Apartments was not wheelchair accessible.
Federal law
requires that multifamily housing with four or more units built since
March of 1991 be built in accordance with federal accessibility standards.
Despite the Parkview Apartment complex being built several years after
this law took effect, the buildings were found not to meet these
standards.
Upon
investigating the complex more thoroughly, HOME found that the problems at
Parkview extended beyond accessibility. The management was using a rental
application that contained illegal questions with regard to age, presence
of children, and marital status.
To settle
the complaint that HOME filed with HUD, the owners agreed to pay $4,500 to
HOME and to:
·
Comply with all federal and
state fair housing laws;
·
Remodel the interior and
exterior of the property to meet the required accessibility standards;
·
Attend a fair housing training
conducted by HOME;
·
Display a HUD fair housing
poster in the front hallway of each building; and
·
Display the equal opportunity
logo or the phrase “equal opportunity housing” on all advertisements and
promotional materials.
Settlements like this send
the message to building developers that accessibility standards need to be
taken seriously, and help us at HOME to ensure that people have access to
the housing of their choice. |
