The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has charged another landlord with housing discrimination – this time in San Diego.
HUD entered into a conciliation/voluntary compliance agreement with a resident and owners of a San Diego apartment complex.
The agreement resolves allegations that Wakeland Atmosphere, L.P., and FPI Management, Inc., the owners and managers of Atmosphere Apartments, refused to grant the resident’s request for a designated parking space close to the building.
“To a person with mobility limitations, a designated parking space can mean the difference between merely living in a development and truly being able to call a place home,” Anna Maria Farias, HUD’s assistant secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, said in a news release. “HUD will continue working to ensure that housing providers meet their obligation to grant the reasonable accommodations persons with disabilities need and are entitled to under the law.”
The case came to HUD’s attention when the resident, who uses a wheelchair, filed a complaint alleging that his request for an assigned parking space in the development’s garage had been denied. The resident alleged that the owners and manager subsequently allowed him to park in non-assigned accessible spaces in the garage, but denied him the key that is necessary to enter the garage and use the elevator.
As a result, each time the resident wanted to enter the garage, he allegedly had to wait for another resident to open the gate, then follow that person in so he could use the elevator. The housing providers deny that they discriminated against the resident.
Under the terms of the agreement, the owners and manager will pay the resident $17,000, modify their fair housing policy to include information about reasonable accommodations, comply with the provisions of Section 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act, and attend fair housing training.
HUD has been aggressively pursuing such cases. Earlier this month, landlords in Minnesota, San Francisco and Duarte, Calif., agreed to settlements.