Paralyzed Veterans Sues Hunt Corporation for Housing Discrimination, Maryland Complexes Included

The real estate developer has been accused of Fair Housing Act violations in Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina apartment complexes. The suit was filed by the Paralyzed Veterans of America and the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) against the HHHunt Corporation, and is based on the joint investigation by Paralyzed Veterans and NFHA of several of HHHunt's properties in North Carolina and South Carolina, and properties in Maryland and Virginia. The Fair Housing Act's design and construction accessibility requirements require that apartment and condominium complexes contain seven basic accessibility features so that they are useable by people with disabilities. The Maryland complex is Abberly Crest in Lexington Park.

The lawsuit alleges that since at least 2002, the HHHunt Corporation has engaged in a continuous pattern or practice of discrimination by designing and constructing multifamily dwellings, and common- and public-use areas, without those required accessibility features. Cited problems included: "primary entry doors with thresholds that are too high; large steps blocking routes to entry doors; hazardously steep sidewalk slopes; accessible parking without the required access aisle for people with mobility impairments to leave or enter their parked vehicles; and kitchens and bathrooms with insufficient maneuvering space for wheelchair users at sinks and toilets."

Read the March 15, 2011 article: http://www.nationalfairhousing.org/.