HUD Settles Tennessee Apartment Violations of Americans with Disabilities Act and the Violence Against Women Act

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has entered into a Voluntary Compliance Agreement with HUD-funded Tennessee housing providers Alco Greenbriar Partners LP, Alco Properties, Inc., and Alco Management, Inc., requiring the respondents to pay $50,000 in compensation to the aggrieved parties. The VCA resolves findings of noncompliance related to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, as well as findings of noncompliance related to the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). Read the Agreement, Letter of Findings and the VAWA Memo.

The case began with a limited compliance review initiated by HUD in 2022 regarding Greenbriar Apartments, a 208-unit development in Tennessee. HUD found that the respondents effectively denied multiple reasonable accommodation/modification requests, as well as instances of VAWA noncompliance regarding two households that experienced incidents of sexual assault and/or domestic violence and were not provided the requested VAWA transfers or take any additional action to process the requests.

HUD also found that the respondents were unwilling to transfer residents from one Alco property to another when a vacancy that met the need of the requesting tenant was unavailable at Greenbriar, that 5% of the units were not accessible to individuals with mobility impairments, and 2% more of the units were not accessible to individuals with hearing or vision impairments.

Under the 2023 Agreement resolving the Section 504 findings and VAWA issues, the respondents agreed to: pay $50,000 in monetary compensation for the five aggrieved parties; amend its reasonable accommodation transfer log; revise the transfer policy; revise its VAWA policies; construct or convert 10 UFAS-accessible units, with an additional 4 units for the hearing and visually impaired and accessible common areas; designate a VAWA Coordinator; respond to VAWA-related grievances and transfer requests within 10 days; and attend VAWA training.

Anyone who feels they have experienced discrimination in housing may file a complaint by contacting HUD's Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity at (800) 669-9777 (voice) or (800) 877-8339 (Federal Relay Service). Housing providers' responsibilities to provide reasonable accommodations and reasonable modifications to individuals with disabilities are available here.

Read the January 25, 2023 HUD release.

HUD Charges Hawaii Condominium Association with Disability Discrimination

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is charging individuals and entities associated with a Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, condominium complex, including the condominium association, employees of the condominium association, the property management company, an employee of the property management company, the condominium unit’s owners, and the owners’ real estate broker with discriminating against a resident because of disability. Read HUD’s Charge. HUD’s Charge of Discrimination alleges that the property’s condominium association and its employees, the property’s management company and its employees, and the condominium unit’s owners and their real estate agent, prevented the resident from using a temporary ramp to safely access his unit, from accessing a parking space that would allow him to load and unload his wheelchair, and from replacing a toilet at the resident’s own expense to allow him complete use of his unit. Because they failed to do so, the resident was often unable to access or use his unit and forced to sleep in his vehicle. Ultimately, their actions resulted in the resident’s decision to revoke his offer to purchase the unit and move out of the unit, which he was renting while the sale was in escrow. A U.S. Administrative Law Judge will hear HUD’s charge unless any party elects to have the case heard in Federal district court. If the Administrative Law Judge finds, after a hearing, that discrimination has occurred, the judge may award damages to the resident for his losses as a result of the discrimination, order injunctive relief and other equitable relief to deter further discrimination, and payment of attorney fees. In addition, the judge may impose civil penalties to vindicate the public interest. If the Federal court hears the case, the Judge may also award punitive damages to the resident. In related news, the Pacific ADA Center recently noted that the U. S. Department of Justice just settled with some Hawaii apartment builders over disability discrimination. The developer and others were accused of not designing and building five multifamily housing complexes with the required accessible features. The agreement requires the companies to pay a fine and make changes to their properties, such as adding ramps, accessible parking, and making apartments easier for people with disabilities to enter and use. Read more about the lawsuit that is making these rental properties accessible.  Read the October 30, 2023 Pacific ADA Center article. Read the December 18, 2023 HUD press release.