Multifamily Housing Developers, Fair Housing Act Violations, California 2023

Crime: The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of Justice have released new guidance on the ‘design and construction’ requirements under the Fair Housing Act, which prohibits discrimination in housing based on disability, race, color, national origin, religion, sex, and familial status.

Defendant: Multifamily housing developers

City and State: Nationwide

Exact Date: March 1991

Sentence: None

Dollar Amount: None

The new guidance is designed to help design professionals, developers, and builders better understand their obligations and help persons with disabilities better understand their rights regarding the ‘design and construction’ requirements of the federal Fair Housing Act.

According to Eric Halperin, Senior Counsel and Special Counsel for Fair Lending in the Civil Rights Division, ‘Everyone who is involved in designing and building multifamily housing must ensure that the required accessible features are present so that people with disabilities can use and enjoy their homes.’

The Fair Housing Act requires that multifamily housing with four or more units, built for first occupancy after March 1991, contain accessible features for persons with disabilities.

Under the act, new multifamily housing must include public and common use areas that are readily accessible to and usable by persons with disabilities, as well as doors that are designed to allow passage into and within all premises of covered dwellings and that are sufficiently wide to allow passage by persons with disabilities, including persons who use wheelchairs.

The new guidance, issued in the form of questions and answers, supplements previously-issued guidance and answers such questions as what are the design and construction requirements, who must comply with the design and construction requirements, and what safe harbors are available for compliance with the design and construction requirements.

The new guidance is available here.

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