Fair Housing Lawsuits Continue

In September, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit against Post Properties for failing to comply with the Fair Housing Act. They allege a failure to comply with accessible routes; narrow doors and hallways; kitchens and bathrooms that lack accessible clear floor space; and thermostats that are mounted too high to be accessible to a person using a wheelchair.

The Fair Housing Act applies to buildings first occupied as of March 13, 1991; yet the multifamily industry still suffers from designs that do not follow the guidelines. It is still the exception, rather than the rule, that a set of plans for new apartment construction that I review comply with the Act. The most common errors are bathroom door widths, shower clear floor areas, range clear floor areas, turning circles at U shape kitchens, minimum clearances between opposing counters and refrigerators, and clear floor areas at kitchen sinks. Every developer needs to have thorough reviews of their plans done for Fair Housing Act compliance and not simply rely on the project Architect.

See the Post lawsuit at http://tiny.cc/dnti8