Kevin Sullivan

A major housing accessibility lawsuit with nation-wide implications has been filed in Baltimore. On December 20, 2004, the Equal Rights Center ("ERC"), the American Association of People with Disabilities, and the United Spinal Association filed suit against the Archstone Smith Trust, the Archstone Smith Operating Trust and other parties. The Complaint alleges that the defendants violated the provisions of the Fair Housing Act and Americans with Disabilities Act in the design and construction of about 111 multi-family apartment communities in 18 states (to see the Complaint and the list of affected projects, click on the links below).

The other four named defendants include a contractor, Clark Realty Builders; two architects, Kaufman Meeks & Partners and Niles Barton Associates; and an engineering firm, VIKA, Inc. These four companies did not design and construct all of the projects and many more parties likely will be added as the case proceeds. Our firm is representing some of these companies and expects to be actively involved in the case. Any design professionals or contractors involved with Archstone projects and any developers who sold projects to Archstone may become involved with the case at some point.

This lawsuit comes after years of housing accessibility claims by the ERC. In December, 2002, the ERC filed 12 to 15 claims with the Maryland Commission on Human Relations after “testers” visited a number of Maryland projects, primarily in Montgomery County. Likewise in early 2003, a similar number of claims were filed with the Virginia Fair Housing Office after testing by ERC at a number of properties in northern Virginia. Those tests in Maryland and Virginia included Archstone properties and, in part, led to the recent lawsuit. Our firm has been involved in defending some of the claims in both Maryland and Virginia, including one that included an Archstone property.

With the large number of properties in the case, the United States Department of Justice ("DOJ") may seek to intervene and participate in the lawsuit. The DOJ has been involved in several cases around the country related to housing accessibility claims. The most significant case, the Rose case, is proceeding on appeal after being filed in Michigan and in Indiana. The Rose case initially included about 23 apartment projects, but has expanded to include more than 100. DOJ has also filed several actions in Idaho, Nevada, and other states, and has intervened in cases in Tennessee and elsewhere in recent years. These cases generally involved six or fewer multi-family apartment communities. As one can see, the recent Baltimore lawsuit includes many more projects and, in all likelihood, will include many more parties than any of the cases of recent years except for the Rose case.

Our firm has been representing defendants in fair housing cases brought by individual claimants, advocacy groups, and federal, state and local governmental agencies since the mid-1990s when authorities began actively enforcing the provisions of the Fair Housing Amendments Act related to the inclusion of handicapped accessibility features in new construction. We regularly represent owners, developers and contractors in these cases in claims in many parts of the country. If you have questions about this new case or compliance with the law, please contact Michael Skojec or Kevin Sullivan in our Litigation Group by clicking on the links below.