On August 26, 2024, the United States Department of Justice announced that the City of Los Angeles agreed to pay $38.2 million to resolve allegations that it knowingly failed to meet federal accessibility requirements when it sought and used HUD grant funds for multifamily affordable housing.
The settlement was the result of a qui tam whistleblower lawsuit filed in 2011 by an L.A. resident who, according to the government’s press release, uses a wheelchair, as well as a nonprofit disability rights advocacy group. The DOJ intervened in the case in 2017.
According to the press release, the City of L.A. receives annual grant funds from HUD to support housing and community development, including building and rehabilitating affordable multifamily housing units. Recipients of such funds must comply with various federal accessibility laws, including the Rehabilitation Act, Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Fair Housing Act, and must certify their compliance with these laws on an annual basis.
In its complaint, the DOJ alleged that the housing at issue was not structurally accessible because of steep slopes, counters that were too high, and thresholds that did not permit wheelchair access. The DOJ also alleged that the City of L.A. failed to maintain a publicly available list of accessible units and their accessibility features. Finally, the DOJ alleged that the City of L.A., annually, “knowingly and falsely certified to HUD that it complied with these grant requirements despite its failure to do so.”
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