Baltimore City Housing Authority Reaches Settlement for not Providing Proper Housing Accommodation

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has announced a  major settlement agreement with the Housing Authority of Baltimore City (HABC) after a resident complained the housing authority failed to make a reasonable accommodation for a family with a young son with special needs. HABC will pay $150,000 to the public housing resident as part of the Voluntary Compliance Agreement.

     The resident alleged that the housing authority failed to grant her request to be transferred to a larger unit that was closer to family support. The resident and her young son are persons with disabilities who needed a larger unit near family members who could assist in caring for them. The Fair Housing Act requires housing providers to make reasonable accommodations in their rules, policies, practices or services when needed to provide persons with disabilities an equal opportunity to use or enjoy a dwelling. In addition, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 makes it unlawful for any federally funded housing program to deny program benefits to an individual based on a disability.

     “Requests for reasonable accommodations that are needed by persons with disabilities must be taken seriously and receive timely responses,” said Jane C.W. Vincent, HUD’s Regional Administrator of the mid-Atlantic region. “HUD will continue to investigate the causes of delays in granting reasonable accommodation requests and take action when we determine that they were unnecessary.”