National Fair Housing Alliance Sues Assisted Living Facilities for Violating Rights of Deaf People

The National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) has sued eight companies that operate 16 assisted living facilities in the Salt Lake City, Albuquerque, and Santa Fe metro areas. The lawsuit alleges the companies discriminated against prospective elderly residents who have been deaf since birth and primarily communicate in American Sign Language (ASL).

 

In a series of phone calls and on-site visits conducted over the past year and a half by fair housing testers on behalf of NFHA, staff of each senior living facility either refused to provide a potential elderly deaf resident with qualified ASL interpreters or other aids and services to ensure they would be able to communicate effectively, or the facility said interpretation services would be charged to the resident or their family. NFHA alleges that these acts are a violation of the Fair Housing Act, which prohibits housing providers, including senior living facilities, from discriminating against people with disabilities. The lawsuits come just weeks after the anniversary of the Act’s signing 52 years ago. The US Census Bureau’s 2017 American Community Survey found that 14.8 percent of people over the age of 65 have a hearing disability.

 

Fair housing laws provide distinct protections for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. These consumers have the right to interpreters or other aids to ensure they can effectively communicate with housing providers.

“Senior living facilities that deprive people of their rights are unnecessarily exacerbating housing challenges for those who are most at-risk in our society,” said Lisa Rice, President and CEO of NFHA. She continued, “Especially at a time when elderly people are among those most vulnerable to COVID-19, it is critical that the people charged with their care do all they can to provide them with the legally required services they need to ensure their health and wellbeing. For people who are deaf or hard of hearing, that includes ASL interpreters or other effective communication aids. We are filing these actions in court to hold these companies accountable.”

 

This case is not the first time NFHA has had to advocate on behalf of people who are deaf or hard of hearing.In 2013, NFHA and 11 of its member organizations investigated 117 national or regional rental firms in 98 cities and 25 states and discovered sustained patterns of housing discrimination against apartment seekers who were deaf or hard of hearing.

Housing providers may not refuse a reasonable accommodation request from a person who is deaf or hard of hearing to have important information communicated through ASL or other effective auxiliary aids. Also, housing providers are required to provide interpretation services to people who are deaf or hard of hearing free of charge unless doing so would place an undue financial hardship on the provider.

Examples of discriminatory conduct contained in the eight different lawsuits filed today include:

 

●      The facility’s flat refusal to provide an ASL interpreter

●      The facility’s provision that it would allow an interpreter, but only if the resident or the resident’s family would pay for those services

●      The facility’s recommendation that the resident’s family use a senior living placement service to find a senior living facility that better fits the needs of a potential resident

●      The facility’s statement that it would not be a good fit for the prospective deaf resident

●      The facility’s statement that, while it had access to ASL resources, it could not guarantee the service would be available on a continual basis and if there are costs associated with the ASL service, the resident may have to pay half of the charges

 

The lawsuits were filed against Brookdale Senior Living, Spectrum Retirement Communities, Pacifica Senior Living, LifeSpire Assisted Living, LeisureCare, and BeeHive Homes. These companies operate the 16 facilities (full list below) investigated by NFHA in New Mexico and Utah, covering over 1,100 beds. Brookdale Senior Living is the largest assisted living provider in the country with control of over 41,485 assisted living units nationwide. BeeHive Homes operates over 170 facilities in 20 states. With this reach, the companies have the ability to affect hundreds of thousands of families, making it critical to hold them accountable to the Fair Housing Act.

 

“We strongly support the protection of fair housing rights, which are always under attack, especially the rights of deaf persons,” said Diana Dorn-Jones, Executive Director of United South Broadway Corporation, an Albuquerque-based community development agency focused on fair housing and fair lending in the state of New Mexico. “We stand firmly behind the National Fair Housing Alliance in their actions to litigate fair housing laws whenever necessary.”

 

NFHA is represented by Eisenberg & Baum, LLP. The lawsuits were filed in the United States District Court for the District of Utah and the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico.