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JUSTICE DEPARTMENT SUES IDAHO DEVELOPER FOR

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Justice Department today sued Taigen & Sons, Inc., and DDI Architecture & Planning, Co., the developer and designer of Centennial Trail Apartments in Post Falls, Idaho, for failing to comply with the federal Fair Housing Act's requirement that new multifamily housing be accessible to persons with disabilities.

The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court of Idaho, charges developer Taigen & Sons, Inc., owners Robert L. Taigen, Sr. and Jacklyne M. Taigen, and designer DDI Architecture & Planning, Co., with violating the Fair Housing Act for failing to include certain features in the units which would make them accessible to persons with disabilities.

Under the Fair Housing Act, apartment complexes and condominiums with four or more units that were built after March 1991 must include accessible amenities; doors that are wide enough to accommodate persons who use wheelchairs; bathroom walls that have reinforcements for the installation of grab bars; electrical outlets, light switches and thermostats at accessible heights; and bathrooms and kitchens that are large enough for people who use wheelchairs to maneuver within them. In buildings without elevators, such as those at Centennial Trail, only ground floor units are required to be accessible. In elevator buildings, all apartments and condominiums must be accessible.

"It's been more than 10 years since these requirements became law, yet multifamily housing continues to be designed and built without access to persons with disabilities," said William Yeomans, Acting Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. "Through this and other litigation throughout the country, we are working to make housing accessible."

The Justice Department's complaint alleges that Centennial Trail, which has 32 ground floor apartments in four buildings, is inaccessible to persons who use wheelchairs. The complaint alleges that the apartments are inaccessible in many respects, including the rental office located on the second floor, all interior doors and patio doors are too narrow for a wheelchair to pass through, environmental controls cannot be reached by persons using wheelchairs, and bathrooms are too small for wheelchair access.

The complaint also alleges that the defendants violated the Americans with Disabilities by placing the rental office, a public accommodation, on the second floor and inaccessible to persons with mobility impairments.

This matter was referred to the Department of Justice by the Department of Housing and Urban Development after HUD investigated a complaint that it had received from the Idaho Fair Housing Council alleging that the complex did not meet the requirements of the Act. Persons who believe that they were denied housing or otherwise discriminated against at Centennial Trail because of the complex's inaccessible features, may contact the Justice Department at 1-800-896-7743, option 3.