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JUSTICE DEPARTMENT SETTLES DISCRIMINATION COMPLAINT

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A Montana apartment management company that allegedly refused to allow a disabled woman to have overnight care givers in her home for her pre-mature infant twins for more than two weeks will pay more than $46,000 in damages and civil penalties, the Justice Department announced today.

Last December, the Justice Department filed suit in U.S. District Court in Missoula, Montana alleging that Collins Management Company, El Dorita Village Limited Partnership, and various managers of Collins Management violated the federal Fair Housing Act. It asserted that the defendants refused to permit a disabled single mother of newborn twins, one of whom was also disabled, to have overnight help at the family's apartment in excess of fourteen days per month, even though round-the-clock assistance had been ordered by her physician.

The suit alleged that by failing to waive a rule limiting overnight guests to two weeks, the defendants were discriminating on the basis of disability in violation of the federal Fair Housing Act and other civil rights laws.

According to the complaint, the twins' physician had released the disabled twin from the hospital on the express condition that the family would have round-the-clock assistance in the home. Both twins had been born premature, and suffered from twin transfusion syndrome, a condition that required the smaller of the twins, who weighed approximately two pounds at birth, to be continually monitored for proper breathing and medication.

When the mother continued to have overnight care in the home despite the management company's refusal to give her an exception to the overnight guests limitation, the management company and landlord evicted her.

"All housing providers are required by federal law to make reasonable accommodations in their rules and policies when necessary to give tenants with disabilities an equal opportunity to use and enjoy their homes," said Acting Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Bill Lann Lee. "When a young mother is forced to choose between her housing and the care of her premature twins, the promise of the Fair Housing Act and the Rehabilitation Act for people with disabilities is not realized. "

The suit was referred by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to the Justice Department for enforcement in federal court under both the Fair Housing Act and the Rehabilitation Act.

The Fair Housing Act was amended in 1988 to protect people with disabilities and families with children. It requires all housing providers to provide "reasonable accommodations" -- changes or exceptions in rules or policies -- to tenants when the change or exception is needed due to disability and is not unduly burdensome to the landlord. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 applies only to programs or activities receiving federal funds; the apartment complex here received funds from HUD's Section 8 housing program.

Under the agreement, which still must be approved by the Court, the defendants are required to:

• pay $40,000 to the mother and her twins and $6,500 to Montana Fair Housing, a fair housing organization that works to assist victims of housing discrimination throughout the state;

• pay $1,000 in civil penalties to the United States;

• provide all tenants at all of their apartment complexes an explanation of tenants' rights under the Fair Housing Act;

• train their officers and employees about their obligations under the Fair Housing Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act; and

• establish procedures for tenants and applicants for tenancy to confidentially request reasonable accommodations.

"Here in Montana, we are committed to vigorous enforcement of the Fair Housing Act," said Sherry Scheel Matteucci, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana. "Our citizens should never be denied housing on the basis of their race, national origin, sex, religion, family status, or disability."

"This agreement will ensure that no tenant with disabilities at Collins Management properties will be denied reasonable accommodations," added Lee.

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