WWW.USDOJ.GOV

LAS VEGAS DEVELOPERS AND ARCHITECT PAY NEARLY $2 MILLION

WASHINGTON, D.C. - In an agreement reached with the U.S. Department of Justice, two developers and an architect will pay $1.9 million to modify several Las Vegas apartment complexes to provide accessibility to persons with disabilities and to compensate individuals whose apartments were allegedly designed and constructed in violation of the Fair Housing Act.

In a consent decree filed in the U.S. District Court in Las Vegas, Camden Property Trust, Becker Built, and George F. Tibsherany Incorporated resolved allegations that they violated the federal Fair Housing Act by failing to make eight apartment complexes in Las Vegas accessible to persons with disabilities. The Justice Department alleged that, as designed and constructed, the common areas of the apartment complexes included steps in the pathways which were impassable by persons with disabilities, the clubhouses and pools were inaccessible, and the parking lots lacked adequate disabled parking spaces. The complaint also alleges that the individual apartment units were inaccessible to persons using wheelchairs because the doors were too narrow and the bathrooms too small.

Under the Fair Housing Act, apartment complexes and condominiums with four or more units must include accessible common amenities such as pools and clubhouses; doors that are wide enough to accommodate persons who use wheelchairs; bathroom walls that have reinforcements for the installation of grab bars; and bathrooms and kitchens that are large enough for people who use wheelchairs.

Under the agreement the defendants will:

• Pay approximately $1.7 million to improve common use amenities and individual units at the apartment complexes;

• Pay $25,000 to individual renters who suffered damages because their units did not comply with the Fair Housing Act; and

• Pay $247,500 to establish a fund that will be used to provide grants to persons with disabilities who live in Las Vegas to assist them in making their homes accessible under the Fair Housing Act.

The agreement also requires that the defendants provide training to their employees on the requirements of the Fair Housing Act and certify to the Justice Department that any future construction complies with the Act.

Under the agreement, George F. Tibsherany Incorporated, the architect responsible for designing the apartment complexes, is paying $175,000 of the $247,500 accessibility fund. Additionally, Tibsherany is required to provide technical assistance on accessible design of housing to non-profit groups in the Las Vegas area over the next five years.

This case was originally filed with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which later referred the complaints to the Justice Department. Any persons who need modifications to their homes to provide greater accessibility for persons with disabilities and who are interested in the grants made possible by this settlement may contact Community Specialists Inc., the organization administering the accessibility fund, for more information at (702) 855-0455.

###

01-064