Equal Rights Center v. Equity Residential (D. Md.)

On March 31, 2016, the District Court entered an opinion and order on the parties’ partial summary judgment motions in Equal Rights Center v. Equity Residential (D. Md.), an FHA design and construction case involving multiple properties in numerous states.  On November 13, 2014, the United States filed a Statement of Interest in support of the Equal Rights Center’s summary judgment motion.  The brief argues that 1) violations of the HUD Fair Housing Amendments Act Guidelines establish a prima facie case that the Act's design and construction provisions have been violated, which may be overcome only by showing compliance with a comparable, objective accessibility standard; and 2) the failure to design and construct accessible multifamily housing is a discrete violation of the Fair Housing Act and does not require that an individual be denied housing based on disability. The court’s opinion adopted the United States’ argument that the plaintiff in a design-and-construction case may demonstrate liability by showing that the defendant did not follow the HUD FHA Guidelines, and that the defendant may overcome this showing only by demonstrating compliance with another, comparable accessibility standard.  The court also rejected the defendants’ argument that a more subjective standard for accessibility should control.  Finally, the court agreed that demonstrating violations of the FHA’s accessibility requirements did not require a showing that an actual buyer or renter was denied housing.