Justice Department Secures Settlement in Case Concerning Disability-Based Discrimination at Multifamily Housing Complexes in Maryland

The Justice Department announced today that Maryland-based developer Humphrey-Stavrou Associates Inc. (Humphrey-Stavrou) and related entities have agreed to pay $475,000 to settle claims that they violated the Fair Housing Act (FHA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The claims alleged that the defendants failed to build required accessible features for people with disabilities, including those who use wheelchairs, at six multi-family housing complexes across Maryland. As part of the settlement, the defendants also agreed to make extensive retrofits to remove accessibility barriers at the three properties Humphrey-Stavrou still owns and the three properties Humphrey-Stavrou sold to third parties.

“When the retrofits required by these settlements are completed, people with disabilities will have equal access to 1,300 more residential units in Maryland,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “The Justice Department remains committed to ensuring that apartment complexes are accessible to people with disabilities.”

“The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland is dedicated to ensuring that developers who fail to abide by the Fair Housing Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act will be held accountable,” said U.S. Attorney Erek L. Barron for the District of Maryland. “These settlements will help ensure Marylanders with disabilities have fair and equal access to their homes by making these housing complexes more accessible.”

Humphrey-Stavrou will deposit a sum of $410,000 in an account to be used to retrofit the three properties it has sold since construction, which are now owned by other entities. 

The agreement with Humphrey-Stavrou, which must still be approved by the court, also requires the defendants to pay $60,000 into a settlement fund to compensate individuals who were harmed by the inaccessible conditions and $5,000 to the government in civil penalties to vindicate the public interest.

Under the agreement, the defendants will, among other things, replace steeply sloped walkways, widen doorways and modify bathrooms so they are accessible for individuals who use wheelchairs. The agreement also requires the defendants to receive training about the FHA and the ADA, to ensure that their future multi-family housing construction complies with these laws and to provide periodic reports to the Justice Department. The six complexes are:

1. Pin Oak Village, Bowie, Maryland;
2. Woodland Creek Apartments (formerly Henson Creek Manor I and II Apartments), Fort Washington, Maryland;
3. Woodside Village Apartments, Fort Washington, Maryland;
4. Acclaim at Lake Largo (formerly Largo Center Apartments), Largo, Maryland;
5. Randolph Village Senior Apartments, Silver Spring, Maryland; and
6. Vistas at Lake Largo, Upper Marlboro, Maryland.

The Justice Department previously resolved part of its lawsuit, which was filed in September 2022, with Stavrou Associates Inc. and related entities, which agreed to pay $185,000 to settle claims that they failed to build the required accessibility features in 11 other multi-family housing complexes in Maryland. Stavrou Associates Inc. also agreed to make extensive retrofits to remove accessibility barriers at the complexes. The U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland entered the parties’ settlement, in the form of a consent order, on Nov. 22, 2022.

The 11 complexes built by Stavrou Associates Inc. that are the subject of the previously entered consent decree are:

1. Villages at Belle Hill, Elkton, Maryland;
2. Burgess Mill Station I, Ellicott City, Maryland;
3. Burgess Mill Station II, Ellicott City, Maryland;
4. River Point Apartments, Essex, Maryland;
5. Hammarlee House Apartments, Glen Burnie, Maryland;
6. Overland Gardens, Landover, Maryland;
7. Rainier Manor Phase II Apartments, Mount Rainier, Maryland;
8. Chapel Springs Senior Apartments, Perry Hall, Maryland;
9. Hampshire Village, Silver Spring, Maryland;
10. Windsor Crossing Family Apartments, Suitland, Maryland; and
11. Windsor Crossing Senior Apartments, Suitland, Maryland.

The combined 17 properties at issue in the case were built with financial assistance from the federal government’s Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program and the HOME Investment Partnerships Program, and some of the properties are specifically marketed as housing for seniors.

Individuals who believe they or someone they know may have had difficulties because of the inaccessible conditions at any of these properties should send an e-mail to the Justice Department at fairhousing@usdoj.gov or leave a message at 1-833-591-0291, selecting option 1 for English, selecting option 4 for housing accessibility for persons with disabilities and selecting option 4. 

The FHA prohibits discrimination in housing based on disability, race, color, religion, national origin, sex and familial status. This law requires that most multifamily housing buildings with four or more units constructed after March 13, 1991, have basic accessible features. Enacted in 1990, the ADA requires that places of public accommodation, such as rental offices at multifamily housing complexes constructed after Jan. 26, 1993, be accessible to persons with disabilities. 

More information about the Civil Rights Division and the laws it enforces is available at www.usdoj.gov/crt. Individuals may report disability discrimination or other forms of housing discrimination by calling the Justice Department at 1-833-591-0291 or submitting a report online at www.civilrights.justice.gov. Individuals also may report discrimination by contacting the Department of Housing and Urban Development at 1-800-669-9777 or by filing a complaint online.