LA to pay more than $38M for failing to make affordable housing accessible
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The city of Los Angeles will pay $38.2 million to settle a 2017 lawsuit after “falsely” stating on federal documents that its multifamily affordable housing units built with federal funds were accessible for people with disabilities.
The complaint was filed by the U.S. Department of Justice on behalf of a Los Angeles resident, Mei Ling, who uses a wheelchair and the Fair Housing Council of San Fernando Valley, a disability rights advocacy group. Their share of the settlement has not been determined.
Ling, 57, has used a wheelchair since January 2006— and has either been homeless or in housing without the accessibility features, the lawsuit said.
It alleged that the city of LA did not make its multifamily affordable housing options accessible to those with disabilities for at least six years. Some issues were slopes that were too steep, counters that were too high, and entryways that did not permit wheelchair access, officials said.
The lawsuit also stated the city failed to maintain a publicly available list of accessible units and their accessibility features, and that it “knowingly and falsely certified” to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that it complied with these requirements. By doing so, it violated the False Claims Act, the lawsuit said.
“The City denies that it violated the False Claims Act,” LA city attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto said in...
TOPICS: Horn USA, Inc.PPP loanCivil lawsuitFalse Claims ActSmall Business AdministrationDOJEmergency financial assistanceQui tam GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — In a civil settlement, Horn USA, Inc., a pr...
