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$7.4 Million Retrofitting Case

Retrofitting housing units to comply with accessibility requirements under the FHA for persons with disabilities is expensive. A.G. Spanos Companies, the nation's fifth-largest housing developer, understands this fact quite well after settling for an estimated $7.4 million for non-compliance with FHA building standards.

According to the press release, "Under the agreement, the nation’s fifth largest builder of residential real estate will retrofit properties in Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Florida, Kansas, Missouri, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, and Texas at an estimated cost of $7.4 million."

The FHA provides that since 1991 new construction of multifamily dwellings with four or more units be required to have accessible ground floor units where there is no elevator and accessibility for all units in buildings with an elevator. This is true for both public and private housing except in rare instances where steep terrain makes accessibility standards impracticable.

It is not uncommon, as was the case here, for city building inspectors to approve new construction of housing developments that do not comply with the FHA. This just shows how disparate local building codes are from the FHA requirements. The Fair Housing Accessibility First Initiative was designed to promote compliance nationwide with the FHA. The present settlement will contribute to this initiative in numerous ways that are detailed in the Press Release.
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