Massachusetts AG Files Housing Discrimination Complaint Agains Mobile Home Park For Failure To Accomodate Disabled Homeowner

From the office of the Massachusetts Attorney General:

• Attorney General Martha Coakley’s Office filed a housing discrimination complaint [last week] in Franklin Superior Court against Leisure Woods Estates, Inc., the owner of Leisure Woods Mobile Home Park in Orange, Massachusetts. The complaint alleges that Leisure Woods Estates, Inc. violated state anti-discrimination laws by failing to permit a disabled homeowner to install a handicap ramp to enable the homeowner to enter his property.

• The disabled homeowner, aged sixty-four, who has lived in the park with his wife since 1993, recently underwent multiple foot surgeries to address a chronic mobility problem. The surgeries resulted in a permanent physical disability, which makes it extremely difficult for him to walk without assistance and to navigate the stairs to his home. The homeowner planned to pay for the construction of a ramp to his door himself, and requested approval from Leisure Woods Estates. Leisure Woods Estates allegedly refused to approve the ramp, citing purported aesthetic considerations. It is unlawful to discriminate by refusing to make reasonable accommodations for someone with a disability.

For more, see Attorney General Martha Coakley Sues Park Owner For Housing Discrimination.