Massachusetts AG's Housing Discrimination Suit Accuses Landlord Of Unreasonably Delaying Or Refusing To Provide Reasonable Modifications Or Accommodations To Wheelchair-Using Tenant Suffering From Spina Bifida

From the Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General:

• Several entities have been sued for disability-based housing discrimination in lawsuits involving properties in Roxbury and East Wareham, Attorney General Maura Healey announced [].
  
  The AG’s Office filed a complaint against Mission Park LP, Roxbury Tenants Association of Harvard, Inc., and Trinity Management, LLC, who own or manage several residential properties in Boston, including one in Roxbury at which they allegedly discriminated against a tenant by failing to reasonably accommodate her disability.
  
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  Mission Park and RTH together own residential apartments located in several buildings in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, including the Mission Park properties, which are managed by Trinity.
  
  According to the complaint, filed on July 6 in Suffolk Superior Court, these three entities allegedly engaged in a pattern of discriminatory and unlawful housing practices against a tenant on the basis of her disability by repeatedly failing to provide reasonable accommodations and modifications to her residence. The tenant has spina bifida and uses a wheelchair.
  
  On a numerous occasions during the application process and while living at the property, the tenant’s mother expressed her need for a wheelchair-accessible unit, including an accessible bathroom, doorways, kitchen counters, and entrances. The tenant also asked for permission to keep an emotional support dog.
  
  In each instance, the defendants allegedly failed to engage in an interactive dialogue, required burdensome and unnecessary paperwork, and unreasonably delayed or refused to provide the reasonable modifications or accommodations—despite concerns expressed by the tenant’s health care provider that living in an inaccessible unit limited her independence and threatened her safety. The tenant ultimately waited two years for a fully accessible unit and was eventually given permission for a cat rather than a dog.

For the press release, see AG Healey Files Lawsuits Against Landlords for Failing to Accommodate Tenants with Disabilities.