HUD Settles with Hawaii Condo Complex to Improve Disability Access

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As part of a recent HUD settlement, the managers of a Honolulu, Hawaii condominium complex will pay up to $50,000 and improve disability access for residents and others who use wheelchairs. The settlement resolves a complaint filed by Alvin Noguchi, a wheelchair user and owner of a condominium at The Gardens at Launani Valley, who alleged that the complex's failure to meet the Fair Housing Act's accessible design and construction requirements made it difficult for him to enter and exit his unit. The Gardens is a two-story walk-up condominium complex with 238 dwelling units, 105 of which are located on the ground floor.

Noguchi first purchased a condominium in The Gardens in 1998. At that time, he did not have a disability. The following year, due to complications with diabetes, Noguchi had to have his leg amputated. When Noguchi began using a wheelchair, the apartment management, at Noguchi's request, installed a ramp in his unit, but Noguchi found it too steep to use easily. He also cited widespread inaccessibility throughout the complex: the ramps to the garbage dumpster and mailboxes were too steep, that the pool was inaccessible, and the carport was inaccessible and one-quarter of a mile away. In November 2003, he filed a complaint with HUD alleging that the complex, built in 1994, failed to meet the Fair Housing Act's accessibility requirements for new multifamily housing built for first occupancy after March 1991.

Under the settlement, the apartment complex will pay Mr. Noguchi $25,000 and will make an additional $25,000 available for modifications to other ground-floor units upon the resident's request. The management also agreed to retrofit all of the common use areas to make them accessible.