FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CR
THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, 1998
(202) 616-2765
WWW.USDOJ.GOV
TDD (202) 514-1888

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT RESOLVES CASE ARISING FROM ITS

PROBE OF INACCESSIBLE HOUSING IN THE CHICAGO AREA

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A Northern Illinois development

company will correct design problems in condominiums
that are inaccessible to persons with disabilities,
under a settlement reached today with the Justice
Department.

The agreement, filed together with a lawsuit in U.S.

District Court in Chicago, resolves allegations that
Ranch Development, Inc., of Orland Park, Illinois,
violated the Fair Housing Act (FHA) by failing to
include particular features in condominiums which
would make the units accessible to persons with
disabilities. Under the FHA, multi-family housing
complexes with four or more units must contain, among
other things, accessible routes, doorways wide enough
to accommodate a wheelchair, reachable thermostats,
and bathroom walls equipped with reinforcements so
that people with disabilities could install grab
bars.

"Today's agreement will guarantee that individuals

with disabilities have more opportunities for
accessible housing," said Bill Lann Lee, Acting
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. "I
commend Ranch Development for correcting some
features prior to this agreement and taking
additional steps to ensure that more accessible
housing exists for individuals with disabilities."
The settlement requires Ranch Development to correct
design problems in the Saratoga Lakes Condominiums, a
three-story building served by an elevator, in Orland
Park, Illinois and compensate victims who wish to
retrofit their residences to remove design defects.

The case is part of the Justice Department's

continuing efforts to ensure accessible housing to
people with disabilities and stems from an
investigation under the accessibility provisions of
the federal Fair Housing Act (FHA) conducted in the
Chicago metropolitan area.
In the settlement reached today, Ranch Development
agreed to correct most of the violations. Among the
steps that Ranch Development has agreed to take are
redesigning units not yet constructed in the second
three-story building of the development to fully
comply with the Fair Housing Act. In completed
residential units, the agreement establishes a
$20,000 fund to pay for retrofits requested by owners
who wish, among other things, to widen doorways,
install reinforcement in bathroom walls for the later
installation of grab bars and modify patio doors to
allow for greater access.

The Department began looking at buildings in the

Chicago area in 1996 as part of its nationwide
enforcement program. The audits, which were performed
in partnership with the John Marshall Law School Fair
Housing Clinic and Access Living, a Chicago-based
disability rights organization, consisted of disabled
and non-disabled "testers" who posed as prospective
home buyers inspecting properties to see if they met
accessibility requirements.

The audits determined that virtually all of the

inspected units failed to meet the accessibility
requirements. Of the 49 sites tested, 48 were found
to be in violation. The Justice Department determined
that 29 of the 48 developments -- constituting
approximately 4,500 units -- had significant
noncompliance problems.

Since it commenced its enforcement initiative in

Chicago, the Department has settled seven individual
cases involving several hundred residential units.

A summary of the corrective action steps Ranch

Development will make are attached to this release,
along with a summary of the Fair Housing Act's
accessibility requirements.

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