MESA, Ariz.—The owners and operators of one of the nation’s largest apartment complexes has settled a disabilities bias lawsuit that was filed by Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard.
Denver-based Apartment Investment and Management Co. has agreed to adopt a nationwide policy that allows disabled applicants to use co-signers when their disability prevents them from financially qualifying to rent a property.
Goddard sued the company in November after learning that its Chandler property—Los Arboles Apartments—had rejected a disabled man’s housing application because he couldn’t fulfill its financial criteria by himself.
The Arizona Fair Housing Act, passed in 1991, requires housing providers to ensure people with disabilities have equal access to housing.
Thursday’s settlement requires the company to cover the Attorney General’s costs for monitoring its compliance with the settlement for two years.
Goddard said the company plans to modify its manuals and employee training guides to reflect the new policy, and has promised to retrain its supervisors and employees.
Apartment Investment and Management owns and operates almost 1,370 properties in 47 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico and claims to house approximately 1 million residents each year.
