Chris Hull v. Richland Grand National 1, LLC, and Baker Barrios Architects, Inc.

CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Florida
DecidedMay 22, 2026
Docket6:25-cv-01680
StatusUnknown

This text of Chris Hull v. Richland Grand National 1, LLC, and Baker Barrios Architects, Inc. (Chris Hull v. Richland Grand National 1, LLC, and Baker Barrios Architects, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Chris Hull v. Richland Grand National 1, LLC, and Baker Barrios Architects, Inc., (M.D. Fla. 2026).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA ORLANDO DIVISION

CHRIS HULL,

Plaintiff,

v. Case No: 6:25-cv-1680-JSS-DCI

RICHLAND GRAND NATIONAL 1, LLC, and BAKER BARRIOS ARCHITECTS, INC.,

Defendants. ___________________________________/

ORDER Defendant Baker Barrios Architects, Inc. (BBA) moves to dismiss the complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction arguing that the complaint demonstrates the absence of constitutional standing, specifically the injury in fact requirement. (Dkt. 40 at 1–7.) Plaintiff, Chris Hull, opposes the motion to dismiss. (Dkt. 46.) Upon consideration, for the reasons outlined below, the court grants the motion, dismisses the complaint on standing grounds, and permits Plaintiff to file an amended complaint establishing standing if he can do so in good faith.1

1 Defendants Richland Grand National 1, LLC and BBA also move to dismiss Plaintiff’s complaint for failure to state a claim. (Dkts. 20, 40.) Because the court does not have subject matter jurisdiction given the lack of standing, the court does not consider the merits to determine whether the complaint states a claim. See Univ. of S. Ala. v. Am. Tobacco Co., 168 F.3d 405, 410 (11th Cir. 1999) (“[W]ithout jurisdiction[, courts] are powerless to consider the merits.” (quotation omitted)); Collectarius Fin., LLC v. Statebridge Co., No. 8:18–CV–137–T–24 AEP, 2018 WL 807041, at *1 n.1 (M.D. Fla. Feb. 9, 2018). BACKGROUND2 Plaintiff requires the use of a wheelchair as a mobility device. (See Dkt. 1 ¶ 3.)

Defendant Richland Grand National 1, LLC owns Livano Grand National Apartments—a complex located in Orlando, Florida, that comprises over three hundred units across multiple buildings. (See id. ¶¶ 9, 19.) BBA is the architect for the complex. (See id. ¶ 10.) Plaintiff states that the complex was “designed and constructed for first occupancy after September 2023” and that the complex contains

multifamily dwellings covered under the Fair Housing Act (FHA), 42 U.S.C. §§ 3601– 3631. (See Dkt. 1 ¶¶ 20–21.) Allegedly, in January 2025, Plaintiff visited the complex to “look[] at one or more units” and “observed . . . accessibility barriers that would interfere with his ability to access and use the facilities.” (Id. ¶ 24.) Plaintiff claims that Defendants

“fail[ed] to design and/or construct apartments . . . with accessible and useable features for people with disabilities as required by the FHA.” (Id. ¶ 33.) Plaintiff identifies several features of the complex that purportedly violate 42 U.S.C. § 3604(f)(3)(C)(i) and (iii)(II) and related regulation 24 C.F.R. § 100.205(c). (Dkt. 1 ¶¶ 37–38.) These features include a coffeemaker, mailboxes, a door lever, a

point-of-sale machine, and other items whose height allegedly renders them inaccessible, as well as deficient handrailing, “light switches, electrical outlets,

2 BBA makes a facial challenge concerning subject matter jurisdiction, as BBA accepts the truth of the complaint’s allegations and does not refer to facts outside the complaint. (See Dkt. 40.) Therefore, for present purposes, the court derives the facts from the complaint. See Stalley ex rel. United States v. Orlando Reg’l Healthcare Sys., Inc., 524 F.3d 1229, 1232–33 (11th Cir. 2008). thermostats[,] and other environmental controls.” (Id.) As a result of these barriers to access, Plaintiff reports, he “experienc[ed] discrimination” and was “deterred from renting” at the complex. (Id. ¶ 33.) Purportedly, once the complex has been fixed, as

by correcting the identified barriers, Plaintiff “intends to return [there] and [to] other rental properties nearby to pursue a potential rental of an apartment.” (See id. ¶¶ 32, 34.) Plaintiff seeks monetary, declaratory, and injunctive relief for the alleged FHA violations. (Id. at 13–14.)

Under the FHA, any “aggrieved person” may sue for housing discrimination. Bank of Am. Corp. v. City of Miami, 581 U.S. 189, 197 (2017) (quoting 42 U.S.C. § 3613(a)). An “aggrieved person” includes “‘any person who’ either ‘claims to have been injured by a discriminatory housing practice’ or believes that such an injury ‘is about to occur.’” Id. (quoting 42 U.S.C. § 3602(i)). Section 3604(f)(2) of the

FHA provides: [I]t shall be unlawful . . . [t]o discriminate against any person in the terms, conditions, or privileges of sale or rental of a dwelling, or in the provision of services or facilities in connection with such dwelling, because of a handicap of . . . that person[] or a person residing in or intending to reside in that dwelling after it is so sold, rented, or made available . . . .

42 U.S.C. § 3604(f)(2)(A)–(B). As relevant here, discrimination under section 3604(f)(2) encompasses situations in which a party fails to “design and construct” certain multifamily dwellings so that “the public use and common use portions of such dwellings are readily accessible to and usable by handicapped persons.” Id. § 3604(f)(3)(C)(i). Discrimination under section 3604(f)(2) may also occur when “premises within such dwellings” lack certain “features of adaptive design” such as “light switches, electrical outlets, thermostats, and other environmental controls in accessible locations.” Id. § 3604(f)(3)(C)(iii)(II). APPLICABLE STANDARDS

Article III of the United States Constitution limits the power of the federal courts to the resolution of cases and controversies. TransUnion LLC v. Ramirez, 594 U.S. 413, 423 (2021). “For there to be a case or controversy under Article III, the plaintiff must have . . . standing.” Id. “Indeed, standing is a threshold question that

must be explored at the outset of any case.” Corbett v. Transp. Sec. Admin., 930 F.3d 1225, 1232 (11th Cir. 2019). “Because standing is jurisdictional, a dismissal for lack of standing has the same effect as a dismissal for lack of subject matter jurisdiction” under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(1). Stalley ex rel. United States v. Orlando Reg’l Healthcare Sys., Inc., 524 F.3d 1229, 1232 (11th Cir. 2008) (quotation omitted).

Such a dismissal “is not a judgment on the merits and is entered without prejudice.” Id. A defendant may dispute standing under Rule 12(b)(1) through a facial or factual challenge. See McElmurray v. Consol. Gov’t of Augusta-Richmond Cnty., 501 F.3d 1244, 1251 (11th Cir. 2007). A facial challenge is “based solely on the allegations in the complaint.” Carmichael v.

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Bluebook (online)
Chris Hull v. Richland Grand National 1, LLC, and Baker Barrios Architects, Inc., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/chris-hull-v-richland-grand-national-1-llc-and-baker-barrios-architects-flmd-2026.