Martinez v. Lexington Gardens Assocs., Dennis Ovalle, L.A. Equities Corp.

336 F. Supp. 3d 270
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Illinois
DecidedAugust 28, 2018
Docket17 Civ. 4005 (AKH)
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 336 F. Supp. 3d 270 (Martinez v. Lexington Gardens Assocs., Dennis Ovalle, L.A. Equities Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Martinez v. Lexington Gardens Assocs., Dennis Ovalle, L.A. Equities Corp., 336 F. Supp. 3d 270 (S.D. Ill. 2018).

Opinion

ALVIN K. HELLERSTEIN, United States District Judge *274Plaintiff Blanca Martinez, by her next friend, Thelma Martinez ("Plaintiff"), filed this case on May 26, 2017. Plaintiff claims that Lexington Gardens et al. ("Lexington Gardens" or "Defendants") discriminated against Blanca on the basis of her disability by refusing to allow Thelma, her sister and primary caretaker, to live in Blanca's apartment. The complaint, which was amended on July 24, 2017, alleges violations of Fair Housing Act ("FHA"), see 42 U.S.C. § 3604(f), the Rehabilitation Act, see 29 U.S.C. § 794, and the New York State and City Human Rights Laws ("NYSHRL" and "NYCHRL," respectively), see N.Y. Exec. Law. § 296 et seq. ; N.Y.C. Admin. Code § 8-107(5).

Blanca Martinez has been living in the apartment in question under federal Section 8 subsidies for over thirty years. She is severely mentally handicapped and cannot live alone. After the death of their mother, Thelma Martinez became Blanca's primary caretaker and requested that Lexington Gardens allow her to move into the apartment to care for her sister full time. Defendants have refused to allow Thelma to do so, largely on the ground that she has poor credit history and a housing court record. Plaintiff seeks a reasonable accommodation under federal, state, and local disability law to allow Thelma to live with and care for her sister. Discovery is now complete. Now before the Court are the parties' cross motions for summary judgment. The facts of the case are not disputed; the sole issue is whether Lexington Gardens failed to provide a reasonable accommodation. For the reasons stated on the record and supplemented herein, plaintiff's motion for summary judgment is granted; defendant's motion for summary judgment is denied.

Background

Blanca Martinez is a 58-year-old woman. She is intellectually and developmentally disabled and has been diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy. She is unable to care for herself and requires around-the-clock assistance with everyday tasks including cooking, eating, using the restroom, and dressing herself. Plaintiff's diagnosis is supported by numerous medical evaluations, and there is no genuine dispute about her condition, the care she requires, and the practical reality she cannot live alone.

Plaintiff receives federal Section 8 housing benefits and has lived in the disputed apartment for over thirty years. Plaintiff's mother, Maria, was plaintiff's primary caretaker until her death in 2016. When their mother died, plaintiff's sister, Thelma, assumed the role of plaintiff's full-time caretaker. Although Blanca and Thelma apparently have other siblings, none is willing and able to care for plaintiff. Thelma applied for and was granted guardianship of plaintiff by the New York Surrogate's Court in 2017, and she manages virtually every aspect of plaintiff's life, including her finances and daily medical care. There is also no genuine dispute that defendants have been aware of plaintiff's disability for years. Blanca's condition was listed on the family's original housing application in 1984, and her status was noted on yearly Section 8 recertification paperwork filed by her mother. Plaintiff's disability *275was also specifically raised at least four times during Thelma and her mother's attempts to have Thelma added to the family composition.

Defendants began receiving requests to allow Thelma to move into the apartment as early as 2014, when Maria's heath began to fade and she became less able adequately to care for Blanca. At least five requests followed the first, including one from the New York City Human Resources Administration's Adult Protective Services. See Pl. Rule 56.1 Statement, ECF 56, at ¶ 57; see also Decl. of Christine Clarke, ECF 58, Ex. 16 (requesting that Thelma be allowed to move into the apartment "because it would be in the overwhelmingly best interest of her sister Blanca"). Defendants have denied every request. Although defendants' justification has shifted in this litigation, when pressed, defendants have principally cited Thelma's poor credit and rental history as the basis for the denial. Specifically, it appears that a prior landlord obtained a housing court judgment against Thelma in 2011, which was later converted into a civil judgment and subsequently vacated by the court.1

Despite defendants' refusal to grant an exception, when Maria's illness became severe in early 2016, Thelma moved into the apartment to care for Blanca. Maria died in March 2016 and, facing no viable alternatives to care for Blanca, Thelma remained in the apartment. In the months following their mother's death, Thelma paid plaintiff's monthly rent on time and without incident until October 2016, when defendants commenced eviction proceedings in New York Housing Court and refused to accept further payments. With eviction proceedings ongoing, plaintiff filed this case under the FHA.

The parties also raise a handful of tangential issues that have arisen over the course of this litigation, none of which is material. First, defendants attempt to reframe the case by arguing that they have not received monthly rental payments from Blanca or Thelma since October 2016. But the record is clear that the only reason that rent has not been paid is because defendants commenced eviction proceedings and refused to accept further payments. The cited reason for the eviction-that Thelma was living in the apartment without authorization-collapses back into the central issue in the case: whether allowing Thelma to live with her sister is a reasonable accommodation under the statute.

Relatedly, defendants also claim that Thelma has failed in her responsibilities as Blanca's guardian because she has not filed Blanca's recertification paperwork with the Department of Housing and Urban Development ("HUD"), which must be refiled yearly to maintain Blanca's Section 8 housing benefits. This too is misleading.

*276Because she is disabled and unable to work, plaintiff receives federally funded Section 8 housing benefits. Section 8, also known as the Housing Choice Voucher program, is a federally funded program administered by HUD that provides low-income families with federal assistance to purchase rental housing on the private market. See 42 U.S.C. § 1437f ; 24 C.F.R. § 5.601 et seq. The amount that a family is eligible to receive depends on the family's income and composition, but the subsidy typically equals the difference between the rent for the unit and 30% of the family's adjusted gross income. See

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Bluebook (online)
336 F. Supp. 3d 270, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/martinez-v-lexington-gardens-assocs-dennis-ovalle-la-equities-corp-ilsd-2018.