Housing discrimination may be worsening for disability community

From the Times-Union in Jacksonsville, Fla.:

James Ballas is trapped in his Ponte Vedra Beach apartment.

Unable to walk after a stroke, Ballas can't get to the beach that you can practically hear from the rented condominium that has been his home for 15 years. He can get around his apartment in a wheelchair, but he can't go to restaurants, or to the grocery store, or most anywhere with his wife of more than 60 years.
"He calls it his jail," Lucile Ballas said. (The couple is pictured.)

It's a problem that seemed an easy fix. They wanted to build a ramp - at their own expense - around the stairs. But after a year of asking for permission, they still haven't gotten a response from the condominium association or management company. They said they were told the ramp would be an eyesore.

That is illegal discrimination, said their attorney, David Cronin of Jacksonville Area Legal Aid. He has filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and is preparing a federal lawsuit.

The Ballases are hardly alone: Local authorities say the number of people being denied housing or the right to make reasonable modifications is on the rise. People with disabilities are covered under the federal Fair Housing Act, which also prohibits housing discrimination based on race, sex or family status.

And it tends to be a lot more blatant, Cronin said: "With people with disabilities, you get more out-and-out discrimination."

The stress has taken a toll not just on James Ballas. Lucile, a feisty 84-year-old, has seen her blood pressure soar. She promised James she wouldn't send him to a nursing home - and, she points out, it's cheaper for taxpayers than if they went to a Medicare-funded nursing home.

Still, the few mandatory ventures to the doctors' offices have been tricky and dangerous ordeals. Lucile depended on the strong arm of a family member or neighbors to help carry her husband down the steps that lead to the parking lot outside their ground-floor apartment.

John Ewing, the manager of the complex, said last week that the condo association is consulting with an attorney and has not yet made a decision.

Cronin said his multiple letters requesting permission for the ramp have not been answered.

Anyone willing to pay for reasonable modifications due to disability is entitled, Cronin said, and denying permission to build such a ramp is clearly illegal under federal guidelines.

So too is denying a blind person with a guide dog a spot in a rental apartment because of a no-pets policy. Or refusing a woman who just recently acquired a disability an assigned parking spot closer to her apartment.

They might seem obvious, but they're also all real cases being handled by agencies such as Legal Aid and the Jacksonville Human Rights Commission.

"Some people play the lottery and see if they don't get caught, or they simply don't know the law," said Roberto Ortiz, a Human Rights Commission specialist who investigates fair housing discrimination.

"Condominiums are a big deal - they are not above the law."

He said such cases have risen dramatically in Duval County, from about five in the previous fiscal year to more than 20 in the current one. Disability-related complaints comprise more than half of all fair housing cases in Jacksonville, Ortiz said, and 44 percent nationally.

The Florida Commission on Human Rights, which covers other counties, has seen the number of disability cases go up from 117 in fiscal 2007 to 167 in fiscal 2008.

In addition to formal complaints, Ortiz said he typically gets 11 to 15 calls per day inquiring about housing rights.

"You have rights, if you don't know what your rights are, ask us," he said. "It's better to ask than remain silent."

That's the lesson that Holly Young learned in a recent battle with the Jacksonville Housing Authority.

Young recently settled a lawsuit with the agency after she was denied a sign language interpreter at a meeting requested by the housing authority.

"I said, 'I'm not comfortable having a meeting without the interpreter.' But they told me if I left they would throw me out" of her apartment, Young said. As a result of the case, the housing authority must obtain training for its employees.

"I just want something good to come out of it," she said.

The industry expects to see more of such cases. Experts believe it's a combination of factors.

With the housing downturn, fewer people can afford to move and may request modifications or accommodations in their current apartment or condominium, said Danille Carroll, director of the Civil Rights Unit of the Florida Attorney General's Office.

In addition, as the population ages, more people will be living with physical disabilities, and more people will be taking elderly parents into their homes.

"You cannot basically depend on everybody being able to be able-bodied all of their lives," Carroll said. "It's a real possibility that this is going to be a bigger and bigger factor."

Yet the level of awareness among condominium associations and landlords remains low, she said.

"A lot of people don't necessarily realize they have to make that accommodation," she said. "Regrettably, a lot of people learn the hard way."

Lucile and James Ballas want the hard way to end soon so they can begin work on the ramp. Perhaps they would go to the beach.

There is a ramp there, Lucile said.