NEW YORK, NY – On Friday, The United States settled a federal Fair Housing Act (FHA) lawsuit against Artimus Construction, Inc. Under the settlement, Artimus has agreed to make retrofits at rental buildings in Harlem and Chelsea, named Susan’s Court and Chelsea Park, respectively. Artimus also agreed to provide $75,000 to compensate aggrieved persons and pay a $5,000 civil penalty.
The FHA requires multifamily housing complexes built after January 1991 to have basic accessibility features for persons with disabilities. Inaccessible conditions at Artimus’s rental buildings included excessively high thresholds, common use bathrooms lacking grab bars and pipe insulation, and insufficient clear floor space in bathrooms for wheelchair users. Under the settlement, Artimus agreed to make retrofits to improve accessibility and establish procedures to ensure compliance with the FHA’s accessibility requirements in future development projects.