Apartment Complex Owners Must Pay Out San Leandro Family To Settle Disability Suit Dispute

SAN LEANDRO, CA — An Alameda County apartment complex owner will have to pay out $60,000 to settle a lawsuit accusing them of ignoring several disability accommodation requests from a San Leandro family, authorities said.

Officials with the Civil Rights Department say it received the complaint against the owners of the San Leandro apartment complex in 2024.

At the time, the owners repeatedly ignored a mother's request for a different parking space to accommodate the needs of her twin children, who have disabilities and have difficulty walking, according to the Civil Rights Department.

Instead of accommodating the requests, the owner had the parking space blocked off to prevent the family from using it, authorities said.

When the family reached out again, this time with the help of a legal aid organization, the owners continued to ignore the request; eventually giving the parking space to someone else who moved in, authorities said.

Following an investigation, the Civil Rights Department found that the apartment complex owners had violated their tenants' disability protections.

The apartment complex owners, as a result of the judgment, will have to maintain a parking space to accomdoate the children's disabilities, create a policy to handle requests like these promptly, submit the policy to the department for review within 90 days, complete three hours of training on fair housing protection rights, provide info to tenants and prospective tenants about their rights, and pay out $60,000 to the family, officials said.

"Imagine speaking up for the rights of your family and then having it used against you," Civil Rights Department Director Kevin Kish said Tuesday. "This happens to people with disabilities all across the country all the time. In California, we have laws in place to push back. This settlement is an example of what can happen when Californians refuse to give up their rights. We all deserve to be able to enjoy our homes."