A White Plains real estate developer and an architect have agreed to pay nearly $1 million to settle a disability discrimination dispute.
Lighthouse Living LLC and several affiliates must pay $700,000 to the Fair Housing Justice Center, and Papp Architects P.C. must pay $278,250, according to a settlement endorsed on Dec. 27 by U.S. District Court Judge Nelson S. Román.
Lighthouse Living also agreed to fix apartments and common areas in three apartment buildings: One Dekalb, White Plains; The Light House, Port Chester; and The Wood Works, Harrison.
The Fair Housing Justice Center, a nonprofit civil rights organization in Queens, accused the businesses in 2020 of violating the federal Fair Housing Act and the state Human Rights Law for alleged design and construction problems.
The complaint was based on findings of housing testers in wheelchairs who posed as friends or family members of prospective tenants.
Testers identified numerous barriers, according to the complaint, such as heavy entrance doors that were difficult to handle, inaccessible thermostats and mailboxes, narrow walk-in closet doors, and inadequate bathroom spaces for maneuvering wheelchairs.
Lighthouse must also hire an inspector to review the fixes.
The deal also applies to J&J Management Services, a Carmel company that manages apartment buildings, and Lighthouse Living Realty, a White Plains broker that is unaffiliated with the other Lighthouse entities.
Executives for the companies agreed to adopt an equal housing opportunity policy and attend fair housing training sessions.
The companies denied wrongdoing and maintained that they have complied with fair housing laws, the consent decree states, but agreed to a “compromise to avoid protracted expenses and litigation” and to “reflect a full and fair resolution of the disputes.”
The agreement was signed by Lighthouse founder David Mann, Papp architect Philip A. Fruchter, J&J Management president James Vitanza, and Lighthouse Realty broker Julian Diaz.
