TRENTON — A Burlington County apartment complex had to pay a disabled tenant $15,000 to settle a discrimination complaint over a handicapped parking space, according to the state Attorney General’s Office.

The tenant, who wasn’t named in the Attorney General announcement about the case, is a woman who suffers from various illnesses, including coronary artery disease, arthritis in the hip, gait disorder and a vision impairment commonly known as “night blindness.” She lives at Avery Apartments in Willingboro Township, a 302-unit townhome-style rental complex.

Despite having a handicapped parking placard in her car and a letter from her physician, the management of Avery Apartments notified her in 2015 that she would have to pay $100 a month to reserve a handicapped parking space in front of her residence.

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The complex was similarly charging four other tenants for handicapped parking space and those tenants are being reimbursed, per the settlement agreement.

During the investigation by the Division on Civil Rights, the attorney representing Avery Apartments argued that the $100 a month fee was fair and appropriate due to the effort needed to specially reserve the spots, according to the Attorney General’s Office. The apartment management also alleged that the tenant was not actually disabled, due to her being seen walking around her property and two-story apartment.

The Division of Civil Rights found that there is no law requiring a disabled person to pay for their reserved parking and that walking was a danger to the woman.

“The message to landlords here is that a reserved parking space for the disabled is not some luxury feature you can put up for sale,” said Attorney General Christopher Porrino in a statement. “Hopefully, this case will serve as a remainder to housing providers statewide that we take seriously any failure to accommodate the needs of persons with disabilities, and will hold accountable any landlord who violates laws designed to protect them.”

Don E. Woods may be reached at dwoods@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @donewoods1. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

 

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