Feds Sue Landlord in Disability Case

Last December, many of you were moved, sometimes to tears, by the story of a young disabled father and his family who were forced out of their Taylor Ranch rental home of three years after their landlord refused to let them make accommodations for his impairment, all just before Christmas.

It was a dubious move on the landlord’s part, many of you agreed.

Of the plethora of calls and emails I received on behalf of Dereck Scott and his family, I can’t think of any that didn’t include offers of help and support – including providing a home for them to move into.

Recently, Scott, who has multiple sclerosis, learned even more help is on the way, courtesy of the United States.

Federal attorneys have filed a lawsuit against landlord Michael Croom, alleging that the retired Albuquerque lawyer violated Scott’s civil rights by failing to reasonably accommodate his disability in violation of the Fair Housing Act.

Instead of allowing those modifications – at Scott’s expense and with the agreement that the home would be restored to its original state should the Scotts move – Croom pursued eviction.

Dereck Scott chuckles with son Alan, 7, at the family’s Northeast Heights home. (MARLA BROSE/JOURNAL)

Attempts to reach Croom’s attorney for comment in this column were not successful. And Croom – who for my Dec. 2 column gave me the marvelously grinchy retort, “You want me to be the bad guy? Fine. It’s my house” – was unwilling to comment.

The lawsuit, filed Nov. 2 in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque, seeks unspecified monetary damages and a court order prohibiting Croom from committing future violations.

The federal action echoes similar allegations contained in the lawsuit Scott filed against Croom in June. Scott said he expects his lawsuit will be joined with the new federal lawsuit.

Croom, in his response to Scott’s lawsuit, denies that he is in violation of the Fair Housing Act and that the requested modifications were not “reasonable.” Croom also says he was not provided adequate assurances that the home would be restored to its original architecture once the Scotts moved.

Today, Scott, 33, and his wife, Aisle McGrath, their twins, Nara and Alan, 7, and daughter Alisha, 2, continue to live in the larger, nicer, handicap-accessible, four-bedroom home in the Northeast Heights they rent from La Familia, a nonprofit social services agency whose board members offered the home after reading the column.

Dereck Scott shares a lighter moment with daughter Alisha, 2, and Alan, 7, in the family’s Northeast Heights home.

“This is a bigger issue than just me,” he said. “It should serve as a warning to tenants and landlords to look at their rights, look at the law, don’t be scared to learn about them.”

He said he hopes to speak with state legislators about housing and landlord issues involving individuals with disabilities.

About 19 percent of Americans have a disability, according to the National Fair Housing Alliance. That number is expected to grow as we baby boomers age. We break more and we grow older. We get sick, get injured. We don’t always heal. At some point, we may find it necessary to modify our homes to allow for our walkers and wheelchairs.

And we had better hope that when that day comes, we are not at the mercy of a landlord unwilling to take all that into account.

UpFront is a daily front-page news and opinion column. Comment directly to Joline at 823-3603, jkrueger@abqjournal.com or follow her on Twitter @jolinegkg. Go to ABQjournal.com/letters/new to submit a letter to the editor.
— This article appeared on page A1 of the Albuquerque Journal