A landlord charged a fee when a man with disabilities needed to move into an assisted living residence, until Disability Law Colorado got involved.
The Story
Disability Law Colorado was contacted by the sister of an elderly Colorado Springs man who had a stroke. He was in the hospital for a few weeks and his doctors determined he could no longer live independently and that he would need to move to an assisted living residence.
Unfortunately, he had just signed a year-long lease. His sister had notified the building management that he could not return home and that he would be moving to a rehabilitation facility in January and then to an assisted living facility. She requested, in writing, that the management company let him out of his lease without a penalty.
They responded that the company policy was to charge the tenant a $1,000 fee when a lease is broken. They refused to make an exception to the policy.
We sent the management company a letter requesting a reasonable accommodation for the man and included supporting legal citations as to why they needed to do this. He was released from all financial responsibilities after the management company received the letter.
