L.A. will pay nearly $40 million for allegedly misusing federal housing grants

The city of Los Angeles will pay nearly $40 million for misusing federal housing grants when it created affordable housing that was not accessible to people with disabilities, according to an announcement Monday from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The settlement is the culmination of a years-long legal fight in which federal officials accused the city of systematically failing to comply with rules requiring that affordable housing built with federal grants be accessible to people with disabilities.

The law says 5% of units in certain housing built with federal money must be accessible to people with mobility challenges. An additional 2% of units must be accessible to people with vision and hearing impairments.

For many years , federal officials said, the city built affordable housing in ways that did not comply with the rules — for example, counters were too high, slopes were too steep and thresholds did not allow for wheelchair access. The city, on a yearly basis, “knowingly and falsely” certified that it was complying with the requirements when it was not, officials said.

“This settlement shows that we will hold accountable jurisdictions receiving federal grant money to ensure they satisfy their obligations to make affordable housing accessible to people with disabilities,” Principal Deputy Assistant Atty. Gen. Brian M. Boynton, head of the U.S. Justice Department’s civil division, said in a statement.

The city still denies that it violated the law. But in a statement, City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto welcomed the agreement.

"With the settlement agreement now in place and approved by the Court, the city and HUD can focus on working together to advance affordable and accessible housing for LA residents, which is so desperately needed," she said.

The lawsuit was initially filed in 2011 by an L.A. resident who uses a wheelchair and the nonprofit advocacy group Fair Housing Council of San Fernando Valley. In 2017, federal officials intervened in the case and filed their own complaint.

According to that complaint, at least up until May 2014 the city "failed to monitor or enforce the federal accessibility laws before issuing permits, during inspections, prior to releasing funds to owners and developers of federally-assisted multifamily housing developments, and for purposes of code enforcement."

Four years ago, federal officials reached a separate $3.1-million settlement with another defendant in the suit, CRA/LA, the successor to the city's redevelopment agency.

“In this instance, HUD determined that the City of Los Angeles fell far short of its responsibilities to provide HUD-funded accessible housing, but the settlement agreement provides a fresh start for HUD and the City to work collaboratively to address the City’s pressing housing needs,” Damon Smith, general counsel of HUD, said in a statement.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times .