A recent New Yorker article describes a case we are fighting alongside Iowa Legal Aid as “a promising court victory for mobile-home residents”. The New Yorker has followed the story of our client, Suellen Klossner, since March.
Ms. Klossner is a 62-year-old woman with physical and mental disabilities. She’s been a resident of Table Mound Mobile Home Park since 2009. Ms. Klossner is unable to work due to a combination of her impairments. Therefore, Ms. Klossner’s one thousand dollar a month income is from public assistance payments.
In 2017, investment firm ADU Table Mound MHP, LLC purchased the park where Ms. Klossner lives. As the New Yorker reported, when investment firms purchase mobile home parks, rent prices often rise rapidly. Klossner soon found herself unable to afford her rent.
In addition to raising Ms. Klossner’s rent over 14 percent in just one year, Table Mound also included illegal provisions in her lease and was wrongfully denied the housing choice voucher Klossner was awarded from the federal government due to her disabilities.
In February 2020, Ms. Klossner’s counsel sent a letter to Table Mound asking them to accept the housing choice voucher. The request was denied.
On October 6, 2021, a judge ordered Table Mound to accept Ms. Klossner’s vouchers, a monumental win for housing rights advocates. As the New Yorker reports, this case is “the first time that the question of whether the Fair Housing Amendments Act can require landlords to accept Section 8 housing vouchers for people with disabilities has been decided after a trial.”
“[T]his is a significant victory for both manufactured-home owners and disabled Iowans alike,” the attorneys on the case told the New Yorker. “It will help preserve a critical property right—a roof over one’s head—for the most vulnerable among us.”
ADU Table Mound MHP, LLC has appealed the judge’s decision.
This case is ongoing. For further information, please contact attorney Thomas E. Kennedy at (314) 872-9041 or tkennedy@kennedyhuntlaw.com. If you or someone you know has been a victim of housing discrimination, our skilled attorneys at Kennedy Hunt, P.C. may be able to help you. Fill out a questionnaire so we can understand your claim.