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. 

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    Because of the increasing need for community homes in southern Illinois, RAVE sought to open two community homes in Anna, Illinois. 

     RAVE’s attempt to open the new homes was met by open opposition from the city and its residents, which culminated in Anna’s denial of the special use permits required to operate a community home in the area.

     Plaintiffs filed suit in November 2017 claiming Anna’s actions violated the the Fair Housing Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. 

     A copy of the Complaint can be downloaded here.  Plaintiffs also sought a preliminary and permanent injunction prohibiting Anna from enforcing its discriminatory ordinance and requiring the city to issue the building and special use permits, as well as a certificate of zoning compliance to permit RAVE to construct and operate its community home in the city. This matter was successfully settled in April 2017. Anna issued RAVE the necessary permits and RAVE is now able to take the steps necessary to move residents into the home. Most importantly, RAVE’s residents are no longer at risk of facing institutionalization due to a lack of community housing.    

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