HUD: Miami Service Agency Discriminated Against Disabled Vet

HUD has charged a nonprofit community service agency in Miami with violating the Fair Housing Act by refusing to make one of its units accessible for a disabled veteran. The charges were filed against the Urban League Housing Corporation of Greater Miami, its president, and a management company.

The charges have come as a shock to the community, where, according to the Miami NewTimes, the Urban League has been instrumental in desegregating public housing and reinforcing Miami's Fair Housing Ordinance.

HUD brought the charge on behalf of a 71-year-old double-amputee veteran who uses a wheelchair for mobility. According to HUD, the veteran's social worker made several requests to the Urban League to make the unit wheelchair-accessible or to transfer him to an accessible unit, but was refused. The resident then contacted the Miami-Dade County Commissioner's office, which intervened on his behalf.

The veteran was then moved to another unit (which also wasn't accessible). Six months later, he was moved back into his original unit, which still hadn't been made accessible and its stove had been removed.