United States v. Aqua 388 Community Association
Long Beach, Los Angeles · federal · United States District Court for the Central District of California
HOA loss · fair-housing
What happened
Dr. Emma Adams, who has paraplegia, requested a reserved van-accessible parking space at the Long Beach Aqua Towers condominiums. Defendants (Aqua 388 Community Association, Aqua Maintenance Corporation, FirstService Residential California, and named managers) allegedly refused for over three years. After a HUD charge and election, the United States sued on April 3, 2023. On October 6, 2023, the court granted the United States partial summary judgment on liability for failure to reasonably accommodate. On January 22, 2024, the court entered a consent decree requiring accessible parking for Adams for as long as she resides there, new reasonable-accommodation/modification policies, training (including for FirstService employees at many managed properties), recordkeeping, and monitoring.
What the court (or agency) held
Association/management side lost. Liability for failure to provide a reasonable parking accommodation was established on partial summary judgment; the consent decree locks in injunctive relief (dedicated marked accessible space #153 for Adams), policy adoption, training, and compliance reporting. Decree resolves the United States’ claims without a damages number highlighted in the publicly summarized decree text used here; parties dispute liability was denied in the answer before summary judgment.
Why this matters for members
Accessible-parking accommodation requests at condo high-rises are Fair Housing Act reasonable-accommodation duties—years of delay can produce HUD charges, DOJ suits, and summary-judgment liability before settlement. Boards and managers need written RA policies and timely responses, not informal parking politics.
What the member did
Requested reasonable accommodation for accessible parking and pursued HUD administrative process that led to DOJ enforcement.
Questions for the board
- How are accessible and van-accessible spaces assigned, and what is the written reasonable-accommodation process?
- What was the timeline from the resident’s first parking request to any grant or denial?
- Who (board vs manager) decides parking accommodations, and what training have they completed?
- Are RA/RM policies published to residents and retained with decision records?
Questions for a lawyer
- Given partial summary judgment on liability, what settlement vs trial options remain on damages?
- Does the consent decree’s training scope bind the management company beyond this property?
- What monitoring/reporting duties and term length does the decree impose?
- How should future parking RA requests be documented to show FHA compliance?
Citation
United States v. Aqua 388 Community Association, No. CV 23-02498-SB-JPR (C.D. Cal.); consent decree entered Jan. 22, 2024 (2024-01-22). United States District Court for the Central District of California. Outcome chip: AG/consent. Source: https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cacd.880327/gov.uscourts.cacd.880327.65.0.pdf
_General information, not legal advice. Outcomes turn on facts and current law._
General information, not legal advice. Outcomes turn on facts and current law.