Over 100 low-income senior citizens live in the upper floors of St. Timothy’s Tower and Manor. More than half of them of have disabilities that make it hard to stand, walk or use stairs. The elevators have been out of service for most of the last six months. The owners reported 48 outages to the U.S.

State and federal laws require public housing projects to ensure program access for people with disabilities. This includes maintaining accessible features like elevators. Despite reportedly spending $4 million in recent renovations, the owners refuse to fix the elevators.

The lawsuit seeks to force the owners to use some of the millions of dollars in state and federal aid they receive to fix the elevators and maintain a functional elevator system moving forward.

Case Name: J. Angelic Hunter, Robert Hill, Richard Packard, Donald Eblaan, and Lawrence Gilliam, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated v. Ronald Chatman, Matthew Love, St. Timothy’s Tower & Manor, Inc., St. Timothy’s Preservation LP, St. Timothy’s Tower & Manor GP LLC, Levine Management Group, Inc., and Does 1-10, inclusive.

Court Information: U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Case Number 2:18-cv-05760-MWF-AGR, Honorable Michael W. Fitzgerald

Co-Counsel: Derby, McGuinness & Goldsmith, LLP

News Release

Tenants with disabilities file federal class action lawsuit challenging housing project’s failure to maintain a functioning elevator system, 7/2/2018

Significant court documents:

Hunter v. Chatman Complaint (pdf)