Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1996. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
The Associated Press - Wednesday, 4 December 1996.
The agreement settles a claim that the Huntington Shorecliffs Mobile Home Park discriminated against Shirley Lewis and her son, Steven, U.S. Attorney Nora Manella announced Tuesday.
The owners agreed to pay the Lewises $25,000, but did not admit fault or liability.
"Federal law guarantees that no one will lose his or her housing because of irrational fear of, or prejudice against, a disabling condition," Manella said. "Today's settlement makes that guarantee a reality."
The government sued the park in June alleging it violated the Fair Housing Act by discriminating against Steven Lewis, who moved in with his 61-year-old mother when he became too ill to live alone.
The park's minimum age requirement is 45. The complaint alleged that it had waived the age requirement in other cases.
The Department of Justice and private lawyers can consider the settlement a precedent, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Suzanne Bell.
"This is probably the first case in the country, and definitely in California, brought by the U.S. Department of Justice alleging that the failure of a housing provider to waive its minimum-age residency rule for a person with AIDS violated the Fair Housing Act," Bell said.
A lawyer for the Lewises hailed the settlement.
"The point was to keep Shirley and Steven together in their home," said William B. Carolan, their lawyer. "It was a very long process that was difficult and detrimental to them."
An attorney representing the mobile-home park and its owners declined to comment.
A state law that goes into effect Jan. 1, called the "reverse caregiver law," permits people who don't meet minimum-age requirements but need care to move in with someone who is old enough, Carolan said.
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