Tonya Oliver v. Foxwood at Trinity Community Association

Christopher Blain and Courtney Lucke (Tampa, FL) (Fair Housing) obtained Summary Judgment in a HOA claim. The Plaintiffs alleged that the Association failed to provide them with a reasonable accommodation under the Fair Housing Act for a child’s disability by not allowing the installation of a handicapped child street sign and by not allowing Plaintiffs to install a fence in their backyard to train the disabled child’s service dog.  They also alleged retaliation under the FHA due to a number of deed restriction violation correspondences the Association sent to the Plaintiffs following their alleged requests for accommodations along with the Plaintiffs’ request for Association records that allegedly went unanswered. It was our position that Plaintiffs’ claims were barred by the Statute of Limitations as well as the fact that Plaintiff’s alleged requests were requests for modifications under the FHA rather than requests for accommodations. With regards to the retaliation claim, it was our position that Plaintiff failed to establish a causal link between the alleged accommodation requests and deed violations/records requests.  The matter was filed in Federal Court in the Middle District of Florida.  Courtney Lucke prepared and filed the Motion for Summary Judgment which was entered in our favor on all counts. The court dismissed Plaintiffs’ pendant state claim due to the fact that all federal issues were resolved through the Summary Judgment.