On May 20, 2026, after eight years of litigation against the City of Chicago, Relman Colfax is proud to announce the settlement of one of the largest accessible affordable housing matters in the country’s history and systemic relief that will benefit Chicagoans with disabilities for generations to come. This resolution reminds cities across the nation that their failure to comply with federal accessibility obligations may lead to significant legal and financial exposure.
Prior to her death in 2019, Access Living’s founding director, Marca Bristo, asked Relman Colfax to investigate–and later litigate–claims that Chicago violated the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act and the Fair Housing Act for more than three decades in failing to enforce accessibility requirements in the affordable housing portfolio it funded. The firm filed a lawsuit in federal court on May 13, 2018, alleging that since 1988, the City directed hundreds of millions of dollars of federal funding to private developers to create an Affordable Rental Housing Program (with more than 50,000 units) without ensuring that housing was accessible to Chicagoans with disabilities.
During the litigation, the City admitted it did not go on-site to inspect accessibility compliance before issuing permits, did not keep or publicize the addresses of accessible housing units and did not take a single enforcement action against a private owner for failing to build and maintain accessible housing. The U.S. Department of Justice filed a legal brief in December 2023, indicating its support for Access Living’s claims. After reviewing a massive evidentiary record, the Court denied the City’s summary judgment motion in September 2024.
Today’s agreement comes following more than eight years of litigation through three mayoral administrations, and lengthy settlement negotiations that stretched over a year. The agreement requires the City of Chicago to identify, build, or rehabilitate 2,800 accessible units, develop policies to prevent future accessibility violations, and pay damages for frustrating Access Living’s mission of promoting full community integration for Chicagoans with disabilities. Once the terms of the settlement are incorporated into a judgment by U.S. District Court Judge Edmond E. Chang, these policies will be enforceable in more than 40,000 units throughout the city. The Parties will jointly select a neutral accessibility consultant to ensure the units comply with accessibility standards and a Court-appointed Monitor will oversee implementation of the settlement terms.
“More than a quarter of Chicagoans are disabled 2 ,” said Kenneth Walden, Civil Rights Attorney
at Access Living said. “This lawsuit forces the City of Chicago to follow basic civil rights laws
established more than 50 years ago. We look forward to working with the City as it embraces
this important obligation to the people of Chicago.”
The City will also pay $2,250,000 in damages to Access Living related to the frustration of its core mission. Relman Colfax will ask Judge Chang to award reasonable attorneys’ fees and expenses accrued during the litigation and settlement discussions.
“Since Access Living was founded 45 years ago, the lack of affordable, accessible housing has
been the greatest obstacle to our mission of ensuring the right of every person with a disability
to live independently, with dignity, in the community. We have been frustrated for decades by
the failure of the City of Chicago to enforce our rights in its Affordable Rental Housing Program.
This settlement will finally begin to address that with this settlement,” said Daisy Feidt, Access
Living’s Executive Vice President.
This resolution mirrors the 2016 settlement of similar litigation by Relman Colfax on behalf of disability advocacy organizations against the City of Los Angeles. The Firm hopes the outcomes of Access Living of Metropolitan Chicago v. City of Chicago and Independent Living Center of Southern California v. City of Los Angeles, two of the largest accessible affordable housing settlements in the nation’s history, incentivizes other large cities to take stock of their own accessibility compliance.
This resolution can now serve as a catalyst that sparks change for disability justice and fair housing advocates seeking to enforce change.
“Like too many other cities, Chicago ignored its obligation under federal law to make sure city-funded housing was accessible,” said Michael Allen, Partner at Relman Colfax and lead attorney in Chicago and LA’s housing lawsuits. “We are proud to have assisted Access Living to remedy this situation, which will ensure opportunities for thousands of Chicagoans with disabilities to live in housing in the community. We hope that cities all over the country wake up to their accessibility obligations and come into compliance without the need for litigation.”
Read the full press release by Access Living.