{"id":24785,"date":"2019-06-04T10:27:10","date_gmt":"2019-06-04T16:27:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/?p=366838"},"modified":"2019-06-04T10:27:10","modified_gmt":"2019-06-04T16:27:10","slug":"colorado-lawsuit-over-companion-animals-settles-for-1m","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/local-news\/colorado-lawsuit-over-companion-animals-settles-for-1m\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado lawsuit over companion animals settles for $1M"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
A.J. White and his companion cat Genki, as seen in the suit filed in U.S. District Court.<\/strong>
United States District Court<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

DENVER \u2014 A Colorado housing authority accused of violating<\/a> the federal rights of tenants with disabilities by charging a fee for companion animals has settled a lawsuit for nearly $1 million.<\/p>\n

The agreement followed a three-year fight over the Meeker Housing Authority\u2019s efforts to tighten restrictions on keeping pets at the northwestern Colorado property, a federally subsidized apartment building for families. Attorneys said the agency refused to make exceptions for two tenants whose cats and dog were recommended by doctors to cope with depression and anxiety.<\/p>\n

\u201cHousing is one of our basic needs, and when that\u2019s taken away from people who do not have a safety net, there\u2019s nowhere for them to go,\u201d said Siddhartha Rathod, the tenants\u2019 attorney.<\/p>\n

Attorneys for the Meeker Housing Authority did not return messages seeking comment.<\/p>\n

Colorado District Court Judge William J. Martinez ruled in February that the creation of a $300 fee and the denial of requests for an exception by the tenants with disabilities violated federal law preventing discrimination against people with disabilities. Other claims were set to be decided by a jury in early May until the parties began settlement talks.<\/p>\n

Under the agreement, the plaintiffs will receive $950,000 from the Meeker Housing Authority. They previously settled with the town of Meeker for $50,000, attorneys said.<\/p>\n

One of the affected tenants, 23-year-old A.J. White, has severe depression and often refused to get out of bed until he and his father adopted two cats named Genki and Haim.<\/p>\n

A.J. White has held a job as a cashier for five years and graduated high school but medication can exacerbate his depression and anxiety, said his father, Lonnie White. The cats changed everything.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe cats give him routine, give him purpose, give him happiness,\u201d Lonnie White said. \u201cWhen he\u2019s feeling down, the first ones to the rescue are the cats. He feels like, \u2018If they think I\u2019m lovable, then I\u2019m lovable.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The outcome of the tenants\u2019 suit isn\u2019t surprising, said Christopher Berry, a senior staff attorney with the Animal Legal Defense Fund. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has said since 2013 that federal housing law requires landlords to accommodate tenants with disabilities who rely on service or emotional support animals, he said.<\/p>\n

Another plaintiff in the suit, Megan McFadden, also had been diagnosed with chronic depression and anxiety, including panic attacks. The mother of two found that her dog, Chewy, helped her cope with stress and lowered her feelings of depression and anxiety, according to the lawsuit.<\/p>\n

McFadden moved out when building managers refused to grant her a lease extension if Chewy remained in the apartment, the suit said.<\/p>\n

Lonnie White, who was the third plaintiff in the lawsuit against the housing authority, said he and his son were relieved by the settlement after years of preparing for a trial. The Whites moved after the pet policy took effect and pooled their incomes to afford rent.<\/p>\n

Neither could imagine giving up the cats that had become members of their family, Lonnie White said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re more than pets,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

via:: Summit Daily<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A.J. White and his companion cat Genki, as seen in the suit filed in U.S. District Court.United States District Court DENVER \u2014 A Colorado housing authority accused of violating the federal rights of tenants with disabilities by charging a fee for companion animals has settled a lawsuit for nearly $1 million. The agreement followed a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[97],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-24785","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-11 11:33:53","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KIFT - The LIFT FM","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24785","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24785"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24785\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}