Elliott v. Sherwood Manor Mobile Home Park

• Decision Date: 25 November 1996
• Docket Number: No. 96-532-CIV-T-17B.,96-532-CIV-T-17B.
• Citation: 947 F.Supp. 1574
• Parties: Virginia ELLIOTT, Plaintiff, v. SHERWOOD MANOR MOBILE HOME PARK and Mark Hassan Hosseini, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Middle District of Florida

947 F.Supp. 1574

Virginia ELLIOTT, Plaintiff, v. SHERWOOD MANOR MOBILE HOME PARK and Mark Hassan Hosseini, Defendants.

No. 96-532-CIV-T-17B.

United States District Court, M.D. Florida, Tampa Division.

November 25, 1996.

Suzanne Harris, Law Office of Suzanne Harris, Lakeland, FL, for plaintiff.

J. David Pobjecky, Law Office of J. David Pobjecky, Winter Haven, FL, for defendants.

ORDER ON MOTION TO DISMISS FOR FAILURE TO STATE A CLAIM AND IMPROPER PARTY AND MOTION FOR A MORE DEFINITE STATEMENT

KOVACHEVICH, Chief Judge.

This cause comes before the Court on Defendant, Sherwood Manor Mobile Home Park (the "Park"), and Defendant, Mark Hassan Hosseini's ("Hosseini") motion to dismiss complaint for failure to state a claim and improper party or, in the alternative, motion for a more definite statement, with memorandum in support, (Dkt. 5) and response thereto (Dkt. 6).

ALLEGED FACTS

Plaintiff, Virginia Elliott ("Elliott"), filed a complaint alleging that: 1) she has leased a mobile home in Sherwood Manor Mobile Home Park; 2) she is a disabled adult; and 3) Hosseini and the Park, as her landlords, discriminated against her by "treat[ing] her differently in terms, conditions, and provision of services and refus[ing] to make reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, practices, and services with regard to her tenancy in the Park" (Dkt. 1). The complaint includes the following causes of action: 1) violation of the Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 3601-3619 (1994); 2) violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C. §§ 12101-12213 (1994); and 3) violation of the Florida Fair Housing Act, Fla.Stat. §§ 760.20-760.37 (1995).

On March 4, 1994, Elliott signed a lease to rent a mobile home and lot in the Sherwood Manor Mobile Home Park. She suffers from post polio syndrome, cerebral palsy, diabetes and diabetic neuropathy, and depression. As a result of complications from these various illnesses, Elliott was hospitalized in August of 1995. Upon release from the hospital, she had to purchase a scooter to transport herself around the Park.

In September of 1995, Elliott asked the Defendant to add a ramp to her mobile home so that she could get the scooter in and out of her residence. According to Elliott, the Defendant refused to build the ramp and commented that she did not look disabled. Subsequently, on November 2, 1995, Elliott had a ramp installed at her home.

On November 2, 1995, the manager of the Park threatened to remove Elliott's ramp and she had to call the police in order to prevent its removal. After the police left, Elliott claims that the manager told her that the Defendants would remove the ramp unless she took out an extra insurance policy on the ramp, paid any extra taxes that the ramp required, and got a letter from her lawyer holding the Defendants harmless from liability on account of the ramp. That same day, Elliott took out an insurance policy on the ramp and had an attorney write a letter holding the Defendants harmless from liability for the ramp.

According to Elliott, on November 3, 1995, the Park's manager came to her home to discuss the letter. At that time he told her that they had never had a ramp in the Park and that she should consider moving to a handicapped facility. Then, after Elliott's attorney revised the letter in accordance with the Defendant's specifications, the defendant was contacted by her attorney regarding a possible discrimination suit.

On March 18, 1996, Elliott filed a complaint against the Park and Hosseini (the Park's owner), seeking to recover for violations of the Federal Fair Housing Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Florida Fair Housing Act. Elliott's prayer for relief on the three claims include: 1) enjoining Defendant's from discriminating in the future; 2) compensatory damages for out-of-pocket expenses, emotional pain, suffering, and humiliation; 3) punitive damages; and 4) attorney fees and costs. The Park and Hosseini responded by filing a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim and improper party and motion for a more definite statement.

MOTION TO DISMISS FOR FAILURE TO STATE A CLAIM

A complaint should not be dismissed for failure to state a claim unless it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts that would entitle him to relief. Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45-46, 78 S.Ct. 99, 101-102, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957). A trial court, in ruling on a motion to dismiss, is required to view the complaint in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 94 S.Ct. 1683, 40 L.Ed.2d 90 (1974).

A. The Federal Fair Housing Act

Defendants first move to dismiss Count I, a claim for violation of the United States Fair Housing Act. The Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. § 3601, et seq., enacted as Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, was originally enacted to prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, or national origin in housing practices. See 82 Stat. 81. In 1988, Congress extended coverage to handicapped persons. Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988, P.L. No. 100-430, 102 Stat. 1619 (1988). One of the purposes of the Fair Housing Act, as extended to handicapped persons, is to prohibit practices which "restrict the choices" of people with disabilities to live where they wish, or which "discourage or obstruct [those] choices in a community neighborhood or development." See 24 C.F.R. § 100.70(a).

Although the Plaintiff does not specify which provision of the Fair Housing Act the Defendants violated, it is clear from the nature of the complaint that the claim is based on 42 U.S.C. § 3604(f)(2), which prohibits "discriminat[ion] against any person in the terms, conditions, or privileges of sale or rental of a dwelling, or in the provision of services or facilities in connection with such dwelling, because of a handicap of that person." The Defendants argue that the complaint fails to specify discriminatory acts which would subject them to liability for any damages. However, Rule 8(a), Fed.R.Civ.P. requires only "a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief." This Court finds that the Plaintiff has adequately stated a claim pursuant to Rule 8(a), Fed.R.Civ.P., and alleged enough facts to put the Defendants on notice of the claims being made against them.

The Fair Housing Act defines "handicap" to be "a physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more of such person's major life activities." The Plaintiff asserts in her complaint that she suffers from post polio syndrome, cerebral palsy, diabetes and diabetic neuropathy, and depression. Moreover, she claims that, due to these illnesses, she uses a scooter to transport herself around her community. Therefore, the Plaintiff has plead that she is a member of the class protected by 42 U.S.C. § 3604.

Furthermore, discrimination covered by Section 3604(f)(3) of the Fair Housing Act, in pertinent part, includes:

[A] refusal to permit, at the expense of the handicapped person, reasonable modifications of existing premises occupied ... by such person .. if such modifications may be necessary to afford such person full enjoyment of the premises ... or a refusal to make reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, practices, or services, when such accommodations may be necessary to afford such person equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling.

42 U.S.C. § 3604(f)(3) (emphasis added). Among other things, the complaint at issue states that the Defendants refused to build a ramp for the Plaintiff's scooter, and when she built the ramp herself, the Park's owner and employee tried to have it removed. Furthermore, the complaint alleges that, after the Plaintiff installed the ramp at her mobile home, the Defendants failed to make necessary repairs until they were contacted by Plaintiff's attorney about a possible discrimination suit. In taking these facts to be true and construing them in the light most favorable to the Plaintiff, this Court finds that the Plaintiff has sufficiently provided a "short and plain statement of the claim" showing that she is entitled to relief. Thus, this Court concludes that, pursuant to Rule 8(a), Fed.R.Civ.P., the Plaintiff has adequately stated a claim upon which relief may be granted under 42 U.S.C. § 3604.

B. The Americans with Disabilities Act

The Defendants next move to dismiss Count II, a claim for violation of the ADA. The ADA, 42 U.S.C. §§ 12101-12213, prohibits discrimination against Americans with disabilities in the areas of employment, public services, public accommodations, and services operated by private entities. This Court does not find, and the Plaintiff's complaint does not assert, that the Park falls within any one of these categories.

Thus, this Court concludes that, with respect to Count II, the Plaintiff has failed to state a claim upon which relief may be granted under 42 U.S.C. §§ 12101-12213. Count II is, therefore, dismissed with leave to file an amended complaint within ten (10) days.

C. Florida Fair Housing Act

The third Count the Defendants move to dismiss for failure to state a claim involves the Florida Fair Housing Act, Fla.Stat. §§ 760.20-760.37. The Act, in pertinent part prohibits discrimination "in the provision of services or facilities in connection with [the rental of a dwelling] because of a handicap of that ... renter." Fla.Stat. § 760.23(8). The discrimination covered under this section of the Florida Fair Housing Act is the same discrimination prohibited under the Federal Fair Housing Act. See Fla.Stat. § 760.23(9). Likewise, the definition of "handicap" under the Florida Fair Housing Act is similar to its definition under the Federal Act. See Fla. Stat. § 760.22(7).

For the reasons stated before, this Court concludes that the Plaintiff has stated a claim under the Federal Fair Housing Act, and concludes that the Plaintiff has sufficiently provided a "short and plain statement...