California Apartment Association

 

California lawmakers continue to pursue ways to stop abusive disability-access lawsuits that persist against small-business and building owners, while ensuring that individuals with disabilities have access to those buildings.

“This is the first time that the Legislature as a whole is really recognizing that abusive ADA lawsuits exist, and that there are lawsuits that are more about money than justice,” said Kim Stone, president of the Civil Justice Association of California, in this Modesto Bee article.

Two lawmakers in particular are making headway: Assemblywoman Kristin Olsen, R-Modesto, and Sen. Richard Roth, D-Riverside.

Sen. Richard Roth

Roth’s bill, SB 269, would protect a small-business owner from liability for minimum statutory damages in a construction-related accessibility claim for the 120 days following a voluntary inspection by a certified access specialist. Under certain conditions, the business could then identify and correct violations during that period.

The law that governs certified access specialists, or CASPs, and the process of voluntary building inspections was created in California several years ago to give building owners some protections against abusive lawsuits.

SB 269 also would create a presumption that small businesses are not liable for minor violations such as interior and exterior signage or the condition of parking lot paint stripping if the violations are corrected by owners within 15 days of a summons or complaint.

“SB 269 is a narrowly crafted provision to provide businesses with much-needed disability access education, resources and training, and allows small businesses that have been proactive in identifying access issues a reasonable amount of time to fix any problems identified before a lawsuit arises,” Roth said in a news release.

The bill passed out of the Senate and has moved through Assembly committees, recently passing the Assembly Judiciary Committee on a 10 to 0 vote. This bill will be heard in Assembly Appropriations in the coming weeks.

Olsen’s bill, AB 54, would streamline the processing of plaintiff-attorney demand letters and complaints in construction-related claims.

Current law requires attorneys who provide a legally required demand letter or who send or serve complaints to building owners in a construction-related accessibility case to send a copy of that demand letter or complaint to the California Commission on Disability Access, or CCDA.

AB 54 would require these attorneys to submit additional information about the demand letter or complaint to the CCDA in a standard format specified by the commission. The commission could then more effectively compile data about accessibility claims and report it to the Legislature for review.

AB 54  has moved off the Assembly Floor and is now awaiting a committee assignment in the Senate.

“ADA reform has to remain a top priority,” Olsen said, according to the Modesto Bee. “Abuse is wreaking havoc on small businesses.”