I had forgotten that this classic song was from Loggins & Messina until I looked it up after getting an old demand letter packaged by a new firm. I have blogged before about Legal Justice Advocates, a front for a group of attorneys who sent hundreds of demand letters making unsustainable claims about website accessibility under the Fair Housing Act.¹ Their business was taken over by the Portell Law Group² when the original members of LJA dropped out of sight and one of them, Ilya Torchinsky, lost his license to practice. Now another member of the group, Jerome Ramsaran, has incorporated a new supposed disability rights group, Pursuit of Respect, Inc., which is pursuing the old business of making demands on website owners in different real estate related businesses. I know this because I was recently provided a demand letter sent by a lawyer in Chicago who also practices in Florida, the original home of Legal Justice Advocates. J. Kevin Benjamin is the lawyer sending demands on behalf of Pursuit of Respect, Inc. Unlike the claims from Legal Justice Advocates and the Portell Law Group Benjamin’s claims include ADA allegations, and unlike the LJA and Portell Claims the letters from Benjamin give the recipient fourteen days to correct the supposed website violations before there is a threat of a money demand. Of course the demands do not include any details about the supposed problems, and fourteen days is an impossible period for website remediation under the best circumstances. I expect the soft touch is intended to get an equally soft response that lets Benjamin solicit some kind of payment, and once the fourteen days are up there will probably be a stronger money demand. More
Portell Law Group
ADA and FHA Quick Hits – is it safe to come out yet edition.
Like most of you I’ve been working from home for the last couple of months, meaning primarily that my dogs are getting a lot of exercise. There has been no sign of any slowdown in the ADA and FHA litigation business, so there is plenty to cover in this Quick Hits edition.
Owners liability for leased premises – you can’t rely on your tenant.
Dunbar v. Empire Szechuan Noodle H. Inc., 2020 WL 2132339 (S.D.N.Y. May 5, 2020) perfectly illustrates the overriding responsibility of a property owner for the accessibility of a leased premises. The tenant defendant, Empire Szechuan, was evicted for non-payment of rent and went out of business. The Court had no trouble finding claims against it were moot since there was no possibility of effective injunctive relief. The property owner, New Gold Equities, did not fare so well. The court rejected its argument that claims were moot because the new tenant was contractually obligated to comply with the ADA because that compliance was in the future and therefore far from certain. The Court also noted that the ADA lease provision didn’t add much because the new tenant and owner were already obligated to comply with the ADA. A property owner who relies on their tenant may find themselves with continuing liability regardless of any lease provision.