Discrimination costs US landlord $1m

Action had been taken against the landlord, who had refused a tenant's request for an accessible parking space, by California's Department of Fair Employment and Housing, one of 103 state and local agencies funded by HUD.

‘We are happy to play a small role in easing Shirley Carper's daily journey to her apartment and we hope this settlement will help owners and apartment managers everywhere to understand their responsibilities under the Fair Housing Act’, said HUD's assistant secretary for fair housing and equal opportunity, Kim Kendrick. ‘It's hard to imagine that a 68 year old with a degenerative joint disease in her knees and a cane has to sue to simply get an accessible parking space’.

Carper, who had lived in the property for 24 years, has requested an accessible parking space and extra keys for her full time carer. But despite repeated requests, instead of receiving a better parking space, she received ‘disturbing letters from the building’s owners questioning her ailment’, said HUD.

After mediation failed Carper filed her complaint with HUD, which referred the matter to DFEH for investigation under the State of California's law.

In addition to paying £600,000 in compensation the landlord has agreed to provide an upper level parking space for Carper, and to make a payment towards costs and expenses.

• Orlando, Florida existing home prices rose by the second highest rate in the country in the year ended September, the National Association of Realtors has reported. It put the average Orlando price at £151,800, up 44.8 per cent from the third quarter of 2004. Cape Coral-Fort Meyers, Florida, rated third with a median price of £161,300, up 42.5 per cent in the last year.

Some 69 of the 147 metropolitan areas covered by NAR’s third quarter survey of single-family existing home prices experienced double digit rates of annual inflation rates. Six had small price declines.

The national median existing single family home price was put at £125,500, up 14.7 per cent on a year previously.

‘These historically high home price gains are the simple result of more buyers than sellers in the market’, said NAR chief economist David Lereah. ‘The good news is that inventory levels are improving, and housing supply will come close to buyer demand in 2006. In other words, we expect a healthy and more balanced market next year’.

NAR said that since 1968, average home prices had risen between 1 and 2 percentage points faster than the overall rate of inflation.