On November 9, 2010, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division (DOJ) and Hilton Worldwide, Inc. (Hilton) announced that they entered into a 45-page “comprehensive precedent-setting agreement under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) that will make state-of-the-art accessibility changes to approximately 900 hotels nationwide.” More than…
CASp may not be a “silver bullet” but CASp compliance is still a smart move California’s 2009 Construction-Related Accessibility Standards Compliance Act (“the Act”) was designed to curb abusive ADA litigation by creating the Certified Access Specialist program (CASp). CASp enables business owners to follow procedures to “certify” that their…
On July 23, 2010, the U.S. Attorney General signed into law important revisions to the Department of Justice’s Regulations implementing the Americans with Disabilities Act. The new regulations also include substantial and far reaching revisions to the Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG), which are now known as the…
ADA enforcement “sweeps” hit the West Coast — Exactly what does this mean to the lodging industry? If I am the owner or manager of a hotel and get an envelope from the DOJ with one of its ADA Compliance Review questionnaires, what should I do? First, take it very…
Mass-produced ADA litigation: Plaintiff and his lawyer sanctioned The end to sue-and-settle “drive bys”? A couple of weeks ago, a Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge granted a business owner’s motion for sanctions under California Code of Civil Procedure Section 128.7 against a plaintiff who has filed many ADA…
As many hotel owners know, both Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and California law mandates that all public accommodations–including virtually all hotels and inns–remove architectural and communication barriers, modify their policies and procedures, and provide other auxiliary aides and accessible services. But these requirements can be…
What to do when you receive an ADA Compliance Questionnaire from the U.S. Department of Justice Earlier this year, I wrote about the the sweeping scope of the DOJ’s ADA Compliance Review Survey of Manhattan hotels. Today, I’ll answer questions about what to do if you receive such a questionnaire…
ADA Lawyer Update: California Supreme Court decision likely to fuel increased ADA litigation, but the Certified Access Specialists program (CASp) offers some protection A step backward In a decision that is likely to lead to more lawsuits filed under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and California’s disabled access laws,…
The Global Financial Crisis is motivating lenders, developers and operators to get creative. We at JMBM are busy looking at opportunities with our clients to purchase and/or reposition distressed hotel properties, unsold condo hotels or condo hotel inventory, and unsold timeshares and timeshare inventory. Some of these properties will need…
ADA Compliance perspective With the increasing importance of ADA compliance for hotels, restaurants, and other public places, we are lucky to have a team that can help set up ADA compliance approaches and programs to minimize later issues on new construction, rehab, and defense of ADA claims from the government…