Bias suit in NLR cites service-dog charge

The National Fair Housing Alliance filed a housing discrimination complaint Friday against the owners of a North Little Rock apartment complex, alleging discrimination against the disabled who require guide dogs or service dogs, the group announced in a news release.

The complaint against the John Toland Co., which owns and manages the 210-unit New Horizons Apartments at 4907 Augusta Circle in North Little Rock, states that the company denied requests for reasonable housing accommodations by telling potential tenants with disabilities that they would be required to pay an extra charge for a service dog and that the apartments had a “no pets” policy.

The latest incident happened Sept. 16, according to the complaint, citing an investigation by the alliance that documented the violations, the release said. Reasonable housing accommodations cannot be denied to people with disabilities because they require an assistance animal, the release added.

Sandra Toland, a co-manager at New Horizons, denied the allegations Friday, saying that she was unaware of a request to have a service dog being made and that the allegation “stunned us.” She said management hadn’t been served with the complaint as of midafternoon.

“We have not turned anyone down if they have a service dog,” Toland said. “We would not turn anybody down that had a service dog, and we would not require a deposit.”

The complaint was filed with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity and the Arkansas Fair Housing Commission.

The National Fair Housing Alliance is a consortium of more than 220 private, nonprofit fair-housing organizations, state and local civil rights agencies, headquartered in Washington, D.C.