On July 26, 2024, Relman Colfax filed a complaint in federal court on behalf of Oxford House, Inc. (OHI) and Oxford House-Four Corners (OHFC) against the City of Farmington, New Mexico. The complaint alleges that the City discriminated against individuals with disabilities, violating the Fair Housing Act (FHA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Over the past fifty years, OHI has established nearly 4,000 self-run, self-supported recovery houses across the United States, providing individuals recovering from substance use disorders the opportunity to live clean and sober lives—forever. Since the first house was established in 1975, Oxford Houses have provided an opportunity for people recovering from alcoholism and substance abuse to maintain their sobriety in a supportive living environment that does not require the provision of treatment or counseling services.
In alignment with its mission, and pursuant to an agreement with the Behavioral Health Services Division of the New Mexico Human Services Department, OHI opened OHFC on March 1, 2024. Like all Oxford Houses, OHFC is a single-family house that is rented by a group of individuals who live together as a family. Before OHFC, there were no available sober living homes near Farmington. Nonetheless, within weeks of OHFC's opening, the City initiated two enforcement actions aimed at shutting down the home because it is occupied by individuals with disabilities.
Farmington attempted to compel OHFC to obtain a special use permit to operate as a group care facility or group care home, which under the City’s zoning ordinance, involve the provision of treatment services by 24-hour caregivers and have licenses from the State of New Mexico. Like all Oxford Houses, OHFC does not provide treatment services, nor does it have caregivers in the home. The City filed a civil action against OHI and later issued a criminal summons against an OHI employee despite OHI’s clarification that OHFC is not a group care facility or group care home under local zoning laws.
The complaint alleges that the City’s refusal to accommodate OHFC’s reasonable requests to be treated as any other family unit living in a single-family home and its subsequent enforcement actions constitute intentional discrimination under the FHA and ADA. All residents are individuals with Substance Use Disorder (SUD), a recognized disability requiring structured support to prevent relapse.
Residents live in Oxford Houses like OHFC because they want to have an equal opportunity to people without SUD to live in a family setting in a residential community, and the City’s actions deprived individuals recovering from substance use disorders of access to supportive, community-based sober living residences. As the complaint alleges, the City has deprived OHI and OHFC of its ability to serve individuals with disabilities in Farmington where there is a strong demand and need for such opportunities.
The lawsuit, filed on the 34th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act being signed into law, against the City of Farmington highlights the critical need for fair housing practices that do not discriminate against individuals with disabilities. It is seeking a declaratory judgment, preliminary and permanent injunctive relief, and compensatory and punitive damages resulting from City’s discriminatory actions. The outcome of this case may have significant implications for the protection of housing rights for people with disabilities and those living with SUD nationwide.
A copy of the complaint is here.