The Maryland Disability Law Center filed its class-action suit on behalf of several plaintiffs in 2002, charging that, under the Fair Housing Act, the housing authority had treated the complainants unjustly by not making public housing properties accessible to the physically challenged. The US Department of Justice later filed another suit against the city agency under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, claiming that the housing authority had denied the disabled population housing by not providing a sufficient amount of accessible residences.

The breakdown of the housing to be developed with the $50 million investment includes the creation of 1,850 new homes for disabled Section 8 voucher holders; the redevelopment of 755 public housing units into handicapped-accessible units; and the redevelopment of 75 public housing units into units accessible to the non-wheelchair bound disabled. In addition to the new housing, the housing authority will provide a $1 million fund for those who claim to have suffered discrimination with regard to accessible housing. Several phone calls to Baltimore's housing authority were not returned; the Maryland Disability Law Center was unavailable for comment by deadline.