LAKE OF THE OZARKS -- The St. Louis Equal Housing Opportunity Council is suing condominium developers at the Lake of the Ozarks for allegedly violating the Fair Housing Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act. KRCG's Monica Madeja reports.

Forty condo projects on the Lake of the Ozarks are being targeted for failing to provide accessibility to handicap people, according to a January 2007 study done by the Equal Housing Opportunity Council.

"We heard there might be problems at the lake with accessibility and we came down and were astounded at what we found here," says Mira Tanna, EHOC Assistant Director

And now the developers of four of those projects are being slapped with a lawsuit.

"We started with these four particularly because we saw a pattern in practice of violating the Fair Housing Act," says Tanna.

The four Camden County condos under fire are Cedar Heights, Miramar, Loch Haven and Clearwater, all developed by Jeff Tillman and his business associates. I spoke with Tillman over the phone. He says the lawsuit comes as a shock."We have just been informed complaints have been filed against us. We have not seen them at this time. We take these allegations seriously and intend to fully review the claims," he says.

"We contacted the attorney to try and get a meeting and discuss our concern and find out what their plans were to retrofit. And their attorney never returned our call," says Tanna.

Developers of one condominium complex at the lake want to make sure they don't get caught up in a lawsuit as well. When it comes to accessibility, developers here at Majestic Point spared no expense. They installed two wheelchair accessible elevators which cost roughly a million dollars extra.

 "We're trying to be the best at the lake and I believe we've hit it," says Don Pebworth, Majestic Point broker.

EHOC inspectors took a look at the work being done at Majestic Point, to be sure they meet the basic requirements of the Fair Housing Act. They measured light switches and outlets, to make sure a person in a wheel chair could reach them. They also checked accessibility to rooms so anyone, no what matter their physical, condition could move around.

Lawyers with the EHOC say the legal issues will take months, maybe years to resolve. They also say there may be more lawsuits against Lake developers to come.