Pub. 6 2016-2017 Issue 3

6 O V E R A C E N T U R Y : B U I L D I N G B E T T E R B A N K S - H E L P I N G C O L O R A D A N S R E A L I Z E D R E A M S A Word From CBA... This appears to be similar to the slew of patent troll lawsuits prevalent in 2015, during which a handful of attorneys sent banks and other businesses vaguely worded demand letters, citing violations to patents, with the intent of obtaining an out-of-court settlement. Already, more than 60 ADA-related cases have been filed targeting Colorado restaurants. However, litigation has ex - panded beyond those technical violations and is now often focused on ADA-related website accommodation. Banks across the country – including three in Colorado – have received letters claiming a lack of compliance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG - 2). There are no rules or regulations regarding ADA compliance for web - sites, those are expected in 2018. Despite that fact, one case has already been decided in favor of the plaintiff, costing one Colorado company a $4,000 penalty andmore than $100,000 in legal fees. Also, a slew of realty companies is facing litigation. Each of the Colorado banks has received notice from claim - ants represented by the Carlson Lynch Sweet and Kilpela law firm, which appears to be targeting banks across the country, seeking out-of-court settlements. And, as part of the settle - ments, the firm agrees to assist the bank with future claims or threatsmade against themregarding ADAwebsite compliance. The organization being used to file claims is the Advocates for Individuals withDisabilities Foundation, Inc. To date these claims have not been website related. The Foundation filed its application for authority with the Arizona Secretary of State on June 30, 2016. The Foundation has ties to Advocates for Individuals with Disabilities, LLC. They are a relatively new LLC, having filed paperwork with the AZ Secretary of State in January 2016. The LLC appears to be owned by the Advocates for American Disabled Individuals Trust also formed in Jan - uary of 2016. When organizations have this type of layering, it is challenging to find the actual businesses officers/owners. We were only able to find an attorney representing the orga - nization; we were not able to identify the board of directors, officers or owners. The main focus of the foundation seems to be litigation. “To date, through the hundreds of enforcement actions which Advocates for Individuals with Disabilities have filed, we and our attorneys are proud to have nearly a 100% success rate of bringing about compliance in all of our cases, either voluntarily through early settlement or by subsequent court order.” The AID website contains a How to Find a Violation checklist: “Extensive Check List of Investigations . The AID Foundation represents persons with disabilities who have been denied the right of access and or rights granted though the ADA. An extensive ADA Checklist of Existing Facilities can be found at http://aid.org/img/ada-checklist.pdf. If you have experienced or if you become personally aware of a facility that does not comply with the ADA requirements outlined in the ADA Checklist of Existing Facilities, please fill out an Investigation Request Form and we will look into investigate the violations.” This quote is from the AID website. This list provided in the link above is very detailed and may be used by banks and other businesses to ensure they do not have violations. Bankers Beware: Colorado Businesses Seeing Rash of Lawsuits O ver the past fewweeks, CBAhas alertedColorado banks to the increasing prevalence of lawsuits alleging tech - nical violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act .