AWI Management Corporation, a Roseville-based affordable housing property manager, has faced three notable lawsuits over the past decade: a federal disability discrimination case brought by the California Civil Rights Department that settled for $120,000 in February 2025, a premises liability suit over a deadly 2011 shooting at a Palm Desert complex that ended in AWI’s favor on appeal, and an employment discrimination claim that was dismissed with prejudice in 2016.
The Sutter Village Disability Discrimination Settlement
The largest and most recent case involved Sutter Village, a 74-unit apartment complex at 1200 Gray Avenue in Yuba City. SUV Affordable Limited Partnership has owned the property since 2018, and AWI has handled day-to-day operations.1Sacramento Bee. Yuba City Apartment Settlement
Katy Willis, a quadriplegic woman who used a wheelchair, moved into a third-floor unit in February 2016. According to the state’s complaint, she asked management repeatedly between 2017 and 2019 to be transferred to a ground-floor apartment. At least six first-floor units became available during that period, but Willis was either ignored or delayed, and one available ground-floor unit was leased to another tenant less than a month after AWI’s vice president Michael Burke acknowledged Willis had “an obvious priority to transfer.”2California Civil Rights Department. DFEH Complaint, Case No. 2:22-at-00339
The building’s sole elevator made the situation worse. Tenants reported the doors closing on them as they tried to enter or exit in wheelchairs, and during outages Willis was effectively trapped on the third floor, unable to reach medical appointments, physical therapy, church, or support groups. She described feeling like a “prisoner in her own home.”2California Civil Rights Department. DFEH Complaint, Case No. 2:22-at-00339
Regulators had flagged the elevator well before the lawsuit. The California Department of Industrial Relations issued a preliminary order in January 2017 and an “Order to Show Cause” in April 2018. In May 2019, Cal/OSHA inspected the elevator after its operating permit had expired and found six violations, including a non-functional emergency phone.3CBS News Sacramento. Elevator Safety Yuba City Apartments That same month, the elevator caught fire. The complaint alleged management then left for the holiday weekend without staff to help disabled tenants stranded on upper floors.2California Civil Rights Department. DFEH Complaint, Case No. 2:22-at-00339 Cal/OSHA red-tagged the elevator on September 5, 2019, and it was returned to service five days later after local media coverage.4KCRA. Yuba City Elevator Outage Apartment Red Tagged
Willis filed an administrative complaint on October 29, 2019.5GovInfo. USCOURTS-caed-2_22-cv-00584 After investigating, the California Civil Rights Department filed suit on April 1, 2022, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, Case No. 2:22-cv-00584. The defendants were SUV Affordable LP, AWI Management Corporation, Michael Burke, and on-site manager Kiran Chhotu. The complaint alleged violations of the federal Fair Housing Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, and the Unruh Civil Rights Act.2California Civil Rights Department. DFEH Complaint, Case No. 2:22-at-00339
Willis died in 2023, while the case was still pending.1Sacramento Bee. Yuba City Apartment Settlement
Terms of the February 2025 Settlement
The parties signed a settlement on February 4, 2025. The defendants agreed to pay $120,000 total: $105,000 to the estate of Katy Willis and $15,000 to the Civil Rights Department. The agreement states it does not constitute an admission of misconduct.6California Civil Rights Department. Settlement Agreement, CRD v. SUV Affordable
Beyond the payment, AWI agreed to a set of operational changes to be completed within 60 days:
- Adopt written fair housing policies covering Section 504 obligations, reasonable accommodations, and reasonable modifications at its California properties.
- Implement procedures for regular elevator inspection and maintenance, timely notification of tenants with disabilities during service interruptions, and accessibility plans for outages longer than 24 hours.
- Develop an evacuation plan at Sutter Village addressing residents with disabilities or limited mobility.
- Designate a fair housing coordinator at Sutter Village to review reasonable accommodation requests.
- Require three hours of fair housing training on Rehabilitation Act obligations for Burke, Chhotu, and the coordinator.
- Post and distribute fair housing and disability discrimination fact sheets at all AWI-managed properties in California.6California Civil Rights Department. Settlement Agreement, CRD v. SUV Affordable
The parties agreed to dismiss the case with prejudice, and the court retained jurisdiction for 120 days to enforce the terms.6California Civil Rights Department. Settlement Agreement, CRD v. SUV Affordable CRD Director Kevin Kish said in a statement: “Nobody should ever be trapped in their home because of repeated accommodation denials and maintenance failures. Plain and simple: That is a form of disability discrimination.”1Sacramento Bee. Yuba City Apartment Settlement
Lozano v. AWI Management: The Palm Desert Shooting Case
A separate case grew out of a shooting at the Hovley Garden Apartments in Palm Desert on April 8, 2011. Tenant Juan Carlos Alcala shot and killed neighbor Felipe Lozano Jr. and Lozano’s two-year-old daughter, Doria Zoe Lozano-Reynoso, and wounded Lozano’s mother Afra.7The Desert Sun. Palm Desert Man Sentenced to Life for Killing Father, Child
The Lozano family sued AWI, which had managed the complex until December 31, 2010, alleging negligence in failing to evict Alcala despite complaints about his behavior. The trial court granted AWI summary judgment, and California’s Fourth Appellate District affirmed in April 2016. The court held that an apartment manager has a duty to evict a tenant only when the tenant’s behavior makes violence toward neighbors “highly foreseeable,” and that Alcala’s prior conduct (yelling while holding a stick, staring, verbal threats, and scratching a car) did not meet that threshold. The court also found no evidence that lesser measures such as an investigation or warning would have prevented the shooting.8Horvitz and Levy LLP. Lozano v. AWI Management Corporation9Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard and Smith LLP. Lozano v. AWI Management Corporation, Court of Appeal Opinion
Two plaintiffs later filed new suits raising the same claims. AWI got both dismissed on res judicata grounds, and the appellate court affirmed, closing out the litigation.10Horvitz and Levy LLP. Reynoso/Lozano v. AWI Management
Kofman v. AWI Management: Employment Discrimination
In December 2015, a plaintiff named Kofman filed an employment discrimination suit against AWI in the Eastern District of California, Case No. 2:15-cv-02600. The available record does not detail the specific claims. AWI filed a Rule 68 offer of judgment in March 2016, and Judge John A. Mendez dismissed the case with prejudice on May 4, 2016, with each side bearing its own costs.11PACER Monitor. Kofman v. AWI Management Corporation
About the Company
AWI Management Corporation was established in 2007 and specializes in affordable housing, managing properties that participate in USDA, HUD, and tax credit programs. As of mid-2026, it manages 217 properties totaling roughly 11,000 units across California, Arizona, and Hawaii, and serves an estimated 25,000 residents.12AWI Management Corporation. AWI Management Corporation Homepage13AWI Management Corporation. Our Team1Sacramento Bee. Yuba City Apartment Settlement Kiran Chhotu, an individual defendant in the Sutter Village case, remains with AWI as a Regional Portfolio Director.