Federal Government Files Suit against Sioux Falls Landlord

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — The U.S. government has filed a federal lawsuit against a Sioux Falls landlord, saying he refused to let a tenant with a fractured leg move back into an apartment over worries that his wheelchair could damage the carpet.

The suit filed on behalf of Daniel Loring seeks unspecified damages from Calvin L. Salem and the Alice B. Salem Family Trust.

Loring fractured his left tibia in January 2014 and spent three months in a skilled nursing facility.

The government alleges that after visiting Loring, Salem wrote a February 2014 letter to the facility saying that Loring was not capable of living independently and that he could not return to the apartment using a wheelchair because it could damage the carpet.

A phone message left for Salem was not immediately returned.

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