A federal district judge has ruled that a Chicago area landlord may have to allow a tenant to move from the third floor to the first floor to make a reasonable accommodation to her use of a wheelchair.

The plaintiffs, Karen Roseborough and her minor daughter Lindsey, leased a third floor apartment at the Cottonwood Apartments in Mount Prospect, Illinois in September 1992. By December 1992, Karen, who suffers from degenerative arthritis, had become ph ysically disabled and dependent on use of a wheelchair. The plaintiffs are African-American.

In a unanimous opinion, the 4th District Court of Appeal ruled there was ample evidence to support the jury's conclusion that George and Elizabeth Green were discriminated against by the Rancho Santa Margarita Mortgage Co.

In March Buffalo's Housing Opportunities Made Equal (HOME) announced the resolution of three separate fair housing complaints involving more than 500 units at the Kensington Village Apartments, the Amberleigh retirement Community, and properties at sever al locations owned by Donald J. Reeves.

Baltimore Neighborhoods, Inc. (BNI) has settled four- lawsuits alleging discriminatory advertising. The settlements will result in $125,000 worth of affirmative efforts to recruit black residents to retirement communities and payments of over $85,000 to BNI. The January settlements were of claims against ESS Ventures, Inc., publisher of Baltimore Magazine and Mid-Atlantic Country magazine, and Patuxent Publishing Company, publisher of the Towson Times and several other newspa pers.