I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3765 

To amend the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 to promote compliance 

through education, to clarify the requirements for demand letters, to 

provide for a notice and cure period before the commencement of a 

private civil action, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 20, 2015 

Mr. POE of Texas (for himself, Mr. COLLINS of Georgia, and Mr. JOLLY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the 

Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 to 

promote compliance through education, to clarify the requirements for demand letters, to provide for a notice 

and cure period before the commencement of a private 

civil action, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘ADA Education and 

5 Reform Act of 2015’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. COMPLIANCE THROUGH EDUCATION. 

2 Based on existing funding, the Disability Rights Sec3 tion of the Department of Justice shall, in consultation 

4 with property owners and representatives of the disability 

5 rights community, develop a program to educate State and 

6 local governments and property owners on effective and 

7 efficient strategies for promoting access to public accom8 modations for persons with a disability (as defined in sec9 tion 3 of the Americans with Disabilities Act (42 U.S.C. 

10 12102)). Such program may include training for profes11 sionals such as Certified Access Specialists to provide a 

12 guidance of remediation for potential violations of the 

13 Americans with Disabilities Act. 

14 SEC. 3. UNFAIR AND DECEPTIVE ACTS AND PRACTICES RE15 LATING TO ADA COMPLIANCE DEMAND LET16 TERS. 

17 It shall be unlawful for any person to send or other18 wise transmit a demand letter or other form of pre-suit 

19 notification alleging a violation of section 302 or 303 of 

20 the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (29 U.S.C. 

21 12182; 12183) if such letter or communication does not 

22 specify in detail the circumstances under which an indi23 vidual was actually denied access to a public accommoda24 tion, including the address of property, the specific sec25 tions of the Americans with Disabilities Act alleged to 

26 have been violated, whether a request for assistance in reVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:23 Oct 21, 2015 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3765.IH H3765

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1 moving an architectural barrier to access was made, and 

2 whether the barrier to access was a permanent or tem3 porary barrier. Any person who violates this section shall 

4 be fined under title 18, United States Code. 

5 SEC. 4. NOTICE AND CURE PERIOD. 

6 Paragraph (1) of section 308(a) of the Americans 

7 with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12188(a)(1)) is 

8 amended to read as follows: 

9 ‘‘(1) AVAILABILITY OF REMEDIES AND PROCE10 DURES.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara12 graph (B), the remedies and procedures set 

13 forth in section 204(a) of the Civil Rights Act 

14 of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000a–3(a)) are the rem15 edies and procedures this title provides to any 

16 person who is being subjected to discrimination 

17 on the basis of disability in violation of this title 

18 or who has reasonable grounds for believing 

19 that such person is about to be subjected to dis20 crimination in violation of section 303. Nothing 

21 in this section shall require a person with a dis22 ability to engage in a futile gesture if such per23 son has actual notice that a person or organiza24 tion covered by this title does not intend to 

25 comply with its provisions. 


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1 ‘‘(B) BARRIERS TO ACCESS TO EXISTING

2 PUBLIC ACCOMMODATIONS.—A civil action 

3 under section 302 or 303 based on the failure 

4 to remove an architectural barrier to access into 

5 an existing public accommodation may not be 

6 commenced by a person aggrieved by such fail7 ure unless— 

8 ‘‘(i) that person has provided to the 

9 owner or operator of the accommodation a 

10 written notice specific enough to allow such 

11 owner or operator to identify the barrier; 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(ii)(I) during the period beginning on 

14 the date the notice is received and ending 

15 60 days after that date, the owner or oper16 ator fails to provide to that person a writ17 ten description outlining improvements 

18 that will be made to remove the barrier; or 

19 ‘‘(II) if the owner or operator provides 

20 the written description under subclause (I), 

21 the owner or operator fails to remove the 

22 barrier or to make substantial progress in 

23 removing the barrier during the period be24 ginning on the date the description is proVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:23 Oct 21, 2015 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3765.IH H3765

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1 vided and ending 120 days after that 

2 date.’’. 

3 SEC. 5. MEDIATION FOR ADA ACTIONS RELATED TO ARCHI4 TECTURAL BARRIERS. 

5 The Judicial Conference of the United States shall, 

6 under rule 16 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure or 

7 any other applicable law, in consultation with property 

8 owners and representatives of the disability rights commu9 nity, develop a model program to promote the use of alter10 native dispute resolution mechanisms, including a stay of 

11 discovery during mediation, to resolve claims of architec12 tural barriers to access for public accommodations. To the 

13 extent practical, the Federal Judicial Center should pro14 vide a public comment period on any such proposal. The 

15 goal of the model program shall be to promote access 

16 quickly and efficiently without the need for costly litiga17 tion. The model program should include an expedited 

18 method for determining the relevant facts related to such 

19 barriers to access and steps taken before the commence20 ment of litigation to resolve any issues related to access. 

21 SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

22 This Act and the amendments made by this Act take 

23 effect 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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