War Veteran With Service Dog Rejected

War Veteran With Service Dog Rejected
Courthouse News
By CAMERON LANGFORD
December 16, 2013

HOUSTON (CN) - A veteran disabled in the Iraq war was refused housing because he uses a service dog, the veteran claims in court.

Derek E. Kolb sued Willshow Inc. dba Texas Realty and Management under the Fair Housing Act, in Federal Court. They are the only defendants.

Kolb, 29, served as an Army infantryman in Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2005 and 2006, conducting raids and clearing roadside bombs from supply routes. He suffered traumatic brain and leg injuries when a roadside bomb exploded north of Diwaniya in September 2005.

Kolb was medically retired from the Army and received 10 awards for his service, including the Bronze Star. He also walked away suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder that made his life hell, he says in the complaint.

He "experienced isolation, hyper-vigilance, loss of pleasure, suicidal ideations, loss of interest, avoidance of crowds, loss of friends and family, and increased anxiety, all because of his PTSD," he says.

By 2011 he was homeless and estranged from his family. But Kolb says a Harris County transitional living facility for homeless vets with PTSD, called Camp Hope, turned his life around.

He began to reconnect with his family, volunteered to be the house "boss" at Camp Hope and tended a garden there that helped with his PTSD.

Buoyed by his recovery, Kolb says, he decided he wanted to live on his own.

He applied for a service dog with the "Train A Dog - Save A Warrior" program, and was scheduled to get his dog in May this year.

He contacted Texas Realty and Management aka Tramco to help him find a rental home. He found a Houston home for $1,100 per month, called the "Stoneleigh property" in the complaint.
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