Disability Resources

Knowing your legal rights & responsibilities is the first step to ensuring that your rights are respected.

Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act is the Fair Housing Act. The intent of the Fair Housing Act is to ban discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, national origin and disability in most housing transactions. Families with children are also protected.

Reasonable Accommodations

A reasonable accommodation is a change, exception, adaptation or modification to a policy, program or service that allows a person with a disability to use and enjoy a dwelling. The term also applies to public and common use spaces.

The Fair Housing Act requires owners and landlords to make reasonable accommodations if the accommodation may be necessary to ensure that a person with a disability has equal opportunity to use and enjoy the dwelling.

What are some examples of reasonable accommodations?

• allowing a person with a disability to mail their rent instead of delivering it to the office;
• assigning a parking space closest to the exit or unit to tenants with mobility disabilities;
• allowing persons with disabilities to keep service or other assistance animals, despite a general "no pets" policy;
• not counting a home health aide, therapist, nurse, etc. as an additional tenant or guest;
• allowing a tenant to move to a more suitable unit when one becomes available; and
• releasing a tenant with disabilities, who must move because of his/her disability, from lease requirements.

Reasonable Modifications

A reasonable modification is a physical change made to a tenant or owner’s living space or to a common area that is necessary to ensure that the tenant or owner who has a disability has full enjoyment of the dwelling or space. Modifications are usually made at the tenant's expense, except in the case of federally funded housing.

The Fair Housing Act requires owners and landlords to allow the reasonable modification of a living spaces as well as some common areas if the modification may be necessary to ensure that a person with a disability has full enjoyment of the premises.

What are some examples of reasonable modifications?

• building ramps over steps to allow wheelchair access
• installing lever door openers instead of knob openers
• widening door openings by installing swing-away hinges or wider pocket doors
• installing grab bars and hand rails
• installing wheelchair accessible shower stalls
• changing tub faucets to an off-set location
• removing under-the-sink cupboards in bathrooms
• lowering light switches

Funds may be often available to assist individuals to pay for modifications. Check with both your area Center for Independent Living and your city and county government to request financial assistance paying for a modification.

New Construction

The new construction requirements of the Fair Housing Act apply if a building with four or more units was ready to live in after March 13, 1991:

1. Public and common areas must be accessible to individuals with disabilities.
2. Doors and hallways must be wide enough for wheelchairs.

Each unit must have:

1. An accessible route into and through the unit,
2. Accessible light switches, electrical outlets, thermostats and other environmental controls,
3. Reinforced bathroom walls to allow later installation of grab bars, and
4. Kitchens and bathrooms that can be used by people who use wheelchairs.

If there is an elevator, the requirements apply to every floor and every unit.

If there is not an elevator, the requirements only apply to ground floor units.

Tips

Request by Letter

Check with your housing provider, management company, Board of Directors or other governing/managing group to find out if there is a special way they want you to make your request.

If they have a specific form they require, you may wish to use it. While no specific form can be required to request a modification, forms are often helpful and may be beneficial for both tenant and landlord including by ensuring that there is a written record of the request.

If no such form or special process exists, you may still wish to submit your request in writing by letter. Verbal requests for modification are permitted but it is a very good idea to make sure you have a written record of your request for modification.

If you are requesting a reasonable accommodation, provide as much detail about the accommodation as possible. If you know about resources that can help the property manager or Board of Directors in providing the accommodation, you may want to include that information. For example, if you are requesting materials in Braille and know of a company that can provide the service at a reasonable cost, you can provide the company’s contact information.

If you are requesting permission to make a reasonable modification, include the following information in your letter or on your form:

• A full description of the intended modification.
• An assurance that all necessary permits will be acquired, and that the modification will be done in a workmanlike manner. The use of a contractor may be required depending on the modification and requirements of local law.

Certified Mail

Whether you use a form or a letter, you may wish to send it using certified mail or by email to the property manager, landlord, owner, Association, Board of Directors, etc. so that you have a good record of when your request was sent.

Copies

Keep copies of the forms and letters and the delivery confirmation.

Documentation of Need

Attach (or start preparing for later submission) documentation verifying that you are a person with a disability and that the accommodation or modification is necessary to afford you equal use/enjoyment of the premises. If your disability is obvious and apparent you may not need documentation of disability. If your disability-related need for the accommodation or modification is obvious and apparent you may not need documentation to show why you need the accommodation or modification. Please refer to the written guidance available from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and Department of Justice about accommodations and modifications for further information.

Ask a healthcare provider, social worker, etc. to write and send the letter (on letterhead) to you so you can send it to the property manager, landlord, owner, Association, Board of Directors, etc.

This letter should identify you as a person with a disability under the Fair Housing Act and verify that, in the opinion of the author, you need the accommodation/modification in order to use the property as well as a person without a disability can use it.

If you are unsuccessful, there are organizations where you can request legal and advocacy assistance. Visit the Discrimination and Other Legal Problems section of this Disability Topic for information.