The Fair Housing Act states that one potential type of prohibited discrimination is a refusal to provide a reasonable accommodation to a person with a disability. According to the HUD, a reasonable accommodation is a change in how a dwelling is normally run to allow a person with a disability to enjoy their housing. If you believe you have been the victim of housing discrimination, please call us toll-free at 1-877-979-FAIR to discuss the situation.
Reasonable Accommodation: A change, exception, or adjustment to a rule, policy, practice, or service that may be necessary for a person with a disability to have an equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling, including public and common use spaces.
A housing provider has a policy of providing unassigned parking spaces to residents. A resident with mobility impairment, who is substantially limited in their ability to walk, requests an assigned accessible parking space close to the entrance of their unit as a reasonable accommodation.
There are available parking spaces near the entrance to their unit that are accessible, but those spaces are available to all residents on a first come, first served basis. The provider must make an exception to its policy of not providing assigned parking spaces to accommodate this resident.
Requesting an accommodation is as simple as giving notice to your housing provider that you need one. You may do this orally or in writing. It is preferable to put the request in writing for documentation purposes. An example letter for a request for reasonable accommodation is attached to this Fact Sheet.
In order to receive an accommodation, you must first make an accommodation request. A person with a disability is not entitled to an accommodation unless a request has been submitted. The housing provider is obligated to respond to the request in a timely manner.
The request can be made by the person with a disability. Alternatively, it may be made by a family member or another person acting on behalf of the person with a disability.
In cases where the disability is readily apparent or known and the need for the accommodation is also apparent, this isn’t necessary. However, in cases where the disability is not obvious or the need for the accommodation is not apparent, the housing provider may request additional information.
In order to evaluate a request for reasonable accommodation, a housing provider may request information that is necessary to:
Some materials that may be provided include but are not limited to:
Materials should show the relationship between the person’s disability and the need for the requested accommodation. See our Fair Housing for Medical and Mental Health Professionals: Writing Support Letters (PDF) booklet for more information.
In certain circumstances, a request for reasonable accommodation can be denied. A request may be denied if:
Due to disability, a tenant is unable to open the dumpster placed in the parking lot by his housing provider for trash collection. The tenant requests that the housing provider send a maintenance staff person to his apartment on a daily basis to collect his trash and take it to the dumpster.
Because the housing development is a small operation with limited financial resources, it may be an undue financial and administrative burden for the housing provider to grant the requested daily trash pick-up service. Accordingly, the requested accommodation may be denied.
The request could be modified to something more reasonable such as placing an open trash can in an accessible location where the tenant can dispose of their trash daily. Maintenance can transfer this trash to the dumpster when on site.
A tenant has a severe mobility impairment that limits his ability to walk. He asks his housing provider to transport him to the grocery store and assist him with his grocery shopping as a reasonable accommodation of his disability. The provider does not provide any transportation or shopping services for its tenants, so granting this request would require a fundamental alteration in the nature of the provider’s operations. The request can be denied for this reason.
The request could be modified to alter the housing provider’s parking policy to allow a local community service worker to park a car close to the tenant’s unit so he can be transported to the grocery store and assisted with shopping.
If you have any reason to believe that you have been the victim of housing discrimination, please call us toll-free at 1-877-979-FAIR to discuss the situation.