Reasonable accommodation request

Use 4-Step Process for Evaluating Accommodation Requests

 

The decision often hinges on what is and isn’t “reasonable.”

Fair housing laws require landlords to make “reasonable accommodations” for rental prospects and residents who have disabilities. Disagreements over whether requested accommodations are reasonable are a perennial cause of discrimination complaints. And in many cases, it falls to HUD enforcers and judges to resolve the dispute. 

 

Once that happens, it becomes impossible to predict the outcome, since each case turns on the specific facts and circumstances and the credibility of the parties and witnesses involved. Even if you end up winning, getting embroiled in these cases can cost you a fortune in legal fees, distractions, and time. 

DO Be Prepared for Reasonable Accommodation Requests - DON’T Ignore Disability-Related Requests for Exceptions to the Rules

 

Be prepared to handle requests for reasonable accommodations when residents are caught breaking the rules. It may sound like an excuse, but it should alert you to your obligations under fair housing law to provide reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities. The FHA requires communities to make exceptions to rules and policies as reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities when doing so is necessary to give them an equal opportunity to use and enjoy their dwelling.

And don’t be thrown off by what the resident says or when he says it. Whenever a resident raises a disability-related reason for violating the lease or community rules, you should treat it as a reasonable accommodation request.

Fair Housing Pit Falls: Charging Tenants a Fee to Process Accommodations Requests

Designated parking spaces for mobility-impaired tenants is another frequent source of reasonable accommodations complaints and legal mistakes. Consider this common scenario.

Spot the Discrimination Mistake

A landlord is ready, willing, and able to provide designated parking and other reasonable accommodations for mobility-impaired individuals, provided that those individuals are willing to pay the costs of processing the request.

Pitfall: The ban on charging a fee for granting a requested reasonable accommodation also applies to charging fees or deposits for processing an accommodations request.

Phil Querin Q&A: Resident Requests Ramp to House (Reasonable Accommodation)

Question.  I have a tenant requesting a reasonable accommodation for a ramp. On the MHCO From 15 (Reasonable Accommodation Request), is says the tenant is responsible for the costs and removal for a modification unless required by law. Is it required by the law to install a ramp? This would mean the Park would pay for it, or is it not a law and a tenant would have to pay the costs to get one installed? We own the unit and space. It is a mobile home rental.

 

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