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Not all requests for disability accommodations are reasonable. How can you tell which are and which aren’t?

While the COVID-19 pandemic may have kept people at home in 2020, it apparently didn’t keep them from suing for discrimination. There were 28,712 total fair housing complaints in that pandemic year, according to the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA). That’s the third highest annual total since 2009, and only 168 complaints fewer than the second-place year of 2019. (Note: NFHA, a national civil rights organization that tracks fair housing litigation across the US, hadn’t published the 2021 statistics as of the date we went to press.)

Continuing historic patterns, disability discrimination was the most common ground of complaint, accounting for 15,664 (54.46%) of all 2020 cases. It’s a pretty good bet that failure to provide reasonable accommodations was at the center of most of these cases.

Bottom line: Statistically at least, if an applicant or resident ever sues you for a fair housing violation, it’ll most likely be for allegedly violating your obligation to provide reasonable accommodations for a disability.

The City of Portland continues to tighten its grip on local landlords. It has temporarily amended its housing code to provide thatif anyrent increase effective between September 16, 2020 and March 31, 2021 is received and the tenant is unable to pay the increased amount, the renter is potentially eligible for Relocation Assistance from the landlord. See: Portland City Code,  PCC 30.01.085. 

Complaints can arise from the way you advertise, show units, apply occupancy standards, and enforce community rules.

This week MHCO looks at fair housing problems that can arise when dealing with families with children. Fair housing law bans discrimination against families with children, but there’s more to it than that. You could get into fair housing trouble from the way that you advertise your property, show units, apply occupancy standards, and enforce community rules.