Section 5 | 13/14 |
Fair Housing & Disabilities
The Fair Housing Act prohibits housing-related discrimination against people with disabilities. Under federal law, a person with a disability includes anyone with a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities. While some disabilities are readily observable, others are non-obvious or cannot be readily observed.
A reasonable accommodation is a change, exception or adjustment to a rule, policy, practice, or service that may be necessary for a person with disabilities to have an equal opportunity to use and enjoy a property. The opportunity to use and enjoy a property includes not just the housing unit but also the public and common use areas of the property.
A reasonable modification is a structural change made to a property to afford a person with disabilities an equal opportunity to use and enjoy the property. Reasonable modifications can include structural changes to interiors and exteriors of dwellings and to common and public use areas. Examples include the installation of a ramp into a building, lowering the entry threshold of a unit, or the installation of grab bars in a bathroom.