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Federal Fair Housing Protections for People with Disabilities; Comparison of Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988, Section 504 and ADA
Federal Law: Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
Types of Practices Prohibited or Required:
- Cannot discriminate, exclude or deny benefits solely because of disability
- Must provide reasonable modifications in all rules, policies and procedures
- Program must be readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities
Types of Housing Covered:
Any housing program or agency that receives federal funds including public housing authorities and assisted housing providers
Federal Law: Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988
Types of Practices Prohibited or Required:
Types of Housing Covered:
All housing except owner-occupied 2, 3, or 4-family housing (whether the housing has public funding or not)
Federal Law: Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (1990)
Types of Practices Prohibited or Required:
Same as Section 504
Types of Housing Covered:
Housing programs or agencies receiving state and local government funding including public housing authorities and state housing finance agency-funded housing developments
Definition of a person with a Disability:
A person who:
- Has a physical or mental impairment which substantially limits a major life activity such as walking, thinking, speaking, hearing, learning, breathing
- Has a record or history of an impairment which limits a major life activity even if the person no longer has the disability or the disability no longer limits a major life activity
- Is regarded as having an impairment that limits a major life activity
What Protections Do These Laws Provide?
The three federal housing laws described above provide critical protections for people with disabilities in three primary ways:
- Protecting the rights of people with disabilities to rent an apartment in the community;
- Protecting the rights of people with physical disabilities to live in the community by creating accessible and adaptable housing; and
- Protecting the rights of people with disabilities, their advocates, and providers to buy or build housing in their communities.
Renting An Apartment
Many people with disabilities experience discrimination when they try to rent an apartment. A landlord may outright refuse to rent to someone with a disability or may make it difficult for the person to obtain or complete an application. A landlord may ask a person with a disability a lot of personal questions about their disability. A landlord may try to charge a higher rent because he believes the tenant is likely to do more damage to an apartment because of their disability. All of these practices are prohibited under the federal housing laws.
Examples of Prohibited Discriminatory Actions in the Rental Market
It is illegal to refuse to rent an apartment to someone because they have a disability.
Sam is a person with a psychiatric disability. Robin is Sam’s case manager. Sam wants to move from a group home into his own apartment. Because Sam is low-income, he is looking into apartments that are subsidized by HUD. Sam asks Robin to come with him to see an apartment.
While the housing manager shows them the apartment, he asks Sam and Robin a lot of questions about whether they are both going to live there and the nature of their relationship. Sam tries to avoid answering the questions but eventually he tells the housing manager that Robin is his case manager. When Sam calls back later in the day to tell the manager he wants the unit, the manager tells him the unit is no longer available.
Sam believes that the manager does not want to rent to him because of his disability. If Sam is correct, the manager has violated the FHAA by discriminating against Sam. The manager has also violated Section 504 because the housing receives HUD funding.
It is generally illegal for landlords to ask an applicant questions about their disability.
The FHAA states that, generally, landlords may not ask questions about an applicant’s disability. Landlords cannot ask:
- whether the applicant has a disability;
- about the nature or severity of the disability;
- about diagnosis, prognosis, medication, personal care or any other such disability-related questions; or
- whether the applicant can live independently.
The housing manager may ask very specific, limited questions regarding a person’s disability in order to determine whether an individual meets the eligibility criteria for the housing unit or development. If the landlord asks any questions regarding disability, he must ask these questions of all applicants for the housing.
For example, when leasing an accessible unit, the landlord may ask an applicant if they require the design features of that unit. The landlord may also require the applicant to provide documentation of the disability. If a housing unit or development is limited to elders and people with disabilities, the landlord may ask the applicant his or her age and whether s/he has a disability. The landlord may also request documentation that the applicant is disabled. Such documentation should be very general and simply verify that a person has a disability, not the nature or severity of the disability.
How To Address Discrimination When It Occurs
Although the federal government has passed laws prohibiting discrimination against people with disabilities in housing, discrimination continues to occur. If you believe that you have been discriminated against, there are a number of informal and formal actions that you, or an advocate or provider on your behalf, can take to respond.
Informal responses to discrimination in housing
Informal actions are those steps that do not involve filing a formal complaint but are attempts to get the landlord (or housing agency, realtor) to address the discriminatory behavior. Using these types of informal avenues do not keep you from filing a complaint at a later time.
- Make an appointment to meet and talk with the housing manager or agency
- Write a letter to the housing manager or agency outlining your concerns
- Grieve the decision or action through the agency’s (if state or federally funded) established grievance procedures for hearing fair housing complaints (required by Section 504 and the ADA)
- Seek mediation through a local mediation or problem solving agency
- Seek assistance from an advocacy agency such as protection and advocacy organizations, disability advocacy agencies, legal services, independent living centers, clubhouses, or housing advocacy agencies.
Filing a formal complaint
If you are more certain that you have been discriminated against (for example, you have evidence or believe that you can obtain evidence of the discrimination), you should consider filing a formal complaint.
| Violation of: | File with: |
| Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988 | HUD Any state or local agency with "substantial equivalency" |
| Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 | HUD Any state agency with "substantial equivalency" |
| ADA, Title II | HUD Any state agency with "substantial equivalency" |
There is nothing to keep you from filing complaints with a number of different agencies and/or pursuing several courses
of action at once . The information in this article does not intend to represent legal advice. Check with your attorney for more information.SOURCE: Opening Doors, September, 1998 (Opening Doors is a joint effort between Technical Assisance Collaborative, Inc. and the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities Housing Task Force, Washington, D.C.
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