Your Role in Fair Housing:
Supporting Tenants with Disabilities
Info Provided by The Fair Housing Center for Rights & Research & HUD
Fair Housing Laws guarantee that everyone living in the United States has equal access to housing. It is illegal to deny housing, make housing otherwise unavailable, or threaten or intimidate a person exercising their fair housing rights based on their protected class.
Fair Housing is a civil right afforded to all people in the United States. Federal, state, and local fair housing laws exist to protect people living in the United States from housing discrimination. Federal fair housing laws guarantee that a person cannot be denied housing because of their membership in a protected class.
Equal access allows people to decide where they want to live. When a person is denied housing based on their protected class, it is a violation of fair housing laws. Denial of housing choice also denies people access to other desirable amenities, such as proximity to schools, parks, or public transportation.
Everyone living in the United States is considered a member of protected classes under fair housing laws. It is against the law to discriminate in housing based on:
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Both locally and nationally, disability discrimination is consistently the most reported type of housing discrimination year after year. In 2024 alone, nearly 18,000 instances of disability-related housing discrimination were reported throughout the country. By fully understanding and honoring your obligations to tenants with disabilities on your properties, you not only meet your legal and ethical responsibilities—you also protect yourself from expensive enforcement actions, penalties, and avoidable legal disputes.
Additional Protections for People with Disabilities
People with disabilities are also protected from discrimination by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (referred to as Section 504) and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (commonly referred to as ADA or Title II). Often these laws overlap in their coverage, but some housing may be covered by only one of the laws, while other housing may be subject to two or all three of them.
The Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988 specifies that people with disabilities must be granted reasonable accommodations and reasonable modifications in order to afford them "equal enjoyment of the dwelling."
A person is protected as a person with a disability if they:
- have a physical and/or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more major life activities,
- have a record of such an impairment, or
- are regarded as having such an impairment (includes people associated with or residing with a person meeting this definition).
Examples of covered disabilities:
- Chronic mental illness
- Hearing, mobility, and visual impairments
- Cancer
- AIDS/HIV
- Mental development challenges
- Alcoholism or past drug abuse
There are two groups of people the Fair Housing Act does not protect. This includes:
- Those currently using illegal drugs, and
- Anyone who poses a direct threat to the health and safety of others or causes substantial physical damage to the property.
What Actions Are Prohibited in the Rental or Sale of Housing?
The Fair Housing Act protects everyone from discrimination in housing. It is illegal to deny anyone housing based on their membership in a protected class. The following states what is illegal and the examples illustrate how a person with a disability may experience discrimination:
Refuse to rent, sell, or negotiate for housing. Examples:
- housing provider refuses to rent to a family because they have a child with autism.
- housing provider will not show an apartment to a person because they noticed an accessible parking placard in their car.
Set different terms, conditions, privileges, or provide different housing services or facilities. Examples:
- Requiring people who use wheelchairs to pay a higher security deposit.
- Not allowing someone with a service animal to use the laundry facilities.
- Not allowing a person with a seizure disorder to use the recreation facilities.
Make housing unavailable or otherwise restrict choice. Examples:
- Restricting people with disabilities to certain units or sections of a complex.
- Not allowing service animals in upstairs units.
Falsely deny that housing is available. Example:
- Telling a person with a disability that there are no units available when in fact there are vacancies.
Make, print, or publish any notice, statement, or advertisement that indicates a limitation or preference based on a protected class. Examples:
- "No tenant may use a motorized wheelchair in dining area."
- "Upstairs units not wheelchair accessible."
Threatening, coercing, intimidating, or interfering with anyone who is exercising a fair housing right—or helping someone else exercise that right—is prohibited under the Fair Housing Act. These protections apply to tenants as well. If a tenant's behavior interferes with another tenant's lawful use and enjoyment of their home, that conduct may violate fair housing protections. As a housing provider, you may inform the tenant of this and, when appropriate, report the situation to the Fair Housing Center for guidance or assistance. Examples:
- A tenant is told that the housing provider will not provide a reasonable accommodation to allow tenant to pay rent on a different day due to receiving SSI benefits after the rent due date on the lease. The housing provider calls and leaves a message for the tenant threatening to evict them.
- A housing provider tells a tenant that the neighbors might not welcome them because of their mental health disability, so they might want to look elsewhere for housing.
- The neighbors in a housing unit are upset that a tenant with a disability was granted a reasonable accommodation to have an emotional support animal. The tenant finds intimidating notes on her door.
- A tenant is granted a reasonable accommodation of a reserved parking space near the building. Other residents complain because they state the tenant does "appear" to have a disability. In protest, other residents block the parking space.
- A caregiver is granted a set of keys to be able to wash laundry for a person with disabilities living in an apartment complex. Another resident harasses the caregiver, saying that the facility is only for residents.
Reasonable Accommodations and Reasonable Modifications
The Fair Housing Act is designed to ensure that everyone is treated equally in the process of obtaining and maintaining housing. People with disabilities are afforded additional protections to ensure equal enjoyment of their home. Housing providers are required to grant reasonable accommodations and reasonable modifications to tenants with disabilities.
Reasonable Accommodations
A reasonable accommodation (RA) is a change in the policies and procedures that govern the residence. This accommodation must be related to the person's disability, cannot cause an undue financial and administrative burden, and cannot be a fundamental alteration of the normal service provisions. The housing provider must grant the accommodation if it meets these criteria. Examples:
- Allowing a service animal despite "no pet" policy.
- Reserving a parking space.
- Allowing a live-in aide.
- Allowing a non-tenant to use laundry facilities.
- Moving from one unit to another without a fee.
- Changing the rent due date.
- Informing others (family, social worker, etc.) of new policies
- Landlord accepting a reference from an applicant's employer or social worker if an applicant has no recent rental history.
- Notifying a tenant with multiple chemical sensitivity in advance of painting and pest treatments.
- Waiving "guest fees" and parking fees for a tenant's home health aide or tenant with a mobility impairment.
Reasonable Modifications
A reasonable modification (RM) is a physical change to the interior of a tenant's own unit or to the common use areas that allows the person full enjoyment of the housing. The tenant is responsible for requesting the modification from the housing provider. The modification must be related to the person's disability, cannot cause an undue burden, and cannot be a fundamental alteration of the normal service provisions. The housing provider must grant the modification if it meets the aforementioned criteria. Examples:
- Widening doorways.
- Installing grab bars.
- Lowering heights of kitchen cabinets.
- Installing a ramp.
- Installing automatic water faucet shut-off.
- Installing or removing carpet
- Lowering/raising height of switches, outlets, thermostats.
- Installing lever door handles.
- Installing pictures, colorcoded signs or pathways for people whose cognitive disabilities make written signs impossible to use.
- Installing a light-up doorbell.
When a tenant requests a reasonable accommodation or modification, housing providers can:
- Ask for proof of disability if it is not apparent: This can be a letter from a medical or social service provider or someone with knowledge of disability stating that person has a disability which requires the requested accommodation. The letter does not need to name the disability ... only that the tenant has a disability and requires an accommodation/modification.
- Deny reasonable accommodation if it would: cause an undue financial and administrative burden, alter the normal provisions of service, not directly relate to the covered disability.
- Require modification is done in a "workmanlike" manner: the housing provider can require that all building permits are obtained and that the work is done by a professional.
- Require a reasonable escrow account to be established to restore the interior of the unit to its original state. The housing provider can require estimates to establish what a "reasonable" amount may be. Tenant is only required to restore interior of the unit when it would interfere with future tenants' use of unit.
A housing provider cannot:
- Ask any questions about the nature or extent of person's disability. Housing providers cannot require the person with a disability to disclose a diagnosis, ask for medical records, or ask how long a person has had a disability.
- Charge fees for reasonable accommodations. Housing providers cannot charge "pet deposit" for a service animal, cannot charge a fee if a tenant needs to move to another unit, and cannot charge a fee for breaking a lease if a unit is no longer appropriate given their disability. (Example: A tenant lived in a second floor unit and no first floor units available but can no longer climb stairs.)
Service Animals vs. Emotional Support Animals
Service animals and emotional support animals are different under HUD guidelines: service animals are individually trained dogs (or in limited cases, miniature horses) that perform specific tasks for a person with a disability, while emotional support animals do not require specialized training and provide disability-related comfort or support. Despite these differences, HUD classifies both as assistance animals under the Fair Housing Act, which means housing providers must treat them the same for compliance purposes. Neither can be treated as a pet or subjected to pet fees, deposits, or breed restrictions (including limits based on size or weight), and both must be reviewed through the reasonable-accommodation process. For more information, click here.
Learn More
If you want to delve deeper, you can visit the website of the Fair Housing Center for Rights and Research. Most of the information in this article was taken from the pamphlet Obtaining and Maintaining Housing: Fair Housing for People with Physical and Mental Health Disabilities. It would be beneficial for you to get hard copies to share with your staff to make sure your business is following the law and promoting your tenants' fair and equal enjoyment of their units. If you have questions pertaining to Fair Housing, feel free to contact the Fair Housing Center at 216-361-9240.
As a housing provider participating in the Housing Choice Voucher program, you are required to meet HUD's standards for safe, decent, and sanitary housing, follow all program rules, and cooperate with the Public Housing Authority (EDEN) throughout the leasing and inspection process. This includes ensuring your unit meets HUD's Housing Quality Standards (HQS), completing required documentation, maintaining the unit in compliance, and promptly addressing any deficiencies identified by the PHA. You must also adhere to fair housing laws, apply your screening criteria consistently, and avoid practices that could result in discriminatory treatment of voucher holders. HUD offers a comprehensive resource hub for landlords—including guidance, forms, and program requirements—at https://www.hud.gov/hcv. You might be interested in HUD's page for persons with disabilities: https://www.hud.gov/helping-americans/disabilities.
Communicate with us!
We value our partnership with you. EDEN cannot fulfill its mission of providing housing solutions to people facing the challenges of housing insecurities and homelessness without the support of property owners and managers like you. If you have any concerns, please reach out to our Housing Location, Outreach & Stabilization staff at the housing provider hotline 216-503-6369 or email EdenLandlordInfo@edencle.org. We will do our best to offer solutions or refer you to the person at EDEN who can help.
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