Navigating Reasonable Accommodations: A Landlord's Guide to Fair Housing Compliance

Understanding how to properly handle requests for reasonable accommodations isn’t just about following program rules—it’s about complying with federal law, mitigating legal risk, and operating a professional, accessible rental business.

A reasonable accommodation is a change, exception, or adjustment to a rule, policy, practice, or service that is necessary to afford a person with a disability an equal opportunity to use and enjoy their home.

This guide will walk you through what accommodations are, how to handle requests, and how to stay compliant, protecting both your investment and your reputation.

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What Exactly Is a Reasonable Accommodation?

Think of it this way: your standard lease, rules, and procedures are designed for the average tenant. A reasonable accommodation simply adjusts those standards for a resident with a disability to ensure they have the same access and enjoyment of their home as anyone else.

It is not about giving someone special treatment; it is about ensuring equal opportunity. The request must be “reasonable” and must be connected to the person’s disability.

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The Interactive Process: A Collaborative Approach

When you receive a request, you should not simply say “yes” or “no.” Federal law requires you to engage in an “interactive process.” This is a good-faith dialogue between you and the tenant to discuss the request and find a workable solution.

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Verifying the Need: What You Can and Cannot Ask

This is the most critical and often misunderstood part of the process. Your right to ask for information is limited and depends entirely on whether the disability and the need for the accommodation are obvious.

When the Disability and Need are Obvious

If you can plainly see both the disability and the reason for the request, you cannot ask for any documentation.

• Example: A tenant who uses a wheelchair asks for a designated accessible parking space near their unit’s entrance. The disability (mobility impairment requiring a wheelchair) and the need for the accommodation (a close, accessible space) are clear. Requesting a doctor’s note would be a Fair Housing violation.

When You Can Ask for Verification

You may only request limited verification from a reliable third party (like a doctor, therapist, or social worker) if the disability or the need is not obvious.

1. Non-Obvious Disability: The tenant does not have a visible disability but asks for an accommodation.
   • Example: A tenant with a severe heart condition asks to be moved to a ground-floor unit.
2. Non-Obvious Need (Nexus): The disability is known, but the connection (or “nexus”) between the disability and the request is not clear.
   • Example: A tenant with a known hearing impairment asks for an emotional support animal. You are permitted to ask for verification that the animal is needed for their disability.

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Deep Dive: Assistance Animals

This is the most common and contentious type of accommodation request. It is crucial to get it right.

There are two types of assistance animals:

1. Service Animals: These are dogs (and sometimes miniature horses) specifically trained to perform tasks for a person with a disability (e.g., a guide dog for a visually impaired person, a dog trained to alert a deaf person).
2. Support Animals (or Emotional Support Animals): These animals provide emotional support, comfort, or therapy that alleviates one or more symptoms of a person’s disability. They do not need to be specially trained. This is the most common type of request you will see.

For a support animal, if the need is not obvious, you can request reliable documentation that confirms the tenant has a disability and a disability-related need for the animal. This is typically a letter from a healthcare professional.

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Common Examples of Accommodations

Beyond assistance animals, you may encounter requests for:

• Parking: Assigning a specific, reserved parking space for a tenant with a mobility impairment.
• Rent Payment: Allowing a tenant to pay rent by mail or have a third party drop it off, rather than requiring payment in person at the office.
• Transfers: Permitting a tenant to move to a ground-floor unit to accommodate a disability.
• Live-in Aide: Allowing a necessary caregiver to live in the unit, which may require the PHA to issue a voucher for a larger unit size.
• Reminders: Providing verbal or written reminders for rent payments for a tenant with a cognitive disability.
• Voucher Search Time: The PHA granting a tenant extra time to find a unit because their disability makes the housing search more difficult.

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When Can a Request Be Denied?

You are not required to approve every request. A request can be legally denied if it would impose an undue financial and administrative burden or would fundamentally alter the nature of your operations.

• Undue Burden: This is a very high standard to meet and is not a simple inconvenience. It is evaluated based on the cost, your financial resources, and the benefit to the tenant. For example, refusing to waive a $25 late fee would likely not be considered an undue burden.
• Fundamental Alteration: This means the request would change the basic nature of your business. For example, you are not required to provide a shuttle service or a meal delivery program for a tenant.

A request may also be denied if the specific assistance animal (not the breed) poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others that cannot be eliminated or reduced by another accommodation, or if it would cause substantial physical damage to the property. This must be based on objective evidence about that specific animal’s conduct (e.g., a past history of aggression), not on stereotypes about its breed.