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Rev. March 1996 HS1
ENDING DISCRIMINATION IN HOUSING: FAIR HOUSING LAWS
Federal and state laws prohibit discrimination in housing because of a person's disability. These laws
apply to rental, sales, advertising, and mortgage lending practices.
The federal Fair Housing Act (the Act) is the primary housing law protecting people with disabilities.
The Act prohibits a landlord or seller from refusing to rent to or sell to a person because the person or
someone living with the person has a disability, including mental illness. If, due to his disability, a
person will not or cannot obey rules that apply to all tenants and his behavior would directly threaten
the health or safety of others or cause substantial physical damage to the property, the landlord must
determine if he can make a reasonable accommodation that can protect other renters and the
property without undue expense. If not, the landlord may refuse to rent to or may seek to evict the
person without violating the Act.
So that a person with a disability can fully use the property, the landlord or seller of housing must
make reasonable accommodations in all rules, policies, practices, or services. Examples: an
exception to a NO PETS rule or waiver of a pet deposit for a guide dog; designating an alternate,
accessible mail delivery location that is acceptable to the tenant and U.S. Postal Service; the waiver
of a requirement for previous rental history for a person coming out of an institution.
As explained more fully below, however, the Act does not require a landlord or seller to make physical
modifications to the apartment or house nor to create an accessible pathway to the dwelling. Instead,
the Act requires a landlord to allow a tenant to make such modifications at the tenant’s expense.
The accessibility requirements for new housing are different from those that apply to existing housing.
The requirements for new housing are much stronger.
Who Must Follow the Act?
The Act covers all apartments, condominiums, and other multi-family buildings except owneroccupied complexes with a total of four (4) or fewer families.
The owner of a single-family house does not have to follow the Act when renting or selling unless he
owns more than three such houses, has sold a house that was not his residence within the last 24
months, uses a real estate broker or agent to sell or rent his property, or uses discriminatory
advertisement.
Existing Housing
In housing occupied prior to March 13, 1991, a landlord is not required to make physical modifications
to accommodate a person with a disability. However, the landlord must permit the tenant to make the
modification at the tenant's expense.
Examples: A landlord must allow a tenant who uses a wheelchair to hire a contractor to build a ramp
to his doorway and to modify his kitchen for accessibility; a landlord must allow a tenant to hire a
contractor to make a mail slot in his door for mail delivery if the complexes mailboxes are
inaccessible.
The landlord may refuse to allow the tenant to make modifications unless the tenant agrees to restore
the premises to its original condition if it is reasonable to require that the premises be restored.
Example: It would be reasonable to require a tenant to replace a bathtub he had removed to install a
roll-in shower, but not to narrow doorways he had widened for wheelchair access.
Where necessary to ensure with reasonable certainty that funds will be available to pay for the
restorations, the landlord may require the tenant to pay, over a reasonable period of time and into an
interest bearing escrow account, an amount not exceeding the cost of the restorations. The landlord
cannot require that the funds be paid in a lump sum before the tenant can make the restorations.
Although a landlord is not required by the Fair Housing Act to make physical modifications to existing
housing, a landlord is required by Title III of the ADA, which applies to public accommodations, to
make physical modifications to the premises to assure the accessibility of the rental office and also
any clubhouse, meeting room, or other common area which is rented to non-tenants. The parking lot
must, therefore, have a curb cut or ramp to an accessible pathway leading to these locations.
New Multi-Family Housing
New multi-family housing that was first occupied after March 13, 1991, must have at least one
building entrance on an accessible route, unless the terrain makes an accessible route impractical.
An accessible route is a path that is free of obstructions, wide enough to allow wheelchair passage,
and safe for and usable by people with disabilities. The burden of proving that an accessible route is
impractical is on those who design and construct the housing. Multi-family dwellings in a building that
has an entrance on an accessible route, must meet the following requirements regarding physical
accessibility:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Public and common use areas must be accessible to and usable by persons with disabilities;
All doors must be wide enough (32 inches) to allow passage by people in wheelchairs;
The dwelling must have an accessible route into and through it;
Light switches, thermostats, and electrical outlets must be in accessible locations;
Bathroom walls must be reinforced to allow later installation of grab bars around the toilet, tub,
and shower; and
6. Kitchens and bathrooms must be designed to allow individuals in wheelchairs to maneuver.
If the building has four or more units and an elevator, all the units must meet the requirements listed
above. If the building does not have an elevator, only the ground floor units must meet the listed
accessibility requirements.
Example: A two-story apartment building doesn't have an elevator, but does have an accessible
entrance on the first floor. Those first-floor apartments, but not the second-floor apartments, must
meet the requirements stated above.
How to File a Complaint
If you believe that you have been discriminated against because of disability or wish to complain that
multi-family housing constructed after March 1991 is not accessible, you may file a complaint with the
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) within one year after the
discrimination occurred or within one year from the date that you learned of the discrimination.
Each complaint to HUD must contain:
1.
2.
3.
4.
the name and address of the person making the complaint;
the name and address of the landlord or seller;
the description and address of the dwelling which is involved; and
a concise statement of the facts.
All local HUD offices have printed complaint forms. Also, complaints may be made over the telephone
to the HUD office, or typewritten statements may be sent directly to HUD. All written complaints
should be notarized, if possible. The HUD offices may request additional information needed to
investigate the complaint.
All complaints in Texas should be sent directly to the Fort Worth Regional HUD Office:
Department of Housing & Urban Development
Ft. Worth Regional Office, Region VI
1600 Throckmorton
P. O. Box 2905
Fort Worth, Texas 76113-9956
(817) 885-5521
HUD will dismiss a complaint if it is not filed within one year of the alleged discriminatory housing
practice.
What Happens to the Complaint?
HUD has 100 days to investigate the complaint. HUD will attempt to bring the two parties to an
agreement that may include monetary damages, access to the dwelling at issue, elimination of the
discriminatory housing practice and more.
If the parties cannot reach an acceptable agreement, HUD may file a charge against the landlord or
seller. This claim may then be asserted either in an administrative hearing or in federal court. You will
not have to pay to be represented. If either party requests federal court, the U. S. Attorney General
commences the action on your behalf. If nobody requests a judicial determination, then HUD
represents you before an Administrative Law Judge.
CAREFULLY READ AND FOLLOW ANY INFORMATION YOU RECEIVE FROM HUD.
Lawsuits
You may also file a private lawsuit in court within two (2) years of the discrimination or of the date that
you learned of the discrimination. A lawsuit may be filed without going through the HUD proceedings,
or may be filed during or after the HUD proceedings, so long as it is within two years of the
discrimination.
Special Requirements for Publicly-Funded Housing
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and Title II of the ADA require that housing projects that receive
funding from federal, state, or local governments make physical alterations to their premises, at the
landlord's expense, to accommodate people with disabilities, unless the cost of doing so would pose
an undue hardship.
New housing projects must meet the requirements of the Fair Housing Act as stated above. Existing
housing need not be structurally modified to make it accessible if there are other ways to make the
housing program as a whole accessible to people with disabilities. Thus, some housing may be
provided at alternative accessible sites, or some services may be assigned to alternative buildings.
Each public housing authority should have and make available its plan for making existing housing
accessible.
Complaints and Lawsuits
Complaints about the lack of accessibility of housing funded by HUD should be filed by mail with the
Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, Department of Housing and Urban Development,
Washington, D.C. 20410. Complaints must be filed within 180 days of the date of the discriminatory
action. A lawsuit must be filed within two years.
Disability Rights Texas’ goal is to make each handout understandable by and useful to the general
public. If you have suggestions on how this handout can be improved, please contact our agency at
the address and telephone number shown or e-mail us at [email protected]. Thank you for
your assistance. This handout is available in Braille and/or on audio tape upon request. Disability
Rights Texas strives to update its materials on an annual basis, and this handout is based upon the
law at the time it was written. The law changes frequently and is subject to various interpretations by
different courts. Future changes in the law may make some information in this handout inaccurate.
The handout is not intended to and does not replace an attorney's advice or assistance based on
your particular situation.