Fair Housing Amendments Act

In 1988, congress added some special provisions to the Fair Housing Act to protect persons with disabilities and families with children. The 1988 amendments makes it unlawful, with limited exceptions, to discriminate against these two protected classes.

Families with children or Familial Status is a minor under the age of 18 living with either:

The familial status protections include any woman who is pregnant or any person who is in the process of obtaining child custody.

This means that families may not be denied the housing of their choice simply because they have children under 18.

How do I recognize housing discrimination?
Landlords and real estate agents rarely say "no kids."
Suspect housing discrimination when any of the following comments are made:

• "Our building for children is full."
• "A parent and a child may not share a bedroom at this facility."
• "Only 3 people are allowed in a 2 bedroom apartment."
• "Children are only permitted to live on ground floors."
• "This complex doesn't rent to families with children because there is no playground."
• "We can only rent to families with kids if you pay an extra security deposit."
• "We take younger children, but no teenagers. They cause too much noise."
• "This is older persons housing, I don't have to rent to you."
• "I live in this home so I can discriminate against anyone I choose."

• have a mental or physical disability, or
• a record of having a mental or physical disability, or
• because people think you have a mental or physical disability.

The Fair Housing Act protects people with mental retardation, cerebral palsey, epilepsy, visual and hearing impairments, AIDS, and other disabilities. People who use walkers, service dogs, or a personal care attendant are all protected by the Act.

A handicapped tenant is permitted to make "reasonable modifications" to both the inside of the apartment unit and the common/public use areas of the building.

• widening a doorway to accomodate wheelchair access;
• installing grab bars in the bathroom;
• constructing a wheelchair ramp in the lobby or laundry room.

The tenant bears the cost of a reasonable modification. When the tenant moves out, the tenant is responsible for the restoration of any modifications made to the inside of an apartment ONLY IF the modification would affect the future use of the apartment by other tenants.

How do you know if you will bear the cost of restoring a modification to its original state?

The test is one of reasonableness. It may be reasonable to require a tenant to remove grab bars in the bathroom. It may not be reasonable, however, to require a tenant to restore a doorway to its original width. IMPORTANT: Restoration only relates to interiors, not common use areas.

A person with a physical or mental disability may request a "reasonable accommodation" of property management policies, practices, and procedures. Thus, a disabled tenant may request a reserved parking space near a building's entrance or a blind tenant may request that management waive their "no pets" rule to accommodate a seeing eye dog.

The key is requesting the accommodation and having proof that you made the request.

Landlords and real estate agents normally will not say "We don't rent to persons with disabilities." Suspect discrimination if you hear:

• "You can't live here because if you did my insurance rates would increase."
• "We have a no-pets rule. No exceptions. Sorry."
• "I need to see your medical records before I can tell you if you can live here."
• "Your wheelchair will cause too much damage to the walls and I'm worried about my liability if there is a fire."
• "No persons with alcohol problems or past addiction to drugs are permitted to live here.'