Housing providers must provide reasonable accommodations and reasonable modifications to individuals with disabilities.
On this page
Rights and Obligations Under Federal Law
Who Is An Individual with a Disability?
Overview of Reasonable Accommodations & Reasonable Modifications
Processing Requests for Reasonable Accommodations and Reasonable Modifications
Examples of Reasonable Accommodations and Reasonable Modifications
Information About Assistance Animals
Rights and Obligations Under Federal Law
In general, there are three Federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate against someone because they have a disability. Those laws are The Fair Housing Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Each law has its own requirements and may not always apply. Whether each law applies will depend on the type of housing you operate. Under each law, housing providers will typically have the obligation to provide reasonable accommodations and reasonable modifications so that you do not discriminate against an applicant’s or tenant’s disability-related needs.
Housing providers may also have affirmative obligations depending on whether certain laws apply. In addition, if subject to Section 504 or a public entity covered by the ADA you must ensure that all housing and community development programs, services, and activities comply with the applicable nondiscrimination requirements, including by making sure any contractors or subrecipients comply.
To understand all of your obligations under the Federal disability laws, review all applicable statutes and regulations, which are available here, and guidance issued by the Department, which is available here.
Below is a general description of how each law applies.
The Fair Housing Act
Under the Fair Housing Act, there is a difference between a reasonable accommodation and a reasonable modification.
A reasonable accommodation is a change, exception, or adjustment to a rule, policy, practice, or service.
A reasonable modification is a change to the structure of a housing development or dwelling.
The Fair Housing Act applies to most housing. If a reasonable modification is necessary, you may, in certain circumstance require the individual with a disability to pay for the change and require them to pay to undo the change if they move out.
Section 504
Under Section 504, there is not a difference between a reasonable accommodation and a reasonable modification. Instead, a change to a policy or a change to a structure are both called reasonable accommodations under this law.
Section 504 applies to housing that receives Federal funds. This includes, for example, public housing or other affordable housing. Section 504 typically requires more from housing providers than the Fair Housing Act. Generally, under Section 504, you must pay for a reasonable accommodation, and you cannot make the applicant or tenant pay for it. You must offer reasonable accommodations if you know an applicant or tenant is an individual with a disability, even if they have not specifically asked for one.
Under Section 504, you also have affirmative obligations to ensure effective communication with individuals with disabilities and provide phyisical accessibility, including by ensuring all facilities are readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities. For instance, you must maintain a minimum number of designated accessible units and make them available to individuals with disabilities; only if no designated accessible units are available should an individual with a disability need to resort to asking for a reasonable accommodation in order to have a fully accessible unit.
Additional information about Section 504 is available on the Section 504 Frequently Asked Questions page.
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
Like Section 504, there is not a difference between a reasonable accommodation and a reasonable modification, but they are called reasonable modifications under this law.
The ADA applies to housing that is funded by a State or local government, and might also apply to some parts of other private housing, such as a rental office that is open to the public.
Under the ADA, covered housing providers also have affirmative obligations to ensure effective communication with individuals with disabilities and provide phyisical accessibility, including by ensuring all facilities are readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities.
Who is an Individual with a Disability?
An individual with a disability is someone with a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities. Examples of major life activities are activities such as seeing, hearing, speaking, walking, breathing, using your hands, bending, reaching, lifting, standing, sitting, caring for yourself (such as feeding and bathing), thinking, concentrating, paying attention, working, sleeping, learning, reading, writing, communicating, interacting with others.
An individual’s disability can also affect major bodily functions. Examples of major bodily functions are functions that involve the immune system, special sense organs and skin, digestion, brain activity and neurological activity, respiratory system or breathing, systems such as the circulatory, endocrine, musculoskeletal, and reproductive systems.
Even though the word “major” is included, this is not a high standard you have to meet in order to be an individual with a disability.
An individual with a disability includes someone who has any of the following conditions: orthopedic, visual, speech, and hearing impairments, cerebral palsy, autism, epilepsy, muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection (whether symptomatic or not), intellectual or developmental disabilities, mental or psychological disorders, dyslexia and other specific learning disabilities, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, tuberculosis, drug (other than addiction caused by current, illegal use of controlled substances), and alcoholism.
The Federal disability laws also protect any individual who has a record of having an impairment or who is regarded as having an impairment.
It is important to keep in mind that some impairments may be invisible or hidden, while others are easily observed. Some examples of observable impairments include blindness or low vision, deafness or being hard of hearing, mobility limitations, and other types of impairments with observable effects, such as intellectual impairments (including some types of autism), neurological impairments (including stroke, Parkinson’s disease, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, or brain injury), mental illness, or other diseases or conditions that affect major life activities or bodily functions.
Some examples of invisible or hidden impairments include certain intellectual or developmental disabilities, such as learning disabilities, certain neurological conditions (including some types of autism, chronic migraine, sensory processing-related impairments), certain mental illnesses (including depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder), cancer that is in remission, multiple sclerosis, HIV/AIDS, heart disease, or diabetes.
Overview of Reasonable Accommodations & Reasonable Modifications
Reasonable accommodations and reasonable modifications are changes that allow individuals with disabilities to access, use, and enjoy housing, including dwelling units, public and common areas, laundry rooms, and parking. A reasonable accommodation or reasonable modification has to be connected to an individual’s disability.
Since rules, policies, practices, and services may have a different effect on individuals with disabilities than on other persons, treating individuals with disabilities exactly the same as others will sometimes deny individuals with disabilities an equal opportunity to enjoy a dwelling or participate in the program. Not all individuals with disabilities will have a need to request a reasonable accommodation. However, all individuals with disabilities have a right to request or be provided a reasonable accommodation or reasonable modification at any time.
Reasonable modifications can include structural changes to the inside or outside of housing units and to common and public use areas. Examples include the installation of a ramp into a building, lowering the entry threshold of a unit, or the installation of grab bars in a bathroom.
In general, housing providers may not make individuals with disabilities pay extra fees or deposits, and cannot require any other special conditions in order to provide a reasonable accommodation. However, under the Fair Housing Act, a housing provider may require a tenant to pay for structural changes needed in a housing unit, such as the installation of grab bars in the bathroom. If you are a housing provider that must comply with Section 504 in addition to the Fair Housing Act, then you must pay for the modifications requested.
In some cases, it is possible you may not be required to pay for a reasonable modification under Section 504 only if you can prove that providing the reasonable modification would be an undue administrative and financial burden, which applies to all of the resources available to you, or if you can show that it would be a fundamental alteration to your housing program. If a housing provider cannot give a tenant or applicant the accommodation or modification requested, you are still required to offer other things that might meet the individual’s needs. It is important to remember that individuals with disabilities are generally in the best position to know what will and will not work for them, and they are not required to accept a different accommodation if it will not work. If there is no undue administrative and financial burden or fundamental alteration for a particular request, second-guessing the request, refusing to provide the requested accommodation and only offering alternatives, or denying the request may be discrimination under one or more of the Federal disability laws.
Processing Requests for Reasonable Accommodations and Reasonable Modifications
Housing providers, landlords, and property managers all have responsibility for ensuring that requests for reasonable accommodations and reasonable modifications are processed consistent with legal requirements. You must accept requests from both applicants and tenants and requests may be made at any time. Requests do not need to be made in writing, and the request can be made by asking any employee. You cannot require that requests be made on particular forms or to particular people, but it can be helpful to have a procedure that you make your applicants and tenants aware of to facilitate their requests. Failing to process, grant, and provide requested accommodations or modifications promptly may be a violation of the Federal disability laws.
The information provided below is not a step-by-step guide for how to process reasonable accommodations and reasonable modifications, in part because each individual with disabilities will have unique needs and a one-size fits all process may not work for everyone. Instead, HUD is listing some best practices to assist housing providers, landlords, and property managers who may need to process requests for reasonable accommodations or reasonable modifications.
- Any individual with a disability
- The parent, guardian, or caregiver of a minor child who has a disability
- A member of a household on behalf of a household member with a disability
- Requests for reasonable accommodations or reasonable modifications can be made at any time
- Individuals can request a reasonable accommodation or reasonable modification to the application process, even if they are not yet living at a particular housing development
- NOTE: Under the Fair Housing Act, individuals with disabilities are not entitled to an accommodation or modification unless you ask for one, but under Section 504, if you are aware that an individual has a disability and may require an accommodation, they are not required to ask for it and you are required to offer it
- Someone might develop a disability that they did not have when they first moved into your housing, so they can request a reasonable accommodation or reasonable modification if that happens
- Someone might realize after living in a particular housing unit for some time that certain things could be easier, so they can ask for changes that relate to their disability once they know what they might need
- As a housing provider, you might be instituting a new policy and certain applicants or tenants might need an exception because of their disability, so they can ask for a reasonable accommodation if this happens
- Something in a person’s housing unit or development changed so they now need an accommodation because of their disability
- If you are evicting an existing tenant, they may seek a reasonable accommodation relating to that process
- An applicant or tenant can ask anyone who works for you as the housing provider, landlord, or property manager, so it is important that all staff be trained about their obligations under the Federal disability laws
- You cannot require requests to be made in writing, but it can be helpful for you as the housing provider and for the person making the request to have a record of the request, when it was made, and what happened
- If you have a reasonable accommodation coordinator, applicants and tenants should be made aware of that individual so they can make requests directly to that person or follow up on a request they may have already made
- A request should explain how the accommodation or modification the person is asking for is connected or related to their disability
- A request should include a description of the disability-related need and why a change is needed
- A request does not need to include detailed medical information about the individual’s disability and should include only enough information so that the accommodation the individual is asking for can be clearly connected to their disability
- An individual does not need to use the words “reasonable accommodation” or “reasonable modification” when asking for one. If you receive a request from an applicant or tenant who is asking for some sort of change because of their disability and they make it clear why that change is needed, they have asked for a reasonable accommodation or reasonable modification and you must treat it as such.
- If an individual’s disability is obvious, and their request is related to that disability, you should grant the request without delay
- If an individual’s disability is obvious, you can only ask for additional information about the request if it is not clear how what the individual is asking for is related to their disability
- If an individual’s disability is not obvious, you may need a little more information to confirm how the requested accommodation is related to the individual’s disability—this is called “verification”
- Verification can be provided by a reliable third party who knows about the individual’s disability, this may include a doctor or other medical professional, a peer support group, a non-medical service agency, or any other reliable third party. You should not request your medical records.
- Only if housing providers, landlords, and property managers believe they cannot provide what an individual has asked for because it would be an undue administrative and financial burden or a fundamental alteration to their program, can you suggest alternative accommodations that you can provide
- An “undue administrative and financial burden" is determined on a case-by-case basis and requires you to consider all of the resources (such as personnel, money, property) that are available
- A “fundamental alteration” is a change that would alter the essential nature of your operations
- You are required to talk with the requestor about the different options if you cannot provide the specific accommodation requested, this is called the “interactive process.” If you talk with the requestor about their disability-related needs, by working together, it may be possible to find an accommodation that can be provided and that will work for both you and the requestor.
- Individuals with disabilities are not required to accept an alternative if it will not work for them, and individuals with disabilities are in the best position to know what will and will not meet their specific disability-related needs
Examples of Reasonable Accommodations and Reasonable Modifications
There are a lot of other situations where reasonable accommodations and reasonable modifications may be necessary and appropriate.
Information about Assistance Animals
Some individuals with disabilities may rely on the support of an animal that helps with the effects of their disability. Assistance animals are animals that do work, perform tasks, assist, or provide therapeutic emotional support. Assistance animals are not pets.
If an applicant or tenant needs an assistance animal in their home, they can ask for a reasonable accommodation if you have a no-pets policy or if there is a pet deposit, other fees, or rules for pets.
Additional Information about assistance animals is available here
Additional Resources
Laws and Regulations
Additional information on the Federal laws that prohibit discrimination because of disability, including statutes and regulations, is available here.
Guidance Documents
Joint Statement of HUD and DOJ on Reasonable Accommodations
Joint Statement of HUD and DOJ on Reasonable Modifications
Additional Guidance, Notices, and other materials relating to disability are available here.
State, Local, and Non-Profit Resources
Additional resources or assistance may be available from various State, local, and non-profit organizations. These types of organizations might be able to provide guidance, support, including legal support, and advocacy for individuals with disabilities. HUD also funds State or local agencies that can investigate housing discrimination under the Fair Housing Act.
Examples of organizations that may be able to help is available here
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
HUD’s Section 504 FAQ is available here.
Contact HUD
HUD can investigate allegations of disability discrimination in housing under the Fair Housing Act, Section 504, and the Americans with Disabilities Act.
If you believe you were discriminated against because of your disability, including if you asked for a reasonable accommodation or reasonable modification and did not get one or it took a long time to get one, information about what HUD can do to help and how you may file a housing discrimination complaint with HUD is located here.
Note: It is important to file a complaint as soon as possible after the incident, because there may be time limits on when a complaint can be filed.
Back to Top