Fair Housing & Accommodation

Reasonable accommodations

A resident with a disability can ask the association to make an exception to a rule, policy, or practice when the exception is necessary to use and enjoy the home, and the Fair Housing Act requires the board to grant a reasonable request (42 U.S.C. 3604(f)(3)(B)). Common examples are an assigned accessible parking space, a waiver of an occupancy or guest limit for a live-in caregiver, or an exception to a rule that would otherwise apply. The board does not have to grant a request that is unreasonable or that would fundamentally alter its operations, but it does have to engage the interactive process and reach the decision the right way. We help boards run that analysis and document it.

Reasonable modifications

Separate from accommodations, a resident with a disability has the right to make reasonable physical modifications to the unit, and sometimes the common areas, at their own expense, when the change is necessary for access (42 U.S.C. 3604(f)(3)(A)). Ramps, grab bars, a widened doorway, and visual alarms are typical. The board generally cannot refuse a reasonable modification, though it can impose reasonable conditions, such as that the work meet code or that the interior be restored when the resident leaves where restoration is appropriate. We advise boards on what they can condition and what they have to allow.

Assistance and service animals

The request that generates the most fair-housing claims against associations is for an assistance or service animal in a community with a no-pets rule, a breed or size limit, or a pet fee. Under fair-housing law, an assistance animal is an accommodation, not a pet, so the no-pets rule, the breed restriction, and the pet deposit generally cannot be applied to it. The board can ask for reliable documentation that the resident has a disability-related need for the animal when the need is not obvious, consistent with HUD guidance, but it cannot demand a particular breed or size or charge a pet fee. This is the area where boards get into trouble fastest, and we keep them out of it.

The federal and state framework

Two bodies of law govern here, and the broader one usually controls. The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits housing discrimination on the basis of disability, familial status, race, religion, national origin, sex, and color (42 U.S.C. 3601 through 3619), and the Washington Law Against Discrimination adds state protections that are often broader still (RCW 49.60). For an association, that reaches not just accommodation decisions but the rules it adopts, the statements its board and managers make, and any practice that treats families with children or other protected residents differently. We review the association's rules and practices for the provisions that quietly create fair-housing exposure.

Handling requests and responding to complaints

Most fair-housing problems come from handling a request badly, not from refusing an obvious right, so the fix is a real intake and interactive-process procedure the board actually follows. We build that procedure, train the board on it, and document the analysis behind each decision, because the documentation is what defends the association later. When a resident files a complaint with HUD or the Washington State Human Rights Commission, we respond to it, and the firm's trial group defends the association if the complaint becomes litigation. Getting these wrong is expensive, in damages, civil penalties, and fees.