If you live in a community association, and most especially if you serve on the board of directors, you must have a basic understanding of Federal laws that provide certain established rights to persons with disabilities. These laws require housing providers, which includes community associations, to make reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities. A reasonable accommodation is a change in rules, policies, practices, or services so that a person with a disability will have an equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling unit or common space. The HUD.gov website explains that “a housing provider should do everything [it] can to assist…” However, this does not include an expectation that the housing provider pay for the requested reasonable accommodation unless the expense is of a de minimis nature. Reasonable accommodations can be required at all stages of the housing process, and this includes the association’s application process for prospective owners.
The Federal Fair Housing Laws define a person with a disability as “‘[a]ny person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities; has a record of such impairment; or is regarded as having such an impairment.’ In general, a physical or mental impairment includes hearing, mobility and visual impairments, chronic alcoholism, chronic mental illness [such as depression], AIDS, AIDS Related Complex, and mental retardation that substantially limits one or more major life activities. Major life activities include walking, talking, hearing, seeing, breathing, learning, performing manual tasks, and caring for oneself.”
Requests for reasonable accommodations can vary greatly. To mention just a few: a request for a professional to “sign” at board meetings for a hearing impaired person, a request for a wheelchair ramp for the clubhouse, a request by a wheelchair bound person for a parking spot by the front door, a request for a hoist to lower and raise a disabled person into the pool, a request for a “service animal” (such as a guide dog for a visually impaired person); and a request for an “assistance animal” (most commonly, the emotional support happy dog (or other animal) for a person suffering from depression.
While future articles will address the similarities and differences between “service animals” and “assistance animals”, today’s focus is on an association’s owner’s reasonable accommodation request for an otherwise prohibited vehicle such as, in this instance, an ambulance converted for private transport. As reported on October 30, 2013 on the HUD.gov website, the Department of Housing and Urban Development announced settlement of a claim against a Las Vegas homeowners’ association where it was alleged the HOA refused to grant a reasonable accommodation to a family who purchased an ambulance to transport their disabled son who could only be transported in a prone (lying down) position:
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced that a Las Vegas homeowners association, its management company, and the owner of a rental property will pay $65,000 under a Conciliation Agreement resolving allegations that they violated the Fair Housing Act when they refused to grant a family’s request to park in the driveway of its home an ambulance that the family needed to transport its son, who has a disability, to and from medical appointments.
The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination based on disability and requires housing providers, including homeowners associations, to make reasonable accommodations in their rules, policies, practices or services when needed to provide persons with disabilities an equal opportunity to use or enjoy a dwelling.
“Homeowners associations must grant reasonable accommodations that enable residents to meet the needs of family members with disabilities,” said Bryan Greene, HUD’s Acting Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. “Homeowners associations have the same responsibility as housing providers to follow fair housing laws.”
The family filed a complaint with HUD alleging that, after it purchased an ambulance to transport its son to and from medical appointments, the homeowners association refused to permit the family to park the ambulance in the family’s driveway. The son’s disability makes it necessary to transport him in a prone position. The family alleged that, despite providing the homeowners association with a letter documenting the family’s need for the ambulance, the association and its property management company refused the family’s requests, citing association rules that do not allow residents to park commercial vehicles on their properties.
Under the terms of the conciliation agreement, Harbor Cove Homeowners Association, First Columbia Community Management, Inc., and HAE Investments, LTD, will pay $65,000 to the family and establish a reasonable accommodation policy for future requests. In addition, the parties agree to revise the management practices, rental agreements, and occupancy rules of Harbor Cove Homeowners Association to better accommodate the needs of persons with disabilities.
While there is no doubt as to legitimacy of the aggrieved family’s need for the ambulance to transport their disabled son, these events illustrate two areas of abuse, too. The first type of abuse occurred by the HOA’s board when it denied the requested transport vehicle. The second type of abuse is the type where a 6’4″, 370 pound mammoth of a man named “Bubba”, feigning a disability that was recognized only by a “social worker” with no medical training, makes a reasonable accommodation request for his “dually” truck (those big trucks with 4 rear tires that are great for towing other vehicles) followed by a request for his 7 pound designer malti-poo. Presently, doctors, PHD’s, social workers and other mental health professionals (whoever/whatever they are) can all substantiate the disability. But, until the Federal Laws are amended to require that only doctors and PHD’s are able to substantiate the disability, the potential for abuse will continue, and it may not be too long before “Bubba” lives in your community.
Wishing everyone a joyous Thanksgiving day and for those who celebrate Hanukkah, too, a very happy Thanksgivukkah!