Example – When Owners Must Make Reasonable Accommodations

An owner has a policy of updating its waiting list by sending out letters to applicants to see if they are still interested in being on the waiting list. If a person does not respond within a certain amount of time, the owner removes the individual from the waiting list. Because of an individual’s disability, he is unable to understand the nature of this communication and therefore does not respond to the letter. If requested, the owner would have to reinstate the person to the original place on the waiting list as a reasonable accommodation to that individual’s disability.

An owner that does not allow residents to have animals must modify the property’s policies and allow a tenant with a disability to have an assistance animal if the animal is needed as a reasonable accommodation. (See paragraphs 2-44, 3-29 and 4-24 B for more information about assistance animals as a reasonable accommodation.)

An owner has a policy of only sending rent notices and other documents to tenants. An applicant with a disability that periodically results in temporary memory loss requests as a reasonable accommodation that a copy of all rent notices and requests for information also be sent to a relative who lives in the community. The owner should modify this policy and send the notices to the designated individual in order to give the resident an equal opportunity to use her dwelling and comply with her lease obligations.

An owner requires tenants to pay rent by personal check. One resident has a disability and is unable to manage a personal checking account. The owner must allow that resident’s request for an accommodation to pay rent in cash or by money order, as this is a reasonable adjustment to the property’s procedures that will allow this resident to have an equal opportunity to participate in the housing program.