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 Fair
Housing Tip of the Month
Consejo del mes sobre vivienda justa
(Información en Español)
The Fair
Housing Tip of the Month is funded by a grant from the U.S. Dept. of Housing &
Urban Development Fair Housing Initiatives Program (Grant #FH400G08074). Each month, MHAS e-mails a Fair Housing
Tip of the Month message, which will provide practical information about the
fair housing rights of people with disabilities. Topics will include:
reasonable accommodation, confidentiality, emotional support animals, and
evictions.
Disclaimer: The Fair
Housing Tip of the Month program is for educational purposes only and does not
constitute legal advice. If you have a legal question, please contact MHAS or
another attorney of your choice.
To join the e-mail list,
enter your email address
here:
To receive the monthly messages
by mail,
send your name and mailing address to:
Fair Housing Tip of the Month
Mental Health Advocacy Services,
3255 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 902
Los Angeles, CA 90010
For more information, contact Carey Stone at 213-389-2077, ext. 15,
or
cstone@mhas-la.org.
“What should I do if I’m applying for
housing and a landlord asks me if I’ve ever been hospitalized, or what
medications I’m on? Do I have to answer these questions?”
The law
says: You do not have to answer these
questions. In fact, landlords who ask you questions about your mental health
history are violating federal and state fair housing laws. Fair housing laws
make it illegal for a landlord to ask questions aimed at learning about
someone’s disability. Other topics that are illegal for a landlord to ask about
include your race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, or
sexual orientation.
What to
do: One response to such illegal questions
would be “I’m sorry, that’s private information. I’d be happy to answer any
questions related to my appropriateness as a tenant.” If a landlord persists in
attempting to get illegal information from you, you can file a complaint with
HUD or DFEH.
Exception:
There are housing programs that provide housing for people with disabilities, or
for people with specific disabilities. If you apply for housing through one of
these programs, the landlord may ask whether you qualify. For example, if you
apply for housing for people with disabilities, the landlord may ask if you have
a disability, but he may not ask you what particular disability you have. If
you apply for Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA), the landlord
may ask if you have AIDS, but he may not ask your T-cell count.
To file a complaint with the U.S.
Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD), call (800) 669-9777, or click
here:
www.hud.gov/offices/fheo/online-complaint.cfm
To file a complaint with the California
Department of Fair Employment & Housing (DFEH), call (800) 233-3212, or click
here:
http://www.dfeh.ca.gov/DFEH/Complaints/fileComplaint.aspx
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“I was evicted from an apartment two
years ago, just before I was diagnosed with my mental disability, because of
things I did in my apartment that I would never do now that I am on medication
and stabilized. How can I explain this when I’m applying for housing and a
landlord asks about my rental history?”
The law says:
Landlords are allowed to have a general policy of not renting to people with
evictions on their records. However, a strong argument can be made that fair
housing laws require that a person applying for housing be given an opportunity
to explain any negative information in her tenant history that is caused by a
disability, and to request that the no-past-evictions policy be waived in her
instance as a reasonable accommodation.
What to do:
Explain to your new landlord that you have a disability and that you were
evicted because your disability caused you to do inappropriate things; however,
now you have gotten treatment and understand the importance of being
treatment-compliant, so those past actions are unlikely to be repeated. You
might need to provide a letter from a doctor, therapist, or social worker to
confirm your situation. It would be especially helpful if you had a letter from
your former landlord explaining that you were generally a good tenant with the
exception of the disability-related incident(s) that resulted in your eviction.
If the landlord still denies you the unit,
you can file a complaint with HUD or DFEH, or seek the assistance of an
attorney.
To file a complaint with the U.S.
Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD), call (800) 669-9777, or click
here:
www.hud.gov/offices/fheo/online-complaint.cfm
To file a complaint with the California
Department of Fair Employment & Housing (DFEH), call (800) 233-3212, or click
here:
http://www.dfeh.ca.gov/DFEH/Complaints/fileComplaint.aspx
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“I live in
a residential hotel, and one of the rules is that we have to pick up our
mail at the front desk every day. My disability makes it impossible for me
to remember to do it every single day. I could remember to do it every few
days, but the manager is getting mad at me and I’m afraid I might get
evicted. What should I do?”
The law says:
Fair housing laws require that housing providers make an exception to rules
when the exception is both reasonable and necessary to allow a person with a
disability to live in housing. These exceptions are called “reasonable
accommodations.” The tenant must request the accommodation and show that
his disability makes it necessary, and the landlord must grant the request,
unless is too difficult or expensive (called an “undue burden” in legal
terminology) or it would be completely outside the normal course of business
(called a “fundamental alteration”).
What to do:
Explain to your hotel manager that you have a disability that makes it
impossible for you to pick up your mail every day. Ask if he would allow
you to pick it up every few days, on a flexible schedule, as a reasonable
accommodation. It is a good idea to put the request in writing, with the
date and your signature. The manager might ask for a letter from your
healthcare or service provider confirming that you do have a disability that
makes it impossible to remember to get your mail on a daily basis. If your
manager denies your request, find out why, and try to work with him to find
an accommodation that works for both of you.
If you can’t come to a resolution that
is acceptable to both of you, you can look for an attorney to assist you, or
file a complaint with HUD or DFEH.
To file a complaint with the U.S.
Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD), call (800) 669-9777, or
click here:
www.hud.gov/offices/fheo/online-complaint.cfm
To file a complaint with the
California Department of Fair Employment & Housing (DFEH), call (800)
233-3212, or click here:
http://www.dfeh.ca.gov/DFEH/Complaints/fileComplaint.aspx
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“I
absolutely need my cat; I would rather be on the street than without her,
but my landlord tells me I can’t have a pet. What can I do?”
The law
says: In addition to recognizing that people
with disabilities may need specially trained service animals like guide
dogs, fair housing laws also recognize that some people with disabilities
need emotional support animals. The emotional support animals do not need
to be specially trained, registered, or certified, and they are considered
different from ordinary pets under fair housing law. While a landlord has a
right to a no-pets policy, fair housing laws say that a landlord must make
an exception and allow an emotional support animal as a reasonable
accommodation when necessary (and reasonable) to allow a person with a
disability access to his or her housing. This is a very common reasonable
accommodation.
What to
do: Write a letter to your landlord
explaining that you have a disability and that you need your emotional
support animal to live with you. In the letter, request permission to keep
the animal. Explain that the animal is not really a pet under fair housing
laws. Be prepared to provide a letter from your health-care worker or
social worker confirming that you are an individual with a disability and
that you need the animal to live with you. Sign and date the letter, and
keep a copy for your records.
If your landlord refuses to grant permission, you may file a
complaint with a fair housing enforcement agency, such as HUD or DFEH. Your
landlord may be able to argue that it is not reasonable to allow you to keep
your cat if, for example, you have a close neighbor who is extremely
sensitive to cat dander. Similarly, if your emotional support animal is
very loud, or prone to attack, your landlord may have a viable argument to
prohibit you from keeping your animal with you and deny your reasonable
accommodation request. A fair housing enforcement agency can investigate
your specific situation.
To file a complaint with the U.S.
Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD), call (800) 669-9777, or
click here:
www.hud.gov/offices/fheo/online-complaint.cfm
To file a complaint with the
California Department of Fair Employment & Housing (DFEH), call (800)
233-3212, or click here:
http://www.dfeh.ca.gov/DFEH/Complaints/fileComplaint.aspx
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Tip # 5 – Past, But Not Present, Substance Abuse as
Disability
“I’ve been addicted to an illegal
drug for five years and my landlord caught me using in my apartment. Now
she is trying to evict me. I only use because I am addicted to it – so can’t
I ask my landlord to allow me to stay as a reasonable accommodation if I go
to a rehab?”
The law says:
Fair housing laws do not protect a person who is currently using illegal
drugs, even if that drug use is due to addiction. This is because illegal
drug use is simply not considered a disability under fair housing law.
Therefore, you cannot ask the landlord for accommodations related to your
illegal drug addiction, and you can be evicted for using illegal drugs on
the premises.
Once you overcome your addiction, your
history of having been a drug addict in the past will be considered a form
of disability under fair housing laws. You should not be discriminated
against, therefore, on account of past addictions. Different factors may
be useful to demonstrate that your addiction is no longer “current,” such
as having attended a rehabilitation treatment, attending Narcotics Anonymous
meetings, having been clean and sober for a long time, etc.
What to do:
Regarding your current eviction, you can always try to negotiate with your
landlord to let you stay, and maybe going into rehab would help, but fair
housing laws do not mandate that your landlord keep you. You might have
better luck negotiating for a little extra time to move out, to avoid her
filing an eviction case against you in court. Once your landlord files in
court, your name will be picked up by an eviction registry, which will make
it harder for you to find an apartment in the future.
When you reapply for housing after a
reasonable period of sobriety, and the landlord asks you about the eviction,
you could explain that it was due to a disability that has since been dealt
with and is no longer a problem. You could ask that the future landlord
waive his no-evictions policy as a reasonable accommodation based on
disability, with former drug addiction as the disability protected under the
law. A letter from a health-care provider confirming your past addiction
and current sobriety may be helpful. If the landlord refuses to provide
this reasonable accommodation, you can file a complaint with HUD or DFEH.
To file a complaint with the U.S.
Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD), call (800) 669-9777, or
click here:
www.hud.gov/offices/fheo/online-complaint.cfm
To file a complaint with the
California Department of Fair Employment & Housing (DFEH), call (800)
233-3212, or click here:
http://www.dfeh.ca.gov/DFEH/Complaints/fileComplaint.aspx
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Tip # 6 – Problem
Behavior Leading to Eviction
“I was accused of beating up
my neighbor yesterday. I honestly don’t remember what happened, but I
have been having some difficulties with my new medication and feeling
extremely agitated and I think the situation has something to do with my
disability. Now they are trying to evict me. What can I do? I’ve always
been a good tenant.”
The law says:
There is a limit to the general rule that landlords must make exceptions
in policies and procedures to accommodate a person’s disability. That
limit is called the direct threat exception. A landlord does not have to
put up with dangerous, destructive or threatening behavior. Your
landlord needs to protect those tenants who have been harmed or
threatened by you, even if your actions were due to your disability, and
this may mean that your landlord has to evict you. Even so, if there is
any reasonable accommodation that would acceptably minimize the risk
posed by your presence, you are entitled to such an accommodation.
Note:
Fair housing laws make it clear that a person cannot be considered a
direct threat merely because of stereotypes based on his disability.
What to do:
Explain to your landlord (if you believe that you have done what you are
accused of) that you understand that your behavior is not acceptable and
that you are genuinely sorry for what occurred. Explain that you have a
mental disability and that you have been having difficulties with your
medication, and request that he work with you to figure out an
accommodation that would allow you to save your home, while assuring the
landlord that you do not pose a threat to your neighbors. If you think
your behavior was a bad reaction to a new medication, and you had a
history of acceptable behavior while on a prior medication, you may want
to request that your doctor change your course of treatment
accordingly. If you have a friend or relative with whom you could stay
until you feel stable, you might offer to stay somewhere else
temporarily, on the condition that your landlord will hold your unit (it
is likely that you would have to continue to pay rent on the unit).
Your landlord may ask you to provide
a doctor’s letter explaining that the behavior was caused by your
disability. Also, make sure to put your request for a reasonable
accommodation in writing, and sign and date it and keep a copy for
yourself. In your letter, state that you would like to, as a reasonable
accommodation, reserve your tenancy while staying somewhere else and
undergoing a different treatment. Point out that you had a long period
as a good tenant and you are seeking treatment for the condition. Your
landlord may not think it is reasonable, but it is worth a try.
If your landlord denies your accommodation request, you
can file a housing discrimination complaint with HUD or DFEH.
To file a complaint with the U.S.
Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD), call (800) 669-9777, or
click here:
www.hud.gov/offices/fheo/online-complaint.cfm
To file a complaint with the
California Department of Fair Employment & Housing (DFEH), call (800)
233-3212, or click here:
http://www.dfeh.ca.gov/DFEH/Complaints/fileComplaint.aspx
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Tip # 7 – Rights Upon Eviction
“I’ve been living in a supportive
housing program for ten months, and the resident manager just told me I have
an hour to pack my bags and leave my apartment. Can he do this? What should
I do?”
The law says:
As a resident in a supportive housing program, you are a tenant, and as a
tenant you can only be legally evicted through certain specific procedures,
all of which take more than an hour. You may remain in your unit until the
landlord goes through the unlawful detainer process and has the sheriff
remove you. First, your landlord must file a 3-day notice (if you have done
something wrong, like not pay rent), or a 30- or 60- day notice (if you have
lived in your unit more than a year, you get 60-day notice before your
landlord can evict you for a no-fault eviction; otherwise, you get 30 days).
After the notice period expires, if you
have not left, your landlord must go to court to file an “unlawful detainer”
complaint against you. He must then serve you with a copy of the complaint,
and you have the option of defending yourself in court or letting the
landlord win. If the landlord wins, the sheriff can then give you notice and
proceed to lock you out of your home. No one but the sheriff may legally
lock you out of your home. Whether a landlord is genuinely ignorant of the
law, thinks the law doesn’t apply to him, or thinks that you are somehow
beneath its protection, he runs a risk of substantial monetary losses if he
chooses to illegally throw you out, changes the locks, or cuts off your
utilities instead of going through the legal eviction process.
What to do:
Don’t leave. Tell your landlord your legal rights – you may remain in your
unit until the landlord goes through the unlawful detainer process and has
the sheriff remove you. If that doesn’t resolve the matter, you may want to
call law enforcement. While law enforcement will not enforce the law
(because it is a civil matter, and not criminal matter), many law
enforcement officials are good about responding to such calls from tenants
and are able to resolve the matter by informing the landlord of his legal
obligation regarding eviction. If this doesn’t work, seek help from a legal
aid office.
Keep in mind that if your landlord tells
you to leave but doesn’t change the locks, cut off your utilities, or
physically force you out, he can argue later that he didn’t forcibly evict
you, but rather, that you left by your own free will at his suggestion.
Note: If you are residing in a
Transitional Housing Program, you may be subject
to a different law, called the Transitional Housing Participant Misconduct
Act, which would allow your housing provider to expedite the process of
removing abusive residents and those engaged in misconduct.
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Tip # 8 – Privacy
“I got
into an argument with another tenant and now the management company
wants a list of all my medications, but I don’t think they are asking
for a list of the medications the other tenant takes. Is this legal?”
The law says:
No, this is not legal – it is a violation of fair housing laws. A
management company – or any landlord - does not have any right to know
what medications any of its tenants are taking. It is not relevant, and
it violates fair housing laws to even ask. Your behavior as a tenant is
your management company’s business, but information about your
medication is between you and your health care provider.
In some housing programs, such as
Transitional Housing Programs and the federally subsidized Shelter Plus
Care program, there is a therapeutic, or programmatic component, such as
supportive services and on-site case managers. In these kinds of
housing situations, the on-site service providers may be involved in
your healthcare; however, even in these housing programs, the management
should not have access to such information, and should not be asking.
What to do:
Ask your landlord or management company if there is a grievance
procedure. If so, you may want to start by filing a grievance,
explaining what happened, when, and who was involved. Keep a copy of
the grievance form. If there is no grievance procedure, you may write a
letter to the management explaining the situation, explaining that it
violated your rights under fair housing law, and request confirmation
that it will not be repeated. If you do not trust your on-site manager,
you can contact your manager’s supervisor, or someone else higher up in
the company.
If you cannot resolve the matter
this way, or if you are convinced that management would not be
responsive to your complaint, you may want to contact a legal aid office
or file a complaint with HUD or DFEH regarding this matter.
To file a complaint with the U.S.
Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD), call (800) 669-9777, or
click here:
www.hud.gov/offices/fheo/online-complaint.cfm
To file a complaint with the
California Department of Fair Employment & Housing (DFEH), call (800)
233-3212, or click here:
http://www.dfeh.ca.gov/DFEH/Complaints/fileComplaint.aspx
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“Because of my
mental disability, I have to take certain medications that make me really
sensitive to heat. I explained this to my landlord and asked if I could put in
an air conditioner as a reasonable accommodation even though they aren’t
generally allowed in our building. The landlord said she’d let me, but warned
that she would have to explain to the other tenants about my mental problem so
she wouldn’t have to let everyone else in the building have an A/C. I really
need the A/C, but I’m really embarrassed at having all my neighbors know about
my disability. What should I do?”
What
the law says: Just as fair housing laws demand that landlords
grant reasonable accommodations, these same laws demand that information
about a tenant’s disability remain confidential. The landlord must keep
in confidence information entrusted to her as part of the reasonable
accommodation request.
What
to do: Explain to your landlord that the law requires that she
keep the fact that you have a disability, and any related details,
confidential. Instead of explaining to the other tenants that your
disability is the reason why she’s letting you have an air conditioner
when no one else can, your landlord can explain that the law demands
that she allow you, as an individual, to have this air conditioner, and
requires that she does not talk about any of the tenants’ personal
situations to their neighbors. If she needs more convincing, you could
suggest she call DFEH to confirm this.
To reach the
California Department of Fair Employment & Housing (DFEH), call (800)
233-3212.
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