REASONABLE ACCOMMODATIONS

A reasonable accommodation is an exception to a rule or policy that allows individuals with disabilities to equally enjoy their housing. Housing providers, such as landlords, are generally required to grant requests for reasonable accommodations under California and federal fair housing laws.

Examples of Reasonable Accommodations

Listed below are a few common examples of reasonable accommodations. This is not an exhaustive list.

  • Emotional support animals are domesticated animals that can provide therapeutic support for individuals with mental health illnesses and disabilities. These animals are not required to perform a specific task, but the owner may need to request a reasonable accommodation to allow their ESA in their housing unit.

    For more information, please see the FAQ page on Assistance Animals or review our three-part series of Fair Housing Tips on emotional support animals. You may also review the definition of an assistance animal in the California Code of Regulations (2 CCR § 12185).

  • Requesting an additional or closer parking space is a common accommodation. Many different physical and mental health disabilities can benefit from this accommodation to increase the access of the person with the disability or access for support staff.

  • Some individuals with disabilities receive their benefit payments some time after the first day or even first week of the month. This makes paying rent at the beginning of the month very difficult, and can result in landlords imposing late fees. It is possible to request that a rent payment date is moved later in the month as an exception for an individual with a disability.

  • An individual with a disability may need to move before the expiration of their lease term to accommodate the needs of their disability. For example, a tenant may need to move into a unit that provides more access to necessary services or support staff, or there may be conditions in their current unit that severely exacerbate the effects of their disability. In these cases, the individual may request that they be allowed to break their lease without penalty as a reasonable accommodation.

  • Hoarding is a specific mental health diagnosis that qualifies as a mental health disability, but hoarding-like behaviors may also be the result of other mental health conditions, such as depression or post-traumatic stress disorder. Physical disabilities, such as severe health issues or decline due to aging, can also interfere with an individual’s ability to clean or declutter.

    The most common accommodations associated with hoarding are requests for additional time to comply with the lease or health and safety regulations. Because the causes of hoarding behavior are so varied, and because the support needed to declutter can vary, different people will require different timelines. Each request for an accommodation should be evaluated based upon the specific needs of the individual.

    For more information, please see our Fair Housing Tip on hoarding.

  • Some disabilities may require assistance from support staff. This can include live-in aides or part-time aides that provide in-home support services. Examples of accommodations that may be necessary for individuals with support staff include adding a live-in aide to the lease, additional or closer parking spaces, additional bedrooms for long-term care or medical equipment, access to the building for support staff, etc.

  • Transferring to a different living unit is a common accommodation. For example, a tenant may need to temporarily transfer units to mitigate anxiety attacks triggered by ongoing construction noise, or a tenant may need to permanently transfer units to a lower floor because an injury prevents them from climbing stairs.

Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation

  • If you have a disability, then you may qualify for an accommodation. You should first determine whether the symptoms of your disability limit your ability to enjoy your housing, and whether an accommodation might lessen or remove that limitation. If the answer is yes, then you likely have a disability-related need for an accommodation.

    For more information, please see the FAQ page on Disability Discrimination or review our Fair Housing Tip on reasonable accommodations.

  • If you think you need an accommodation, you should consider making the request as soon as possible. You do not need specific language to make the request—so long as you inform your housing provider that you need an accommodation for your disability, you have technically made a legal request for an accommodation. However, there are a few key points of information that you should consider including in any request that you make:

    • Clearly state that you have a disability. You do not have to include your specific diagnosis, but you want it to be clear that there is a disability that is interfering with your ability to use and enjoy your housing;

    • Explain or describe the accommodation that you are requesting; and

    • Articulate how the effects of your disability would be mitigated by the accommodation.

    Ideally, you want to make this request in writing, but it is not a requirement. Making the request in writing makes it easier to show when the request was submitted, and it allows you to keep proof for your records.

    There is no specific timeframe to make a request, because a housing provider’s duty to grant reasonable accommodations is ongoing. You can make requests before, during, or sometimes even after your tenancy. However, the housing provider’s duty to grant a reasonable accommodation is not triggered unless a request has actually been made. If you think that you need an accommodation, make sure to submit your request as soon as you can.

    For more information on requesting a reasonable accommodation, please see our Fair Housing Tip on reasonable accommodations. You can also review the California Code of Regulations for a comprehensive discussion of reasonable accommodations (2 CCR § 12176).

  • In California, a housing provider cannot deny a request for a reasonable accommodation or reasonable modification without first engaging in the interactive process. The interactive process is a back-and-forth process between the housing provider and the individual requesting an accommodation or modification with the goal of finding an accommodation or modification that will allow the individual with the disability to equally enjoy their housing. This may result in an alternative accommodation or modification, but the housing provider must engage in the process in good faith.

    For more information on the interactive process, please see our Fair Housing Manual. You may also review the California Code of Regulations (2 CCR § 12177).

  • A landlord should grant a request for a reasonable accommodation, unless it would constitute a fundamental alteration to the services or operations of the housing provider, impose an undue financial and administrative burden to the housing provider, or constitute a direct threat to the health and safety of other tenants or threaten substantial damage to the property of others.

    For more information on denials of reasonable accommodations or reasonable modifications, see our FAQ page on Denials. You may also want to review the section of the California Code of Regulations on denials of reasonable accommodations and reasonable modifications (2 CCR § 12179).

  • Generally, a landlord cannot disclose information about your disability or your request other people. This prohibits your landlord from divulging your information to other tenants. However, there is an exception when it is necessary for your landlord to inform third parties in order to fulfill the accommodation. For example, a landlord would have to inform staff to allow a disabled tenant to use a door that is normally restricted to staff.

    A landlord may also share this information when the individual with the disability has provided written authorization to share the information.

    For more information on requesting a reasonable accommodation, please see our Fair Housing Tip on reasonable accommodations. You can also review the California Code of Regulations for a comprehensive discussion of reasonable accommodations (2 CCR § 12176).

Temporary Disability Accommodations

Under California fair housing law, a disability includes any limitation upon a major life activity. This includes long term impairments, such as the loss of a limb or chronic mental illness, but this can also include short term conditions that impose similar limitations. For example, a condition that develops suddenly, such as a broken leg or a respiratory illness, may cause impairments that qualify for fair housing protections like reasonable accommodations.

  • Many individuals who have disabilities may not consider themselves to be “disabled,” but that does not mean that they are not entitled to disability-related fair housing protections. Temporary disabilities can impact an individual’s day-to-day life and may require that the affected individual request reasonable accommodations or reasonable modifications—even if they do not consider themselves to be disabled. The key question to ask is whether the condition imposes a limitation on a major life activity, not whether the individual identifies as a part of the disabled community.

    Consider an example: A tenant who was in a recent car accident temporarily lost the use of their hands while they are recovering. This tenant has never had a disability, and does not consider themselves to be disabled, because they know they will make a full recovery in a few weeks. However, the loss of the use of their hands makes their daily life much more difficult. They know that they would benefit from the assistance of a live-in aid for the next few weeks, but their building has a strict limit on all overnight guests.

    Without availing themselves of disability-related fair housing protections, this tenant may be unable to equally enjoy their housing unit. Luckily, federal and California fair housing laws do not distinguish between short-term and long-term disabilities. Losing the use of their hands, even temporarily, likely qualifies as a disability under both federal and California law. As a result, this tenant could request an exception to the guest policy as a reasonable accommodation for their temporary disability.

    It is important to note that there is no one-size-fits-all definition of disability. Each condition must be assessed on an individual basis, and each request for an accommodation or a modification must still be reasonable.

    For more information on Temporary Disability Accommodations, please see our Fair Housing Tip. You may also wish to review the definition of a disability under the California Government Code (Cal. Gov. Code § 12926) and the definition of a disability under the Code of Federal Regulations (24 CFR § 100.201).

What if my family member or a guest needs an accommodation?

Disability protections are not limited to the tenant(s) who signed the lease or even to members of the household. It is not uncommon for a tenant’s visiting children, parents, or other family members to have disabilities that require some form of accommodation or modification. In these cases, the tenant has the right to request the necessary accommodations or modifications on behalf of their family member. This also applies to non-familial guests.

This is because all tenants have the right to associate with individuals with disabilities. If a visitor needs a reasonable accommodation, such as an exception to a “no pet” policy for an emotional support animal, it is possible for a tenant to request the accommodation on behalf of their guest.

Just as with other requests for accommodations, the housing provider would likely have the right to request verification of the disability and the disability-related need for the accommodation. However, the housing provider must consider the request for the guest’s accommodation in good faith. If the housing provider were to deny all requests for visitor accommodations out of hand, they would be discriminating against the tenant for association with an individual with a disability, which is considered unlawful discrimination under fair housing laws.

For more information on accommodations for guests, please see our Fair Housing Tip on ESAs, Family Members, and Guests. You may also want to review the definition of housing discrimination in the California Government Code (Cal. Gov. Code § 12955 (m)) and the example related to a guest’s accommodation provided in the California Code of Regulations (2 CCR § 12180(c)(5)).