1. The Fair Housing Act
• Amendments of 1988
• Reasonable Modification
• Reasonable Accommodation

2. Interaction with other law
• Section 504 of the Rehabilitation
Act
• ADA title II and III
• California Fair Employment and
Housing Act
• California Unruh Civil Rights Act

3. The Fair Housing Act
(42USC3601)
• (also known a Title VIII of the
Civil Rights Act)

4. • Prohibits discrimination in
• the sale, rental, financing, or
advertising of housing
on the basis of race, color,
religion, or national origin

5. • Gender was added in 1974
• Disability and familial status
were added by the Fair Housing
Act Amendments of 1988

6. • Housing for seniors that meets
certain criteria is exempt from
the Act’s prohibition of
discrimination against families
with children

7. • The Act does not apply to the
sale or rental of any single-
family house by an owner,
provided specific conditions are
met(Handout)
• The prohibitions against
discriminatory advertising
continues to apply

8. Amendments of 1988

9. • Applies to zoning practices of
local governments that operate
to restrict access to housing by
people with disabilities

10. • Reasonable Modification
–Allow tenants to make
reasonable, necessary
physical modification to their
units at the tenants expense

11. • Reasonable Accommodation
–Requires a provider to make
changes to its rules, policies
and procedures to allow equal
access to housing

12. • Requires new construction or
rehabilitation of all residential
building of four or more units,
first occupied after march, 13,
1991 have at least one
accessible building entrance on
a accessible route of travel

13. • Common use areas are readily
usable by and accessible to
persons with disabilities

14. • All doors designed to allow
passage into and within all
premises must be wide enough
for a wheelchair
• An accessible route into and
through the dwelling unit

15. • Light switches, electrical
outlets, thermostats and other
controls must be in accessible
locations
• Reinforcements on bathroom
walls to install grab bars for the
toilet and bathroom

16. • Usable kitchens and bathrooms
such that a person using a
wheelchair can maneuver about
the space

17. Section 504
of the Rehabilitation Act
• Section 504 of the
Rehabilitation Act covers
entities that receive Federal
financial assistance;

18. • this includes CDBG, HOME,
HOPWA, Shelter plus care,
Sec. 202, Sec. 811, Sec. 8 and
McKinney Act funds from
HUD
• Tax Credit and Tax exempt
bonds not covered

19. HUD regulations
• Section 504 establishes access
requirements for new construction
and substantially rehabilitated
units using federal funds
• Applies to buildings were there are
five or more units in the project

20. • substantially rehabilitated:
–a project that has 15 or more
units and
–the cost of the alterations is 75
percent or more of the
replacement cost of the
completed facility

21. • Non-substantial rehabilitation
obligation for architectural
access is the maximum extent
feasible

22. • Access requirements include:
– common use areas,
– path of travel
– 5% or at least one unit must be
accessible for people with mobility
impairments
– additional 2% must be accessible for
people with hearing and visual
disabilities

23. • Requires owners to pay for
architectural modification under
certain conditions

24. • Covered entities may not deny a
qualified person with a disability
the opportunity to participate or
benefit from the housing or services
provided
–program or activity is operated so
that when viewed in its entirety is
readily accessible to and usable by
persons with disabilities

25. ADA title II and III
• ADA does not apply directly to
areas exclusively residential
• No housing accessibility
requirements in the ADA
Accessibility Guidelines

26. Title III covers Public
Accommodations
• applies to areas that are
available to the general public

27. • Includes rental offices, community
rooms available for use or rental by
non residents, and social service
programs operated by the housing
provider
– Even if social services are only
provided to residents the service
portion may be regarded as a public
accommodation

28. • Requires readily achievable
barrier removal, reasonable
modifications and effective
communication

29. Readily achievable

30. Reasonable modifications

31. Effective communication

32. Title II covers housing programs
operated or controlled by State or
local government
• A title II entity must operate
benefits, services and activities so
that when viewed in their entirety
is readily accessible to and usable
by people with disabilities

33. • Title II requires that all newly
constructed public facilities be
constructed and altered in
compliance with the ADAAG
or UFAS if originally built
under those standards

34. • Requires reasonable
modifications of policies
practices and procedures and
effective communication

35. California Fair Employment
and Housing Act
• California law applies to all
housing except owner occupied
single-family homes with only
one roomer or boarder

36. • Covers land use practices that
make housing opportunities
unavailable to members of
protected classes

37. • Essentially the same as the
Federal Fair Housing Act in
both the non-discrimination
provisions and the affirmative
obligation to provide reasonable
accommodation in rules,
policies, practices and
procedures

38. • State Law specifically includes
prohibition of policies that have
a disparate adverse impact on
protected classes

39. • The housing provider must
show that the practice causing
the discrimination is necessary
to the operation and no feasible
alternative exists

40. California Unruh Civil Rights
Act
• California’s Civil Rights law
prohibits all business
establishments of every kind
whatsoever
• Includes housing
accommodations

41. Protects against discrimination
on the basis of
• Age
• Race
• Ancestry
• • Religion
Color
• Disability • Sex
• National • Sexual Orientation
Origin • Medical Condition
• Marital Status

42. • Includes a perception that the person
has or
• that the person is associated with a
person with any listed characteristic
• “religion” includes all aspects of
religious belief, observance, and
practice;
• California courts have interpreted the
law to include “any arbitrary
discrimination”

43. Enforcement
• The Fair Housing Act
• Section 504 of the Rehabilitation
Act
• ADA title II and III
• California Fair Employment and
Housing Act
• California Unruh Civil Rights Act