Reasonable Accommodation for Residents with Mental Illness or Substance AbuseProblems. A Guide

摘要

This outline provides guidance for landlords and apartment managers on whatreasonable accommodation means when a person with mental illness or a substance abuse disorder applies for housing or when such a resident has acted in a way which could be construed as violating a lease agreement. The federal Fair Housing Act (FHA) was expanded in 1988 to protect persons with disabilities from discrimination in housing sales, rentals or financing. The FHA requires landlords and owners to make reasonable accommodations for an otherwise qualified handicapped tentant. For residents who have a physical handicap, reasonable accommodations may mean a wheelchair ramp, an exception to a no-pet policy for seeing eye dog, or modification to the interior of an apartment. However, landlords may be perplexed about how to reasonably accommodate a mentally ill tenant or one with a substance disorder whose behavior is violating the lease and possibly disturbing the other residents. This outline suggests ways to deal with such behavior so that the rights of both the handicapped resident and the neighbors are protected.