Articles — disability

Because 60% of all Housing Discrimination Complaints involve requests for a reasonable accommodation based on disability, and because many of them involve requests for an Assistance Animal, we’ve been waiting for a couple of years now for HUD to issue new guidance for housing providers on how to deal with those requests by disabled residents and applicants. On January 28, 2020, HUD granted our wish and issued some further clarifications, which you can read in their entirety here. Here are the highlights: Types of Assistance Animals HUD recognizes two types of Assistance Animals: (1) service animals and (2) other animals...

Anyone who has been paying attention in the rental industry over the past few years is aware of the explosion of requests for Assistance Animals by tenants and those seeking to live in rental housing. While such requests used to limited to those with physical disabilities seeking to have their service dog live with them to guide their path, pull their wheelchair, or alert them to an oncoming seizure, most requests today are for Emotional Support Animals.  Such animals are typically untrained, with the theory being that their very presence alleviates the symptoms of a mental or emotional disability. Due...

Every year, the National Fair Housing Alliance issues a report on Fair Housing Trends from the prior year. The report reviews the most recent data on claims of housing discrimination across the country. In April 2018, the NFHA’s 2018 Fair Housing Trends Report was released. You can read the full report using this link. Here are the highlights: I’m always most interested in two things in the report: (1) statistics on housing discrimination claims and (2) important housing discrimination cases. Today, I’m just going to review the statistical data regarding the housing discrimination complaints filed in 2017. 2017 Housing Discrimination...

In 2018, Kentucky joined a growing list of states that have passed laws addressing fraudulent conduct by tenants and others attempting to get an Assistance Animal. KRS 383.085 makes it a criminal offense for any person to knowingly provide false information or documents in an attempt to get an Assistance Animal in housing. Check out this post to find out the details on Kentucky's version of the law.

Those of you subscribe to my newsletter already know this, but there is a new group that is conducting Fair Housing testing on a fairly widespread basis in central Kentucky. Fair Housing Advocates, Inc., is an organization out of Arlington, Texas, who, according to their website, provides advocacy and education related to Fair Housing issues. Here is their website and their Facebook page.  Currently, their testers are calling apartment complexes throughout central Kentucky claiming to be interested in renting an apartment. Their current ruse is to claim to be a disabled person with an Assistance Animal (typically an emotional support...