This article originally appeared in the November-December 2025 edition of Common Ground.
Community association boards need to be thoughtful and deliberate when considering reasonable accommodations or modifications. Follow our guide to processing requests under the federal Fair Housing Act.
Imagine This
A resident in a wheelchair stops by the community association management office and asks to install a ramp outside the building. Or an owner calls a board member about getting an assigned handicap parking space near the building. Or a tenant e-mails management about keeping a golden retriever named Hank in a no-pet community.
For community association board members and managers, the first thing that should come to mind in all three scenarios is: “This may trigger the federal Fair Housing Act.” Let’s break down what the act is, when it is triggered, and what you should do when it inevitably comes up.
The Basics
The federal Fair Housing Act, better known as the FHA, requires homeowners associations, condominiums, and cooperatives to grant requests for reasonable accommodations and modifications when it may be necessary to afford a person with a disability an equal opportunity to use and enjoy the premises.
The act broadly defines a person with a disability to include: Anyone with a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits the person’s major life activities.
- Individuals who are regarded as having such an impairment.
- Individuals with a record of such an impairment.
Physical and mental impairments can include anything from mobility difficulties, hearing impairments, and blindness to alcoholism, PTSD, heart disease, cancer, HIV, and so on.
If an individual with a disability or someone on their behalf requests an exception to the association’s rules, policies, practices, or services, they are asking for a reasonable accommodation. If they request a structural change to the interior or exterior of their dwelling or the common areas, they want a reasonable modification.
How does this all play out in real life? Let’s break it down step by step.
Semantics are Important
Always make sure there is a request. Without a formal request, there is no need to grant a reasonable accommodation or modification. For example, a resident attends a board meeting and shares that it would be nice to have more parking options in the community. In this scenario, the resident is merely voicing an opinion on the lack of adequate community parking and is not making a request for a reasonable accommodation.
In another instance, a community has strict architectural guidelines. A mother e-mails the architectural committee and shares that her son is in a wheelchair. They need to make alterations to their dwelling to install wider doorframes and lower kitchen cabinets so he can better navigate the area and have access to kitchenware and food. Sound the alarm: This is a request for a reasonable modification.
A request for an accommodation or modification does not need to mention the Fair Housing Act by name — in fact, most times, people improperly cite the Americans with Disabilities Act. Even if it’s the wrong law, the request still counts. The request also may be made on behalf of someone with a disability, and it can be made orally or in writing.
We recommend asking that requests be put in writing to minimize the potential for miscommunication and ensure the requester’s intentions, needs, and specifications are properly conveyed and noted. Many communities also may wish to develop a form that can be used to streamline the information and process. Work with your legal counsel to see what works best for your community.
Just the Facts
A request for a reasonable accommodation or modification must be granted if it may be necessary to afford a person with a disability an equal opportunity to use and enjoy the premises. A request is necessary if there is a relationship between the individual’s disability and the requested accommodation or modification. In other words, a request needs to be granted if the individual establishes they have a disability and a disability-related need for their requested accommodation or modification.
Sometimes, the disability and disability-related need for the requested accommodation or modification are known or obvious to the association. If that’s the case, you cannot ask any further questions. You must grant the request.
Think of the earlier scenario where a wheelchair-bound resident stops by the management office and asks for a ramp outside the building. Here, it’s clear the resident has a mobility impairment, and the requested modification is to install a ramp. You cannot ask any more questions. The cost of the modification is the responsibility of the individual making the request, not the association.
However, if a homeowner calls a board member about getting an assigned handicap parking space near their house or a tenant e-mails management about keeping a golden retriever in your no-pet community, we do not know whether the individuals have a disability or the relationship between their disability and their requested accommodation. Without all the information needed to make a proper decision, stop and ask the right questions.
Good Question
In general, associations cannot ask about the nature or severity of a person’s disability. In situations where the disability or disability-related need for the requested accommodation or modification is not known or obvious, associations can ask for information necessary to verify if the person has a disability defined under the Fair Housing Act that describes the needed accommodation or modification. Requests also need to show the relationship between the person’s disability and their need for the requested accommodation or modification.
The association can reach out to the homeowner who requested an assigned handicap parking space and ask them whether they have a disability as defined under the act and the relationship between their disability and requested accommodation. If the association knows the homeowner has a mobility impairment but also a two-car garage and a driveway where they can park, then the association may still ask for the specific disability-related need for the assigned handicap parking space.
Likewise, the association can ask homeowners or tenants whether they have a disability as defined by the act and the relationship between their disability and their request. A person’s doctor, nurse, therapist, or other reliable third-party in a position to know about the person’s disability can verify this information.
When to Say No
If an individual can establish they have a disability defined under the Fair Housing Act and a disability-related need for the requested accommodation or modification, then the request must be granted. However, there are limited circumstances where the accommodation or modification may be denied:
- No request has been made.
- The individual does not have a disability.
- The individual does not have a disability-related need for the accommodation or modification.
- The requested accommodation or modification is not reasonable, i.e., it would impose an undue financial and administrative burden on the homeowners association, condominium, or cooperative or it would fundamentally alter the nature of their operations. This is determined on a case-by-case basis.
An Interactive Process
Regardless of whether there is a basis to deny a request, it is best to still engage in a discussion with the individual making the request to see if there is an alternative accommodation or modification that may be granted.
The act is a nuanced area of law and entails a lot more information and specifics than what we have tried to simplify here. Each request for an accommodation or modification will be different and will need to be examined individually. We recommend you work with legal counsel to review and process these requests to ensure Fair Housing Act standards are met and that your rights and obligations are clearly conveyed and exercised.
Read the full article in the November-December 2025 edition of Common Ground.
Ruth Katz and Nura Rafati are community association attorneys at Lerch, Early & Brewer. For more information, contact Ruth Katz at rokatz@lerchearly.com or Nura Rafati at nrafati@lerchearly.com.
