As a Duluth landlord with a single-family residence, you must submit with the Federal Fair Housing Act’s mandate to yield to ‘reasonable accommodations’ not only to disabled residents but also to residents who live in with or are closely related with disabled individuals. However, what is ‘reasonable accommodation’ and what would ‘unreasonable’ be?
As the first point, ‘reasonable accommodation’ may be for the physical essentials of the rental home, and might include basic revisions, such as lowering towel bars and light switches, or a smoke alarm that has flashing lights in addition to an audible alarm. Not only that, the resident would require you for both the installation and removal of these accommodations.
Beyond accommodations to the physical aspects of the residence, you may be asked to dispense ‘reasonable accommodation’ on the administrative side. For example, you might have a resident with a mental disability that affects their memory. This resident might ask for you to call each month to refresh their memory to pay the rent. This would be reckoned to be reasonable.
Now let’s examine an example of what might be understood ‘unreasonable.’ One of the key considerations in this respect is whether the accommodation would impose hardship on you as a housing provider. For example, suppose you own a two-story single-family rental house and receive a request that you install an elevator for a person with a physical disability. This could be negated as it would require an extensive construction and cost could mount up to a great deal.
An unreasonable accommodation need could come out on the administrative side as well. Suppose you own a single-family residence and receive a request from a resident-to-be with a mental impairment to call them each morning and evening to remind them to turn the exterior lights on at night and off in the morning. This could be determined to be unreasonable and you as a landlord could discard this request.
Real Property Management Executives Greater Atlanta is well-educated in the Fair Housing Act requirements and how they are pertinent to you as a Duluth landlord with a single-family residence. We can help you go through these requirements to ensure that you are in adherence when renting to individuals with disabilities. Would you like to learn more? Please contact us online or call us at 678-765-8383 for more information.