Does an Older Apartment Building Have to Comply with the FHA?
Apartment Building
Does an older apartment building have to comply with the Fair Housing Act (FHA)? The answer: maybe. The photo on the right is representative of an apartment building.
The Fair Housing Act does not require any renovations to existing buildings. Its design requirements apply to new construction only, of covered multifamily dwellings that are built for first occupancy after March 13, 1991. First occupancy is defined as “a building that has never before been used for any purpose.”
Covered multifamily dwellings include:
all dwelling units in buildings containing four or more dwelling units if such buildings have one or more elevators, and,
all ground floor dwelling units in other buildings containing four or more units.
A building is not subject to the design requirements of the Fair Housing Act if:
it was occupied on or before March 13, 1991, or
the last building permit or renewal thereof was issued by a state, county, or local government on or before June 15, 1990, or
there are less than 4 dwelling units in the building.
Alterations, Renovations, and Additions
But what about buildings that are built before March 13. 1991, and are then altered, renovated, or added onto after March 13, 1991? Item 2 above covers that. If an alteration, renovation or addition resulted in a building permit being issued by a state, county, or local government after June 15, 1990, then that alteration, renovation or addition likely resulted in new construction, which would fall under the FHA requirements for that portion of the facility that was altered, renovated, or added onto. Periodic maintenance is not considered new construction, and periodic maintenance usually does not require a building permit.
Specifically regarding additions, the Fair Housing Design Manual states on page 11, “When an addition is built as an extension to an existing building, the addition of four or more units is regarded as a new building and must meet the design requirements of the Guidelines. If any new public and common use spaces are added, they are required to be accessible.” Even though this statement uses “four or more units” to establish criteria, adding just one new apartment will likely require a building permit, and therefore the FHA laws will apply. Clearly, if any public or common use space is added, accessibility is required, which will usually require reference to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
General Provisions of the FHA
To ensure that persons with disabilities will have full use and enjoyment of their dwellings, the FHA includes two important provisions:
A provision making it unlawful to refuse to make reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, practices, and services when necessary to allow the resident with a disability equal opportunity to use the property and its amenities. For example, in buildings that provide parking spaces for residents on a “first come, first served” basis, reserved parking spaces must be provided if requested by residents with disabilities who may need them.
A provision making it unlawful to refuse to permit residents with disabilities to make reasonable modifications to either their dwelling unit or to the public and common use areas, at the residents’ cost. The landlord/manager may require that the modification be completed in a professional manner under the applicable building codes, and may also require that the resident agree to restore the interior of the dwelling to the condition that existed before the modification, reasonable wear and tear excepted.