Any person or entity involved in the design and construction of an apartment or condominium building, and the owner of the building, may be named as Defendants, sued, and held liable for violations of the Fair Housing Act or Americans with Disabilities Act at the facility in a HUD lawsuit.
Read MoreHUD is not required to review or approve builder's plans or issue certifications of compliance with the Fair Housing Act's design and construction requirements for multi-family housing. The burden of compliance rests with the person or persons who design and construct covered multifamily dwellings.
Read MoreIf a builder, architect, or developer believe that a property with which they were involved is covered by the Fair Housing Act's design and construction requirements but does not comply, they should seek technical assistance from a consultant with expertise in the Fair Housing Act's design and construction requirements about a plan to correct the violations.
Read MoreAlterations, rehabilitation, or repair of covered multifamily dwellings are not covered by the FHA because the Act's design and construction requirements only apply to new construction of buildings built for first occupancy after March 13, 1991.
Read MoreA minimum of two percent of the number of parking spaces serving covered dwelling units [apartments or condominiums] must be made accessible and they must be located on an accessible route; if different types of parking are offered, such as surface parking, garage, or covered spaces, a sufficient number of each type must be made accessible.
Read MoreThe Fair Housing Act does not require fully accessible apartments.
Read MoreThe Fair Housing Act's design and construction requirements do not require a minimum number of accessible dwelling units.
Read MoreThe Fair Housing Act's design and construction requirements do not cover multistory townhouses--units that have two, three, or even four stories--unless the building has an elevator.
Read MoreHUD recognizes 15 safe harbors to meet FHA regulations to provide a range of options that—if followed in their entirety without modification or waiver—will keep residential buildings compliant with the FHA. The new safe harbors are generally aligned with the current codes (minus any local amendments to the IBC), which may make it less complicated by limiting the layers of the requirements. HUD recommends that only one safe harbor should be used for design and construction of a multi-family facility.
Read MoreThe Fair Housing Act (FHA) requires seven basic requirements that must be met to comply with the access requirements of the Act. To describe these requirements in more detail, HUD published FHA Guidelines in 1991. The FHA Guidelines are one of 15 safe harbors for compliance that HUD has identified.
Read MoreThe Fair Housing Act requires all "covered multifamily dwellings" designed and constructed for first occupancy after March 13, 1991 to be accessible to and usable by people with disabilities. Covered multifamily dwellings are all dwelling units in buildings containing four or more units with one or more elevators, and all ground floor units in buildings containing four or more units, without an elevator.
Read MoreThe Fair Housing Amendment Act of 1988 represented a major change in housing law. Congress delayed the effective date for the access provisions until 1991 to give developers, builders, and architects more time to incorporate the new access standards into their building plans. Richard Acree provides multi-family building and facility inspections for ADA and FHA compliance.
Read MoreRecently the US Department of Justice filed a Statement of Interest (Statement) in the Doe v. Zucker lawsuit in the Northern District of New York. The Statement addresses a New York State regulation limiting admission of individuals with Serious Mental Illness into segregated settings called Adult Homes.
Read MoreA resident at multi-family housing can request to have a van accessible parking space at a certain location, but that resident may have to pay for that installation themselves, if approved. A disabled multi-family housing resident has a right under the FHA to file a request for a reasonable accommodation in the form of a reserved parking space with their landlord, if needed because of their disability. The FHA Guidelines do not require nor specify the size of van-accessible access aisles.
Read MoreFHA covered units are found only in multi-family housing facilities consisting of 4 or more dwelling units. ADA residential dwelling units are not defined by the number of dwelling units but must be located in Title II or Title III facilities. It is possible that certain properties, or portions thereof, will be covered by both the FHA and Title II and/or Title III of the ADA. When the FHA and ADA overlap the more stringent requirements of each law must be met, in terms of both scoping and technical requirements.
Read More