People with Developmental Disabilities and Housing

Letter to Mr. Bennie D. Howard, Acting Director, Office of Disability Policy from NCD

August 5, 2005

U.S. Department of Housing
and Urban Development
c/o Mr. Bennie D. Howard, Acting Director
Office of Disability Policy
451 7 th Street, SW Room 7118

Washington, D.C. 20410

[Fax # 202-708-4373]

Dear Mr. Howard:

Thank you and your staff for meeting with me and NCD staff on July 26 th to discuss the issue of first time low-income home buyers’ down payment assistance programs. We appreciate your time and willingness to pursue this policy issue with HUD management. As per your request at the conclusion of our meeting, we offer the following brief overview of the issue and policy solution that we discussed at our meeting last week.

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National Council on Disability and Discrimination in Housing

Discussion of The Fair Housing Act and Section 504

Voluntary Compliance Agreement Between HUD and the Miami-Dade Housing Authority

Agreement

Accessibility Requirements for Multifamily Housing:

Accessibility Requirements for Multifamily Housing: Both privately owned and publicly assisted housing, regardless of whether they are rental or for sale units, must meet the accessibility requirements of the Fair Housing Act when they are located in a building of four or more units, built for first occupancy after March 13, 1991. To help builders comply with these requirements, HUD issued in 1991 its Fair Housing Act Accessibility Guidelines.

In 1994, the Department responded to questions on the Guidelines by issuing a Question and Answer Supplement to the Guidelines.

In 1996, HUD provided further guidance on ways to design and construct housing that complies with the Fair Housing Act by issuing the Fair Housing Act Design Manual, which is filled with detailed illustrations and sample room designs. HUD has designated the Fair Housing Act Accessibility Guidelines, when used in conjunction with the Question and Answer Supplement, the Fair Housing Act Design Manual, and five other documents as safe harbors for compliance with the Fair Housing Act accessibility requirements.

For more information on the requirements and the seven safe harbors for compliance, visit Fair Housing Accessibility, FIRST.

Accessibility Requirements for Federally Assisted Housing: All Federally assisted new construction housing developments with 5 or more units must design and construct 5 percent of the dwelling units, or at least one unit, whichever is greater, to be accessible for persons with mobility disabilities. These units must be constructed in accordance with the Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards (UFAS) or a standard that is equivalent or stricter. An additional 2 percent of the dwelling units, or at least one unit, whichever is greater, must be accessible for persons with hearing or visual disabilities. For more information on the accessibility requirements for Federally assisted new construction and substantial alterations of existing Federally assisted housing, see Section 504: Disability Rights in HUD Programs.

Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA): The ADA primarily deals with accessibility of public facilities such as restaurants, hotels, and parks. With respect to housing accessibility, Title II of the ADA covers housing provided by public entities (state and local governments), such as housing on a State university campus. Title III requires that public and common use areas at housing developments are accessible. Please visit the Department of Justice ADA home page for more information on the ADA.

DOJ Settlement in Delaware re Housing Discrimination

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT SETTLES ITS FIRST LAWSUIT IN DELAWARE ALLEGING DISABILITY-BASED HOUSING DISCRIMINATION

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2004



WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Justice Department today announced that it has reached an agreement with six firms involved in the design and construction of three housing complexes in Delaware and Maryland, resolving a lawsuit that alleged disability-related housing discrimination. The suit is the Department's first enforcement action in Delaware concerning the accessibility requirements of the federal Fair Housing Act.

"These requirements have been in place since March 1991," said R. Alexander Acosta, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. "We trust that this court action will alert other architects, site engineers, builders, and developers of their obligations to ensure that persons with disabilities can use the multifamily housing complexes under construction in Delaware and Maryland today."

According to the government's complaint, Pettinaro Construction Company, Inc.; Architecture Plus, P.A.; Landmark Engineering, Inc.; Hillcrest Associates, Inc.; Howard L. Robertson, Inc.; and Land Tech, L.L.C. violated the Fair Housing Act by designing and constructing housing complexes in a manner that left them inaccessible to people with disabilities. The properties are Rockwood Apartments in Bear, Delaware; Bethany Bay Resort Community in Sussex County, Delaware; and West Creek Village in Elkton, Maryland.


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Urban Institute report- Barriers at Every Step

The report, Barriers at Every Step, shows the level of discrimination faced by two groups in the Chicago metropolitan area:

Persons who are deaf and use a telephone relay service to inquire about a rental unit and

Persons using wheelchairs who visit a rental provider in person.

The Urban Institute’s analysis of 200 paired tests have the following three key findings:

Landlords who advertised units for rent refused to speak to deaf persons in one-of-four calls, while non-disabled callers were given information about the units.

For both deaf persons and wheelchair users that were able to get some information, they did not receive the same level of encouragement as non-disabled persons in a quarter of the tests.

The majority of landlords agree to requests of reasonable accommodation and reasonable modification. Nonetheless, about 19 percent of landlords refused a request for a reasonable accommodation and 16 percent said they would not permit a reasonable modification.

Reasonable Accommodations in Housing

JOINT STATEMENT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
AND THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE REASONABLE ACCOMMODATIONS UNDER THE
FAIR HOUSING ACT


The Department of Justice ("DOJ") and the Department of Housing and Urban
Development ("HUD") are jointly responsible for enforcing the federal Fair Housing Act1 (the "Act"), which prohibits discrimination in housing on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, and disability.

Information from HUD regarding housing discrimination and people with disabilities

This page is designed to answer frequently asked questions on the housing rights of people with disabilities and the responsibilities of housing providers and building and design professionals under federal law.

Florida's Priced Out Report - Wages and the Cost of Housing in Florida

Source: Florida Housing Coalition

Report


... The Florida Housing Coalition presents wage information for more than 60 occupations and home prices for 18 Florida metropolitan areas. The purpose of Florida’s Priced Out Report is to:

Allow you to analyze annual incomes for the workforce and the median existing homes sales price for metropolitan areas of Florida

Provide information on the maximum mortgage amounts workforce employees could afford
Compare how much down payment and closing cost assistance workforce employees would need to afford a median priced home

Calculate the number of hours workforce employees would be required to work to afford 2 Bedroom / 2 Bathroom at Market Rent

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Welcome to the Accessible Housing Blog

Thank you for visiting. This Blog is designed to provide visitors with information and resources concerning affordable, accessible, non-segregated housing for people with disabilities. People with disabilities experience a great deal of discrimination when seeking housing, and this Blog seeks to educate visitors about the problem, and provide proposed solutions. We welcome your comments, suggestions, and insights. Please feel free to contact us at mdubin@pobox.com.