No — Not Your Diagnosis or Medical Records
A landlord cannot ask you, or any applicant or tenant, whether you have a disability, or ask about the nature or severity of a disability you have. HUD's fair housing regulations are direct on this: it is unlawful "to make inquiry to determine whether an applicant for a dwelling...has a handicap or to make inquiry as to the nature or severity of a handicap." This applies whether the question comes up on a written application, in a phone screening, or in casual conversation during a showing.
This rule protects you whether or not you've asked for anything. A landlord can't screen out applicants by asking upfront "do you have any disabilities?" the same way they can't ask about your race or religion — disability sits in the same protected category as those.
What a Landlord Can Still Ask
The same regulation lists specific questions that remain legal, as long as the landlord asks every applicant the same thing, not just applicants they suspect have a disability:
- Whether you can meet the requirements of tenancy — pay rent on time, follow reasonable rules, and so on
- Whether you qualify for a unit or program that's specifically limited to people with disabilities, or a particular type of disability, if that's what you're applying for
- Whether you qualify for a priority that's available to applicants with disabilities
- Whether you currently illegally use or are addicted to a controlled substance
- Whether you've been convicted of the illegal manufacture or distribution of a controlled substance
Notice what's different about these: none of them ask you to identify as having a disability or to describe one. They're about conduct and eligibility, not diagnosis. The law's definition of "handicap" specifically excludes current, illegal use of or addiction to a controlled substance, which is why a landlord can ask about that directly without it counting as a disability inquiry.
When Documentation Becomes Fair Game
The rule changes once you ask for a reasonable accommodation or modification because of a disability. At that point, if your disability and the connection between it and what you're asking for are not obvious, a landlord can ask for documentation that establishes both — for example, a note from a doctor or another qualified professional confirming you have a disability-related need for the specific change you're requesting.
What the landlord still cannot demand, even then, is your specific diagnosis, your full medical file, or details about your condition beyond what's needed to support the accommodation. If your disability is already obvious, or the landlord already knows about it from an earlier interaction, they generally cannot ask for documentation on top of that.
The One Real Limit: "Direct Threat"
The disability-inquiry protections don't require a landlord to rent to someone whose tenancy would be a "direct threat" to the health or safety of others, or would cause substantial physical damage to someone else's property. This isn't a loophole for asking about disability generally — it's narrow, based on actual conduct or a specific, objective risk, not on assumptions about a diagnosis or disability category. A landlord can't invoke this to justify screening applicants for disabilities in general; it only comes up when there's a concrete safety concern independent of the disability inquiry rule.
If You're Asked Anyway
If a landlord or leasing agent asks you directly about a disability, medical condition, or medication, you're not required to answer. You can simply decline to answer that question, or say you'd rather not discuss it. Declining doesn't give the landlord grounds to deny your application — you can't be penalized for refusing to answer a question that shouldn't have been asked in the first place.
If you're denied housing after being asked improper questions, write down exactly what was asked, by whom, and when, as close to the moment as you can. That record is often the clearest evidence in one of these cases, because the question itself — not just the outcome — is what the law prohibits.
Where This Comes Up in a Lease
Improper disability questions usually show up in the application process, not the lease itself, but some leases still include broad "tenant must disclose any condition affecting ability to occupy the unit" language that goes further than the law allows. If you've already signed something like that, it doesn't retroactively make it legal for your landlord to have asked, and it doesn't obligate you to volunteer information later. Honestkey™ can read an uploaded lease and flag clauses and fees that may not hold up under your state's law, so you know which ones to ask about.