What Counts as a Reasonable Accommodation
A reasonable accommodation is a change to a rule, policy, practice, or service that gives a person with a disability an equal opportunity to use and enjoy their home. The Fair Housing Act requires landlords to make these changes when a tenant asks and the request is tied to a disability. Refusing to make a reasonable accommodation when one is needed is itself a form of illegal discrimination under the law.
Accommodations are usually about rules, not construction: keeping an assistance animal in a no-pets building, moving a parking spot closer to the entrance, adding a live-in aide who is not on the lease, or getting priority for a first-floor unit when one opens up. HUD's own rule gives these exact examples — a blind tenant's guide dog in a building with a no-pets policy, and a reserved parking spot for a tenant who cannot walk long distances.
Accommodations vs. Modifications
The Fair Housing Act actually covers two related but different things under its disability protections. A reasonable accommodation is a change to a rule, policy, practice, or service — no construction involved. A reasonable modification is a physical change to the unit or common areas, like a ramp, grab bars, or a lowered peephole.
The difference matters for who pays. For a modification, the landlord can require you to cover the cost, and — for a rental — can require you to agree to restore the unit to its original condition when you move out, reasonable wear and tear excepted. An accommodation, by contrast, is a change to a rule, policy or service, and the law does not put its cost on you the way it does for a modification.
Put the Request in Writing
You don't need a lawyer or special legal language to ask. A short letter or email works, and it protects you if there's ever a dispute later. Say three things clearly:
- That you are requesting a reasonable accommodation
- What you need changed — the rule, policy, or service
- How it relates to your disability, in general terms, not your diagnosis
You don't have to use the words "Fair Housing Act" for the request to count, but naming it clearly makes it harder for a landlord to later claim they didn't understand what you were asking for. Send it in a way you can prove — email, or a letter with a delivery record. Use a reasonable accommodation request letter to get the structure right.
What Your Landlord Can and Cannot Ask
A landlord cannot ask you to disclose your specific diagnosis, medical records, or how severe your disability is. HUD's regulation is direct about this: it is unlawful "to make an inquiry to determine whether an applicant...has a handicap or to make inquiry as to the nature or severity of a handicap."
What a landlord can ask, of any applicant or tenant, disability or not:
- Whether you can meet the requirements of the tenancy, like paying rent and following reasonable rules
- For documentation connecting your disability to the need for the specific accommodation, when the disability and the need are not obvious
- Follow-up questions if your request is vague, so they understand exactly what you're asking for
If your disability and the connection to your request are already obvious, or the landlord already knows about it, they generally cannot demand documentation on top of that.
If Your Landlord Says No
The law requires accommodations that are reasonable, so whether a particular request must be granted depends on the facts — what it asks for, what it costs, and how it affects the housing. A blanket "no pets" or "no changes to our rules" policy is not, by itself, a valid reason — bending exactly that kind of policy is what the law is for.
The statute sets no deadline for a landlord's answer. Ask for a response in writing by a reasonable date, and keep a record of when you asked and every follow-up. If your landlord offers a different change that also solves your problem, get it in writing. If you're denied, or never get an answer, and you think the request was reasonable, you can file a complaint with HUD.
Before You Send the Request
If your lease has a strict no-pets, no-alterations, or one-parking-spot-per-unit clause, get your request and the landlord's response in writing before you act on it. Moving in an assistance animal or making a change based only on a verbal conversation can look like a lease violation if there's ever a disagreement about what was agreed to.
Before you send your request, it helps to know exactly which lease clause you're asking your landlord to bend. Honestkey™ reads an uploaded lease and flags clauses and fees that may not hold up under your state's law, which makes the pet, alteration and occupancy terms easier to find.