Fair Housing for Individuals with Disabilities: The Basics - YouTube

My name is Marian Honel. I’m the manager of fair housing at the Illinois Department of Human Rights.

On behalf of our director, Rocco Claps, let me welcome you to our webinar

“Fair Housing for Individuals with Disabilities: The Basics.”

This presentation is to help people learn about their rights. It is not legal advice.

During this presentation, we’ll cover the some of the most common types of housing discrimination,

go over some examples, explain how to contact the Department of Human Rights with your complaint,

and briefly discuss what happens once a discrimination charge is filed.

Fair housing is about choice and equal access.

A person should be able to choose where to live, without regard to his or her race,

religion, national origin, sexual orientation, or any other unlawful factor.

The laws that make it illegal to discriminate against someone are called “fair housing laws.”

This presentation is about the fair housing laws that protect people with disabilities

from being discriminated against when renting, buying, or living in their homes.

A “protected class” is a category that cannot be targeted for discrimination.

Under the federal fair housing laws, there are 7 protected classes, or categories,

that apply to housing discrimination.

They are: race, color, national origin; meaning the country where a person was born,

religion, sex; which includes sexual harassment,

familial status; which means families with children, and disability.

The disability category includes both mental and physical disabilities.

It also includes people who may not have a disability, but whom other people think have a disability.

This is called “perception” of a disability.

The fair housing law under the State of Illinois, called the Illinois Human Rights Act,

includes the 7 protected classes that are covered under the federal fair housing laws, plus 7 more categories.

The additional protected classes covered under the state law are:

age; for people 40 and over, ancestry; meaning the part of the world where you or your ancestors are from,

marital status; such as married or single, unfavorable military discharge,

military status, sexual orientation and order of protection.

Sexual orientation protection was added in 2006 and refers to people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender.

Order of protection status protects people who have been abused and obtained an order of protection from a court.

Some local jurisdictions have additional protected classes.

For example, the City of Chicago protects “source of income,”

which means that in the city of Chicago, people cannot be discriminated against because of the source of their income.

This means that whether their income comes from a job,

or from another source such as child support, a disability check,

or a Housing Choice Voucher; also known as Section 8,

the landlord or property manager should treat that income just the same.

In Cook County outside of the City of Chicago, having a Housing Choice Voucher is not a protected class.

People with disabilities should not be denied housing just because they have a disability.

In addition, in order to help people with disabilities enjoy equal housing,

some barriers to their housing enjoyment may need to be removed.

Therefore, the fair housing laws require that people with disabilities

be given Reasonable Accommodations and Reasonable Modifications.

Reasonable accommodations are changes in rules, policies, practices, or services

that allow people with disabilities the equal opportunity to use and enjoy their homes.

In order to have a valid request for a reasonable accommodation, a person needs three things.

First, the person must have a disability,

and second, because of their disability, need a change to the rule or policy or practice,

and third, the request must be reasonable. Here are some examples:

Let’s say a landlord provides parking for tenants.

Someone who uses a wheelchair may need an extra wide parking space to accommodate the wheelchair;

or, someone who has a leg brace and has difficulty walking

may need to have a parking space close to their door reserved for them.

Another example is asking for an exception to the rule about paying rent on the first day of the month,

if your disability check comes on the fifth day of the month, so that you don’t have to pay a late fee.

Another common example is getting an exception to a landlord’s “no pet” policy,

when your doctor or therapist says that you need a dog to help you with your disability.

Note that if your disability is not obvious, a landlord or other housing provider

may ask for proof that you have a disability and really need the requested accommodation.

Reasonable MODIFICATIONS are physical changes to the unit or common area

that allow people with disabilities an equal opportunity to use and enjoy their home.

Examples include removing doors or changing a sink so that a wheel chair will fit,

adding a ramp to the entrance of the building for a wheelchair, or adding grab bars in the bathroom.

People who can’t hear might need to install a door bell that blinks.

People in wheel chairs might need a roll-in shower.

A person who has trouble walking up stairs might need to install a railing in the stairway of a common area.

It’s important to note that in the case of modifications, which are changes to the structure of the unit or building,

the tenant or person making the request must pay for the modification, not the property owner.

And, the property owner can in some cases require that the property be restored to its original condition.

Listen to this scenario and answer the question.

[reading above text]

No, a housing provider cannot ask general questions about a person’s disability,

unless there is a business reason to do so.

A landlord should ask all tenant applicants the same questions;

and the questions should be related to a person’s ability, such as questions about income and rental history.

Listen to the scenario and answer the question.

[reading above text]

The answer is – maybe – it depends.

[reading above text]

However, the landlord should talk with the tenant to see if there is another solution that will work,

perhaps suggesting a weekly trash pick-up, or putting out a smaller trash can for the use of the tenant.

Here’s another scenario.

[reading above text]

The answer is yes, this could be considered a fair housing violation.

Landlords must make exceptions to “no pet” policies for tenants who need a support animal,

which is often a dog.

Support animals may be recommended by medical professionals to help people with many kinds of disabilities,

such as depression and epilepsy, or mobility and vision impairments.

It is important to note that support animals are not pets.

Someone with a support dog should not be required to pay a pet deposit.

In this situation, the tenant might offer to produce a letter from his doctor or therapist,

to prove to the landlord that he does need the dog to help him with his disability.

If that doesn’t work, he should come to the Department of Human Rights and file a charge.

Here’s your last scenario.

[reading above text]

The answer is yes, this could be considered a fair housing violation.

[reading above text]

If you have been denied housing, denied a reasonable accommodation or modification,

or suspect that you have been treated differently because of your disability,

you may consider filing a charge with the Illinois Department of Human Rights.

To start the filing process, contact our housing intake person,

and we will determine if your complaint is something we can help you with.

If it is, we will draft a charge for you to sign,

and we will send a copy to the company or person responsible for the harm.

Once a charge is filed, we will interview everyone involved to get both sides of the story.

We will try and resolve the issues between the parties if possible.

If it can’t be resolved, we will investigate the case, and then send a report with our findings to both parties,

indicating whether we found enough evidence of discrimination to send the case to court.

You may want to contact your local disability rights organization

or center for independent living to help you with your charge.

I hope that this presentation has given you a basic understanding

of the housing rights of persons with disabilities.

We don’t expect members of the public to be experts on fair housing law.

If you suspect discrimination, feel free to contact our office

office either by email, by phone or in writing,

and we will let you know if your situation is something we can investigate.

To contact our office, call our intake person at 312.814.6229,

or call us toll free at 800.662.3942.

You can also email us at [email protected],

or you can go to our website, www.illinois.gov/dhr, and click on the fair housing link.

Remember, the first step to stopping discrimination is to report it.

Thank you.