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SECTION 504 OF THE REHABILITATION ACT OF 1973
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 prohibits discrimination
on the basis of disability in programs and activities conducted by the
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) or that
receive financial assistance from HUD. Section 504 states that no
otherwise qualified individual with handicaps in the United States
shall, solely by reason of his or her handicap, be excluded from the
participation in, be denied benefits of, or be subjected to
discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal
financial assistance from the Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD).28
“Federal financial assistance” means any assistance provided or
otherwise made available by the Department through any grant, loan,
contract or any other arrangement, in the form of funds, services of
Federal personnel, or real or personal property or any interest in or
use of such property. It also includes community development funds in
the form of proceeds from loans guaranteed under section 108 of the
Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, as amended.29
Most local housing authorities receive Federal financial assistance
and, therefore, are covered under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation
Act. In addition, privately operated, federally-subsidized apartment
complexes or housing facilities fall under Section 504. Examples of
housing programs to which HUD provides Federal financial assistance
include public housing, project-based housing assistance programs,
housing for persons with disabilities (Section 811), housing for the
elderly (Section 202), and programs for the homeless.
ACCESSIBILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR NEW CONSTRUCTION HOUSING FACILITIES
Under Section 504, new multi-family housing projects (including public
housing projects) shall be designed and constructed to be readily
accessible to and usable by individuals with handicaps. A minimum of
five percent (5%) of the total dwelling units or at least one unit in a
multi-family housing project, whichever is greater, shall be made
accessible for persons with mobility impairments. An additional two
percent (2%) of the units (but not less than one unit) in such a
project shall be accessible for persons with hearing or vision
impairments.30 This applies to multi-family housing projects (containing
five or more dwelling units31) that are designed, constructed, or altered
after July 11, 1988.32
Accessible dwelling units shall, to the maximum extent feasible and
subject to the reasonable health and safety requirements, be
distributed throughout projects and sites and shall be available in a
sufficient range of sizes and amenities so that a qualified individual
with handicaps’ choice of living arrangements is, as a whole,
comparable to that of other persons eligible for housing assistance
under the same program.33
“Accessible,” when used with respect to the design, construction, or
alteration of an individual dwelling unit, means that the unit is
located on an accessible route and when designed, constructed, altered,
or adapted can be approached, entered, and used by individuals with
physical handicaps.34
ALTERATIONS OF EXISTING HOUSING FACILITIES—Substantial
alterations
If alterations are undertaken to a housing facility that has 15 or more
units and the cost of the alterations is 75% or more of the replacement
cost of the completed facility, then five percent of the total dwelling
units or at least one unit, whichever is greater, shall be made
accessible for persons with mobility impairments. An additional two
percent of the units (but not less than one unit) shall be accessible
for persons with hearing or vision impairments.35
"Alteration” means any change in a facility or its permanent fixtures
or equipment. It includes, but is not limited to, remodeling,
renovation, rehabilitation, reconstruction, changes or rearrangements
in structural parts and extraordinary repairs. It does not include
normal maintenance or repairs, reproofing, interior decoration, or
changes to mechanical systems.36
“Facility” means all or any portion of buildings, structures,
equipment, roads, walks, parking lots, rolling stock, or other real or
personal property or interest in the property.37
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This means Section 504 will apply if a
landlord performs substantial rehabilitation to his apartments or
common use areas using federal funds. The general rule is that if a
landlord does any work where he/she could make the modifications
without unreasonably increasing the cost of the project, the
landlord should make them. For example, if a landlord paves the
parking lot, he/she could take the opportunity to bevel the curb at
a point near the path to the office door so that persons using
wheelchairs can get by.38 |
ALTERATIONS OF EXISTING HOUSING FACILITIES—Other alterations
Alterations to dwelling units in a multi-family housing project
(including public housing) shall, to the maximum extent feasible, be
made to be readily accessible to and usable by individuals with
handicaps. If alterations of single elements or spaces of a dwelling
unit, when considered together, amount to an alteration of a dwelling
unit, the entire dwelling unit shall be made accessible.39
Once 5% of the dwelling units in a project are readily accessible to
and usable by individuals with mobility impairments, then no additional
elements of dwelling units, or entire dwelling units, are required to
be accessible under this part of Section 504.40
“To the maximum extent feasible” shall not be interpreted as requiring
that a recipient (including a Public Housing Authority) make a dwelling
unit, common area, facility, or element thereof accessible if doing so
would impose undue financial and administrative burdens on the
operation of the multi-family housing project.41
EXISTING HOUSING PROGRAMS
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 provides that a recipient
shall operate each existing housing program or activity receiving
Federal financial assistance so that the program or activity, when
viewed in its entirety, is readily accessible to and usable by
individuals with handicaps.42 A recipient may comply with the
requirements through such means as:
- reassignment of services to accessible buildings;
- assignment of aides to beneficiaries;
- provision of housing or related services at alternate
accessible sites;
- alteration of existing facilities and construction of
new facilities;
- or any other methods that result in making its programs
or activities readily accessible to and usable by individuals with
handicaps.43
Thus, if an apartment complex is a recipient of Federal financial
assistance, the apartment complex must be operated so that is readily
accessible to and usable by individuals with handicaps, when viewed
in its entirety.
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If an apartment complex is a recipient
of Federal financial assistance, the apartment complex must be
operated so that is readily accessible to and usable by individuals
with handicaps, when viewed in its entirety. The landlord may
comply with these requirements through the alteration of existing
facilities. Therefore, if a disabled tenant lives in an apartment
at the complex that is not accessible, the disabled tenant may, in
most cases, request that management of the apartment complex
reasonably accommodate him/her, due to his/her disability, by
modifying the unit to make it accessible and not requiring him/her
to pay for these modifications. |
However, this does not require the recipient of federal funds to
take any action that it can demonstrate would result in a fundamental
alteration in the nature of its program or activity or in undue
financial and administrative burdens. However, the recipient must take
any action that would not result in such an alteration or such burdens
but would nevertheless ensure that individuals with handicaps receive
the benefits and services of the program or activity.44
COMMUNICATIONS
A housing facility that receives Federal financial assistance must take
appropriate steps to ensure effective communication with applicants,
beneficiaries, and members of the public. The housing facility must
furnish appropriate auxiliary aids where necessary to afford an
individual with handicaps an equal opportunity to participate in, and
enjoy the benefits of, a program or activity receiving Federal
financial assistance.45 “Auxiliary aids” means services or devices that
enable persons with impaired sensory, manual, or speaking skills to
have an equal opportunity to participate in, and enjoy the benefits of,
programs or activities.46
In determining what auxiliary aids are necessary, the housing provider
should give primary consideration to the requests of the individual
with handicaps. In addition, where the housing provider communicates
with applicants and beneficiaries by telephone, telecommunication
devices for deaf persons (TDD’s) or equally effective communication
systems shall be used. However, the housing provider does not have to
take any action that it can demonstrate would result in a fundamental
alteration in the nature of a program or activity or in undue financial
and administrative burdens. Though, the housing provider must take
another action that would nevertheless ensure that, to the maximum
extent possible, individuals with disabilities receive the benefits and
services of the program or activity receiving HUD assistance.47
OCCUPANCY OF ACCESSIBLE DWELLING UNITS
The owners and managers of multi-family housing projects having
accessible units shall take reasonable nondiscriminatory steps to
maximize the utilization of such units by eligible individuals whose
disability requires the accessibility features of the particular unit.
To this end, when an accessible unit becomes vacant, the owner or
manager before offering such units to a non-handicapped applicant shall
offer such unit:
- First, to a current occupant of another unit of the same project,
or comparable projects under common control, having handicaps
requiring the accessibility features of the vacant unit and occupying
a unit not having such features, or, if no such occupant exists, then
- Second, to an eligible qualified applicant on the waiting list
having a handicap requiring the accessibility features of the vacant
unit;48
When offering an accessible unit to an applicant not having handicaps
requiring the accessibility features of the unit, the owner or
manager may require the applicant to agree (and may incorporate this
agreement into the lease) to move to a non-accessible unit when
available.49
HOUSING CERTIFICATE / VOUCHER PROGRAMS
When issuing a housing certificate or voucher to a family which
includes an individual with handicaps, a Public Housing Authority (PHA)
that administers a Section 8 housing certificate or voucher program
shall include a current listing of available accessible units known to
the Housing Authority and, if necessary, otherwise assist the family in
locating an available accessible dwelling unit. In addition, the
Housing Authority must take into account the special problem of ability
to locate an accessible unit when considering requests by eligible
individuals with handicaps for extensions of housing certificates or
vouchers.50
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