A lot of people with disabilities, especially those who are new to this lifestyle, do not understand various aspects of this new routine and how they work. Today, we would like to talk about one of those factors – reasonable accommodation. What is this thing? How does it work? How exactly can reasonable accommodation requests be helpful? All the needed information on this topic can be found in our article, so read and learn!
First of all, let’s have a closer look at what is a reasonable accommodation and why it is required due to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). A Reasonable Accommodation is a special request from an individual with a disability according to their special needs.
Mainly, it is required in housing when it comes to living conditions with a registered service animal or emotional support dog. According to the Fair Housing Act of 1988, they are permitted even in no-pet housing; however, a special ADA doctor’s letter from a healthcare provider is sometimes required. Moreover, due to Housing and Urban Development portal, there is a list of forbidden actions that cannot be done to anyone despite their age, sex, race, national origin, disability, and other factors:
They also have special rules for requested accommodation to protect people from disability discrimination. It relates to those who:
The main goal of these people is to make it easier for personalities with a disability to avoid undue hardship and help provide reasonable accommodation conditions to them.
In order to request an accommodation from the landlord, a person with a certain disability should write a letter that includes:
The last part is one of the most important because you should provide reasonable explanations that you are an individual with a disability and want to service dog housing request with reasonable accommodation. In this case, documentation that proves your disability is required to be shown to a landlord. It can be a note or a letter from your healthcare provider that verifies you are indeed a person with a mental or physical disability. The request can be sent both via email or in the form of a formal physical letter (depending on which one is more comfortable for you). Of course, you can Order Reasonable Accommodation Requests in online PDF format on our website myserviceanimal.org.
You are legally allowed to contact Fair Housing with an official complaint in case the landlord ignores you or refuses to contact you to talk about a reasonable accommodation request. Also, you may request staff related to a disability to provide you with access to the territory, apartment, or house you live in (for example, if the person uses a wheelchair, a ramp is needed to help them to get to their destination).
For those with disabilities, it is possible to make a request for reasonable accommodation with the help of a Section 8 voucher. How exactly can it be used for applicants, and what benefits it brings to people?
As you can see, requests for reasonable accommodation are extremely helpful for every person with a disability. It can make their routine much easier and assist in finding the dwelling of one’s dream that includes everything a person requires for a comfortable life. Sometimes, it is not worth it to do everything on your own. That’s where housing authorities come in – to make people’s harsh lives at least a little bit simpler. Hope this article was helpful. Take care!