Reasonable Accommodation and Reasonable Modification

What Is a Reasonable Accommodation?

The federal Fair Housing Act makes it illegal for a housing provider to refuse two kinds of reasonable requests from a person with a disability:

• A reasonable accommodation is a change, exception, or adjustment to a rule, policy, practice, or service. Examples include allowing a guide dog in a no-pets building, or reserving a parking space near the entrance for a tenant who has trouble walking.
• A reasonable modification is a physical change to a home or a common area, such as installing grab bars or widening a doorway.

Congress added these protections in 1988. They apply to most housing, whether market-rate or subsidized.

How It Works

A resident, an applicant, or someone acting for them asks the housing provider for the change. No special form or legal wording is required. If the disability or the need is not obvious, the provider may ask for information that verifies the disability and shows how the request relates to it.

A provider may deny a request that would impose an undue financial and administrative burden or would fundamentally alter the nature of its operations. A 2004 joint statement from HUD and the Justice Department encourages the two sides to discuss alternatives before a request is turned down.

Who pays depends on the request and on how the housing is funded:

In April 2026, HUD withdrew two of its own guidance notices on assistance animals. The withdrawal did not change the statute or the regulations described here.

Example

Suppose a tenant who uses a wheelchair rents a privately owned apartment. She asks for a reserved parking space by the entrance and for permission to install grab bars in the bathroom.

The parking space is an accommodation, and the landlord cannot charge extra for it. The grab bars are a modification, so the tenant pays. HUD’s regulation uses a similar case to show the limits of restoration: a landlord may ask that the bars be removed at move-out, but not the wall reinforcement behind them. If the building were federally assisted, such as one owned by a public housing agency, the owner would generally pay for the bars.

Why It Matters for Workforce Housing

The duty comes from civil rights law, not from a subsidy program. It therefore applies to ordinary market-rate apartments, subsidized housing, and income-restricted workforce housing alike. Owners and managers need a clear way to receive and answer requests, because an undue delay in responding can itself be treated as a failure to accommodate.