The view of the top of a house.

Housing Rights 

Are you treated unfairly in your living situation?  

Federal, state, and local fair housing and anti-discrimination laws protect individuals. Discrimination based on certain protected characteristics, including (but not limited to) disability, is unlawful. 

Reasonable Accommodations

Reasonable accommodations are changes in rules, policies, practices, or services that enable a person with a disability an equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling. Examples of reasonable accommodations include allowing a person with a disability 

  • Assigning a person with a disability a reserved parking spot near their unit even though tenant parking is generally on a first-come, first-served basis. 
  • Allowing a person with a disability to keep an assistance animal despite a “no pets” policy. 
  • Allowing a tenant who receives disability checks on the fifth of every month to pay rent after the first of the month without a late fee. 

Reasonable Modifications 

Reasonable modifications are changes in the physical structure of a dwelling that enable a person with a disability to have an equal opportunity to use and enjoy that dwelling. In many cases, individualized modifications to a dwelling enable a person with a disability to live in a space they would otherwise be physically unable to live in. This includes the interior and exterior of a building or a unit as well as public and common use areas. 

Examples of reasonable modifications include allowing a tenant: 

  • Who uses a wheelchair to install a ramp access to the entrance of the dwelling 
  • To install grab bars in the bathroom
  • To install visual or tactile (touch) alert devices.

Housing Navigation 

Housing Navigation is a focused, outcome-oriented, and time-limited service that helps people with IDD who need or want to move to community-based housing obtain and maintain stable, long-term housing of their choice. 

Housing Navigation services may include: 

  • Developing an individualized person-centered housing plan
  • Developing an individual housing budget, including the optimization of benefits and financial consulting, if necessary 
  •  Implementing a housing action plan that includes the person’s housing vision and housing budget
  • Finding a home in the community of choice 
  • Coordinating a move
  • Creating a housing sustainability plan and transition to ongoing service providers
  • Finding housing crisis resolution

Search for Housing Navigators in your area on the New York Housing Resource Center for People with Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities website. Also, check out the Housing Resource Guide Ebook or visit these tips for renters. Your Care Manager can help you navigate your housing options.