INSIDER's Pop Quiz!

Question: A resident who uses a wheelchair due to a mobility disorder asks for a staff member to drive her to medical appointments as a reasonable accommodation for her disability. Since she has a disability-related need for the accommodation, you must grant her request. True or false?

Answer: False. The Fair Housing Act doesn’t require you to take the resident to medical appointments as an accommodation for her disability, because her request is unreasonable. If your site doesn’t provide transportation services for residents, then driving her to medical appointments would require a fundamental change in the nature of your operations. Instead of simply denying the request, however, the HUD/Justice Department guidelines say that you should explore possible alternatives and discuss them with the resident.

For more information, see “Clearing Up Misconceptions About Reasonable Accommodation Requests,” in the April issue of the Insider, and available on our homepage.