December 2024 Coach's Quiz
QUESTIONS
1. Your privately owned apartment community containing 50 units was constructed in 1989. Although it’s located on the ground floor, the leasing office isn’t accessible to persons in a wheelchair because you need to climb a short flight of steps to enter it. Would you be liable for an accessibility violation under federal law? a. No, because the dwelling isn’t subject to FHA accessibility requirements
b. No, because the dwelling isn’t subject to Section 504 accessibility requirements
c. Yes, because the leasing office is subject to ADA accessibility requirements
d. Yes, because all multifamily dwellings must be accessible
Click to show the answer
Correct answer: c
Reason: Pitfall #1 applies here:
Pitfall #1. Lack of or Unsuitable Access Routes at Building Entrances
Multifamily properties may be liable for accessibility violations under three different federal laws. However, only one of those laws applies to this property, the ADA, which requires owners of public accommodations to make those facilities physically accessible to persons with disabilities. Because it’s open to the public, the leasing office is a public accommodation. And since people in wheelchairs can’t access the leasing office, the landlord faces the risk of liability under the ADA. So, c. is the right answer.
Wrong answers explained:
a. The apartment community isn’t subject to FHA accessibility requirements because it was constructed in 1989, and the FHA accessible design and construction rules apply only to multifamily dwellings that were constructed for first occupancy after March 1991. However, properties exempt from FHA accessibility requirements might still be liable under other federal accessibility laws, including the ADA, which does apply here because the leasing office is a public accommodation. So, a. is the wrong answer.
b. The same logic applies here. Section 504 accessibility requirements apply only to federally assisted housing, and the apartment community in this case is privately owned. But it’s still subject to ADA accessibility requirements for public accommodations. And since the leasing office is a public accommodation, the community faces the risk of prosecution or litigation for accessibility violations under the ADA.
d. This is wrong because it’s simply not true that all multifamily properties are covered by federal accessibility laws.
2. A multifamily dwelling that’s subject to FHA accessibility requirements must have van-accessible parking at its community pool if (note: there may be more than one correct answer): a. The pool has a parking lot
b. The pool is open to members of the public
c. The pool is reserved exclusively for the use of tenants
d. The community is HUD-assisted
Click to show the answer
Correct answers: a & b
Reason: Pitfall #5 applies here:
Pitfall #5. Failure to Allot Enough Accessible Parking Spaces to Vans
The FHA Design Rule mandating accessibility to common- and public-use areas includes accessible parking, provided that you offer parking to the non-disabled. The ADA imposes the additional requirement that at least one in six of the accessible spaces be accessible to vans. The ADA rule comes into play only if the facility offering parking is a public accommodation. Answers a. and b. are right because they provide the triggers making the ADA van requirements applicable to the pool parking lot.
Answers explained:
a. The reason a. is part of the correct answer is that accessible parking is required only if parking is provided. So, the fact that the pool does have a parking lot satisfies one of the two conditions triggering van accessibility requirements.
b. Answer b. furnishes the second element for ADA van accessibility—namely, that the facility be a public accommodation. The fact that the parking lot is open to the public makes it a public accommodation.
c. This is wrong because a pool reserved exclusively for the use of tenants wouldn’t constitute a public accommodation under the ADA.
d. This is wrong because whether the community is HUD-assisted, while relevant to the applicability of Section 504, has no bearing on whether ADA van accessibility rules apply.
