Modifications a Landlord Has to Allow
Two different obligations are frequently confused. A landlord must permit reasonable physical modifications, which the tenant generally pays for, and must make reasonable accommodations in rules and practices, which the landlord bears. Grab rails and a waived pet rule are governed by different principles.
The rule in short
Fair housing law requires a landlord to permit a tenant with a disability to make reasonable modifications to the premises, generally at the tenant's expense and sometimes subject to restoration on leaving. Separately, a landlord must make reasonable accommodations in rules, policies and services where necessary for equal enjoyment, at the landlord's own cost. Requests should be made in writing, and a refusal has routes of complaint.
A tenant who cannot get into a bath safely, or who cannot manage a heavy door, has a legal route that most tenants never learn about. It is straightforward, it is used far less than it should be, and it starts with a letter.
Modifications, and who pays
Physical changes to the premises. Grab rails, ramps, widened doorways, lever handles, raised seats, and anything else that makes a dwelling usable by somebody with a disability.
A landlord must permit reasonable ones. Where they are necessary for the tenant's full enjoyment of the premises, which is a low bar for most ordinary adaptations.
Generally at the tenant's expense. Which is the main practical limit, and the reason grant and assistance programs for adaptations are worth investigating.
Sometimes subject to restoration. Where reasonable, with the interior returned to its previous condition on departure, agreed in writing before the work begins.
And subject to workmanlike standards. A landlord may reasonably require that work be done properly and, where relevant, with appropriate permissions and by competent people.
Accommodations, and who pays
Changes to rules and practices. Rather than to the building, covering policies, services and the way a landlord administers a tenancy.
At the landlord's expense. Which is the central difference from modifications and is the reason the distinction matters practically.
Common examples. A reserved parking space near an entrance, an assistance animal despite a no-pets policy, or a different arrangement for paying rent.
Subject to reasonableness. A landlord need not accept an accommodation that imposes an undue burden or fundamentally alters the nature of the housing.
And requiring a disability-related nexus. Since the accommodation must be necessary because of the disability rather than simply convenient.
| Request | Type | Who pays |
|---|---|---|
| Grab rail in a bathroom | Modification | Tenant |
| Ramp at an entrance | Modification | Tenant |
| Reserved parking near the door | Accommodation | Landlord |
| Assistance animal despite a no-pets rule | Accommodation | Landlord |
| Widened doorway | Modification | Tenant |
Making a request that works
Put it in writing. Describing what is needed and why, which creates the record that every subsequent step depends on and is easy to do.
Explain the need, not the diagnosis. Since what matters is the functional limitation and its relationship to the request rather than a medical label.
Attach supporting confirmation. From a clinician or other professional, which is frequently requested and always strengthens the position.
Be specific about the request. Since a general statement of difficulty invites a general response, and a named modification can simply be agreed.
And propose a discussion. Because many of these are resolved by agreeing a variation, and an interactive approach produces better outcomes than a demand.
Tenants raise these things in passing, in a corridor, and receive a vague answer that goes nowhere. A short letter describing the difficulty, naming the specific change requested and attaching a supporting note from a clinician converts the same conversation into a request that has to be considered and answered. It also creates the record that any later complaint depends on entirely.
When a landlord refuses
Ask for the reason in writing. Which converts a refusal into a stated objection and frequently prompts reconsideration by somebody more senior.
Consider whether it is reasonable. Since a landlord may lawfully decline where the burden is undue, and some refusals are genuinely well founded.
Offer alternatives. Which often resolves matters, since a different modification or a different accommodation may meet the need at less cost.
Use the complaint routes. Which exist federally and in most states, and are examined in refusals that are unlawful.
And keep everything. Since these complaints turn on the written record of what was requested, when, and what was said in response.
What this does not cover
General improvements. A tenant cannot require changes that are unrelated to a disability, however desirable they may be for other reasons.
Unreasonable requests. Where the burden on the landlord is undue or the change would fundamentally alter the nature of the housing provided.
Structural impossibility. Where a building genuinely cannot accommodate a change, though alternatives should be explored, including whether the settings in what assisted living is and is not would suit better.
Conduct unrelated to disability. Since these obligations do not displace the ordinary terms of a tenancy in other respects.
And the position in owner-occupied settings. Which is governed differently, including the age restrictions in communities that may exclude children.
These provisions are among the more useful in this whole subject and among the least used, largely because tenants do not know they exist and landlords have no reason to mention them.
The distinction between modifications and accommodations is worth holding onto, because it decides who pays and therefore what a tenant should expect when they ask.
For physical changes, the tenant generally bears the cost, which makes grant and assistance programs for home adaptations worth investigating alongside the request itself.
For changes to rules, the landlord bears it, and requests of that kind — a parking space, an assistance animal, a different payment arrangement — are frequently agreed without difficulty once they are actually made.
Putting the request in writing is the single step that changes outcomes. It obliges a considered response and creates the record that any complaint would depend on.
Supporting confirmation from a clinician strengthens almost every request and is usually straightforward to obtain, since the professional is confirming a functional limitation rather than making any legal judgment.
Where a landlord refuses, offering an alternative resolves a good proportion of cases, and asking for the refusal in writing resolves several more.
And where it is not resolved, the complaint routes are real, are used, and do not require a tenant to have engaged a lawyer before they begin.
It is worth adding that these obligations apply to a wide range of housing rather than only to conventional rentals. Condominium and homeowner associations, cooperatives and many senior communities are all subject to them, and residents in those settings frequently assume that association rules simply govern whatever they say.
They do not. An association that refuses a ramp, declines an assistance animal or will not permit a reserved parking space near an entrance is in the same position as any other housing provider, and the same written request and the same complaint routes are available.
That is worth knowing because associations are frequently more resistant than landlords, being run by neighbors with strong views about how a development should look, and because residents are correspondingly more reluctant to press the point with people they will see at the pool the following week.
Points to carry away
- Modifications are physical changes, usually at the tenant's cost.
- Accommodations are changes to rules, at the landlord's cost.
- Both require a disability-related need and reasonableness.
- Requests should be made in writing and can be documented.
- Refusals have defined complaint routes.
Questions readers ask
What is the difference between a modification and an accommodation?
A modification is a physical change to the premises — a grab rail, a ramp, a widened doorway, a lever handle. A landlord must permit reasonable ones, and the tenant generally pays. An accommodation is a change to a rule, policy, practice or service — a reserved parking space near the door, permission to keep an assistance animal despite a no-pets rule, a different method of paying rent. The landlord must make reasonable ones and bears the cost. Requests are frequently for both at once.
Does the tenant have to restore the property?
Sometimes. A landlord may require restoration of the interior to its previous condition on departure where it is reasonable to do so, and may in some circumstances require payments into an escrow arrangement to fund it. Modifications that do not affect the landlord's or a future tenant's use — a grab rail, for instance, which a subsequent tenant is unlikely to object to — will frequently not need removing. The condition should be agreed in writing before the work is done rather than argued about at the end of a tenancy.
How should a request be made?
In writing, describing the disability-related need without necessarily disclosing a diagnosis, and setting out specifically what is being asked for. A supporting letter from a clinician or other professional confirming the need is frequently helpful and is sometimes required. Keeping a copy, and a record of the response, matters because a refusal has complaint routes and those routes depend on being able to show what was asked and what was said.
Sources
- 42 U.S.C. § 3604 — Discrimination in the sale or rental of housinglaw.cornell.edu
- 42 U.S.C. § 3602 — Definitionslaw.cornell.edu
- 29 U.S.C. § 794 — Nondiscrimination under Federal grantslaw.cornell.edu
- Legal Information Institute — Fair Housing Actlaw.cornell.edu
- Legal Information Institute — Reasonable Accommodationlaw.cornell.edu
- Legal Information Institute — Disabilitylaw.cornell.edu
Silverline Legal Notes is a publication, not a law firm. This article states general rules and cites its sources; it is not advice about any particular case, and the law differs by state and changes over time.
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