HUD Handbook 4350.3 § 2-22

A.        As discussed in Paragraph 2-5 above, the Fair Housing Act establishes specific
                 nondiscrimination and accessibility requirements for housing sold and rented in
                 the United States for nearly all housing, regardless of whether the housing
                 receives any federal financial assistance.

       B.        Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 prohibits discrimination against
                 persons with disabilities and establishes accessibility requirements by recipients
                 of federal financial assistance in both housing and nonhousing programs.
                 Although there is significant overlap between the Fair Housing Act
                 nondiscrimination requirements with respect to disability and Section 504,
                 Section 504 imposes additional broader obligations on recipients of federal
                 financial assistance. Properties covered by this handbook are subject to the
                 requirements of Section 504 and therefore, owners of such properties have

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                                                                            Chapter 2: Civil Rights and
                                                                        Nondiscrimination Requirements

Requirements for Persons with Disabilities

Subsection 1:
Overview and General Requirements

affirmative obligations to establish and implement nondiscrimination policies and
                  to ensure required accessibility to persons with disabilities.

         C.       Section 504 establishes certain affirmative accessibility standards that owners
                  must meet regardless of whether or not an applicant or tenant has made an
                  individual request for a reasonable accommodation. (For information on
                  reasonable accommodations, refer to Subsection 4 of this section.)

                  1.       The owner’s obligations include making the property physically accessible
                           as well as operating and administering the property to enable persons
                           with disabilities to have equal access to participate in the program.

                  2.       This means not only that units and common areas must be physically
                           accessible, but that owners also must ensure effective communications
                           with applicants, tenants, and the public, and that policies regarding how
                           the property is operated do not adversely affect applicants, tenants, and
                           the public.

                  3.       Under both the Fair Housing Act and Section 504, housing providers are
                           obligated to provide reasonable accommodations to allow applicants with
                           disabilities to meet the requirements of tenancy. The requirement to
                           provide a reasonable accommodation is present at all times throughout
                           the tenancy of a person with disabilities, including during lease
                           enforcement. See discussion in Subsection 4.

                  4.       In all discussions of accessibility under Section 504, a unit cannot be
                           considered fully accessible unless it meets the requirements of the
                           Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards, 24 CFR 8.32. Note that UFAS
                           does not consider a unit to be fully accessible if it is not on an accessible
                           route.

         D.       This section discusses how Section 504 and the disability/accessibility provisions
                  of the Fair Housing Act apply to housing, and it addresses situations where both
                  laws apply. In this respect, where a property is subject to more than one law or
                  nondiscrimination or accessibility standard, it is necessary to comply with all
                  applicable requirements. In some cases, it may be possible to do this by
                  complying with the stricter requirement. Section 504 and the Fair Housing Act
                  overlap, but in many ways Section 504 is the more stringent of the two.

         E.       For purposes of this section, the requirements and procedures described refer to
                  Section 504, unless the Fair Housing Act is specifically referenced.

HUD Occupancy Handbook                              2-17                                             6/07
Chapter 2: Civil Rights and
Nondiscrimination Requirements

                                                               Additional Nondiscrimination and Accessibility
                                                                  Requirements for Persons with Disabilities

                                                                                             Subsection 1:
                                                                        Overview and general Requirements

F.        This section continues with an overview of key requirements regarding
                 nondiscrimination and accessibility and then covers the following topics in more
                 detail.

                 1.     Subsection 2: Policies and Procedures to Ensure Nondiscrimination and
                        Promote Accessibility.

                 2.     Subsection 3: Physical Accessibility.

                 3.     Subsection 4: Reasonable Accommodations.

                 4.     Subsection 5: Additional Fair Housing Act Requirements.