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'Reasonable Accommodation,' Rent Regulation, and the Fair Housing Act
The federal Fair Housing Act Amendments prohibit discrimination in the sale or rental of a dwelling because of a handicap. 42 USC Section 3604(f)(1) and (f)(2). The statute also provides that discrimination includes “a refusal to make reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, practices, or services, when such accommodations may be necessary to afford such person equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling.” Does the statute require a landlord to offer a handicapped occupant of a rent-regulated apartment the opportunity to rent, at a regulated price, a vacant apartment located on a lower floor? A federal district court has recently suggested that the statute might, indeed, impose such a requirement on the landlord.
The Bentley Case
For 24 years, tenant Bentley has rented a top-floor, rent-stabilized apartment in a four-story walk-up. She recently signed a 2-year renewal lease at a monthly rental of $820.64, but cancer surgery in 2004 has made it difficult for her to climb the stairs to get to her apartment. In October 2004, a first-floor apartment in the same building became vacant, and tenant requested to move to that apartment to avoid climbing the stairs. That apartment, which is also rent-stabilized, had previously rented for $833.58, but, upon vacancy, the rent stabilization law entitled landlord to a 20% increase, which would have brought the rent to $1000.30 per month. Landlord offered to rent the apartment to tenant at that price. Tenant, however, contended that landlord was obligated to rent the first-floor apartment to her at her existing regulated rent, noting that the financial burden to landlord would be limited because landlord would be entitled to a vacancy increase on tenant's top-floor apartment. Tenant brought an action in federal district court for the Eastern District of New York, contending that landlord's refusal to rent the apartment on tenant's terms constituted a violation of the federal Fair Housing Act Amendments. Landlord moved to dismiss for failure to state a claim.
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