Real Answers

Q: The tennis court at our condo is not accessible to my husband, who is in a wheelchair and is a tennis player. Can we force the association to make it accessible?

A: Experts say that there may not be a clear-cut answer.

Both the Federal Fair Housing Act and the California Fair Employment and Housing Act protect people with disabilities. The California law states discrimination may be involved when there is “refusal to make reasonable accommodations in rules, practices, policies or services when these accommodations may be necessary to afford a disabled person equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling.”

According to Earl Sullaway, deputy director of the state Department of Fair Employment and Housing, a condo may be viewed as a business, and therefore may also be regulated by the Americans With Disabilities Act, which also requires accessibility.

Discrimination includes the refusal to make reasonable modifications to buildings that aren’t currently accessible to the disabled, according to Sullaway. However, “the concept of reasonable accommodations comes in at some point,” Sullaway said. “If they have to tear up the whole tennis court, they (the association) could argue that is unreasonable. . . . But if all it takes is widening the gate, then why not?”