REAL ESTATE

Question: One of my tenants has injured herself and requires oxygen and a breathing machine for about six months. I have always paid the electricity bills for my tenants, but now I realize this tenant’s needs will greatly increase the utility bill. Can I ask the tenant to contribute to the electricity bill for the next six months?

Answer: If the policy is already in place that the landlord pays for electricity use, you should not try to change the terms solely for one tenant because that tenant’s disability increases the electricity bill.

Under Section 804 of the Fair Housing Act, disabled tenants are protected from discrimination. Discrimination includes being given different terms and conditions in a contract and being treated differently from other tenants because of a disability.

You could look at alternative ways to address the utility costs, as long as any changes are applied uniformly and based on an objective allocation, such as metering or a formula applied by a third-party billing service. Of course, any change in billing would have to comply with the change-of-terms rules for month-to-month and lease agreements.

In some rent-control jurisdictions, a billing change might be viewed as a rent increase.

For more information about disabled tenants’ rights and landlords’ responsibilities under the Fair Housing Act, visit the Office of Housing and Urban Development website at www.hud.gov. Under “Homes,” click on “Fair housing,” then on “People with disabilities.”

-- Martin Eichner, Project Sentinel

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www.housing.org

Eichner is director of Housing Counseling Programs for the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based mediation service.