Newer apartments must accommodate wheelchairs
Question: I am wheelchair-bound, so I was excited to be able to rent an apartment in a rental community built in 2010. I assumed that a nearly new complex would be built to the latest design specifications and include buildings and common areas where I could live comfortably. But now that I have moved in, I am running into a number of limitations because I cannot easily maneuver my wheelchair. For example, many of the doors on the property are too narrow for my chair. A friend who works in property management told me that newly constructed housing should be accessible to wheelchair users. Is that right, and if so, what can I do now that I have already moved into my apartment?
Answer: Apartment buildings of four or more units constructed to be occupied after March 13, 1991, must be accessible to tenants with disabilities. There are several specific requirements.
All building and unit doors, as well as hallways and corners, must be wide enough to allow wheelchair passage. The hallways, corners and doors inside your unit must have sufficient width to allow a wheelchair to maneuver. Kitchens and bathrooms also must be usable by a person in a wheelchair. Light switches, outlets and thermostats cannot be too high or too low to reach from a wheelchair.
The walls in bathrooms must have the strength to allow grab bars to be safely installed.
The main entry to the building must be wheelchair-accessible. People with disabilities must be able to reach common areas such as parking lots, lobbies, lounges, mailboxes, laundry rooms and playgrounds.
The cost of meeting all of these requirements is the responsibility of the owner of the apartment building. If you need additional reasonable modifications to accommodate your disability, such as ramps, management must allow the modifications, although management is not required to assume the expense for these. You are responsible for the cost of any modification you request, although many local governments and nonprofits have funds or volunteers available to help install modifications.
For more help enforcing the accessibility standards so that you can fully use your new apartment, or if you want help requesting a reasonable modification, contact your local fair housing agency.
Eichner is director of Housing Counseling Programs for Project Sentinel, a mediation service based in Sunnyvale, Calif. To submit a question, go to https://www.housing.org.
