Implications of the 1988 Fair Housing Act for the Frail Elderly

Abstract

The Fair Housing Act 1 passed by Congress in September 1988 is a significant piece of legislation for individuals with functional impairments, including the frail elderly. Until passage of this Act, physically or mentally impaired individuals were excluded from explicit coverage by the housing discrimination provisions of Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968. 2 These provisions pertain to the sale or rental of a dwelling as well as a range of other real estate transactions (e.g., financing, building, appraising). The new Fair Housing legislation adds people with disabilities as a “protected class” and extends to them the principle of equal housing opportunity. With respect to this book’s focus on housing modifications, the Act is also “by far the most far-reaching legislation encouraging accessible housing” [1, p. 7]. Summarizing elements important to our discussion, two other analysts have noted: The amendments to the Fair Housing law guaranteed the right to make home modifications in multi-family housing. This removed a legal barrier to serving the needs of low-income individuals [2, p. vi]. 238In the case of handicap or disability, discrimination includes a refusal to permit reasonable modifications to the premises, or to make reasonable accommodations in rules and procedures, to allow the tenant equal access to and enjoyment of the housing [3, p. 10].