Handling accommodation requests

Start the clock the moment the request arrives

The Fair Housing Act does not set a fixed number of days to answer a reasonable accommodation request. But treating it as optional, tabling it until next month's meeting, or letting an email sit unread, carries its own risk. A slow response can be judged the same as a wrong one.

"A provider has an obligation to provide prompt responses to reasonable accommodation requests. An undue delay in responding to a reasonable accommodation request may be deemed to be a failure to provide a reasonable accommodation."

Source: Joint Statement of HUD and DOJ, Reasonable Accommodations Under the Fair Housing Act, HUD and U.S. Department of Justice

Log the date the request came in, who is handling it, and when the board will respond. That log is what protects the board if the timeline is ever questioned later.

Verify only when the need isn't obvious

If the disability or the connection between the disability and the request is already apparent, a board may not ask for anything further. Where it genuinely isn't obvious, a board can request only enough to confirm three things: that the person qualifies as disabled, what accommodation is needed, and how the disability connects to that need. Nothing more.

"In most cases, an individual's medical records or detailed information about the nature of a person's disability is not necessary."

Source: Joint Statement of HUD and DOJ, Reasonable Accommodations Under the Fair Housing Act, HUD and U.S. Department of Justice

Verification can come from the resident, a treating professional, or another reliable third party, not only a doctor. And no fee, deposit, or added rent may ever be charged as the price of granting a request, including for an assistance animal.

Evaluate honestly, and keep talking before you say no

A board can decline a request only if it would impose an undue financial and administrative burden, weighed against the association's resources and whether a cheaper alternative exists, never on cost alone. If the request as made is not workable, the board should say so and start an interactive process: a back-and-forth conversation about what else would meet the same need. The resident still has the last word, though. If they believe an offered alternative won't work and their original request is reasonable, they are not obligated to accept the substitute.

Safety can justify a denial only under a narrow "direct threat" standard: an individualized, evidence-based risk to health, safety, or property that a reasonable accommodation cannot reduce. A general worry is not enough.

Put the decision in writing, and watch for retaliation

Document what was requested, what the board asked for and why, and the final decision. That record is the board's best evidence of a good-faith process if a complaint is ever filed. Keep in mind that HUD withdrew its most detailed guidance on assistance-animal documentation in 2025, so treat any specific checklist you find online with caution and lean on the statute itself.

Once a request is granted, the board's obligations aren't over. Enforcing rules more strictly against a resident because they made a request, or reported a problem, is a separate violation, retaliation, even if the original accommodation was approved without issue. See Retaliation.