What are the Associations responsibilities with respect to handicapped persons and the ADA or Amendments to the Fair Housing Act?
The Americans with Disabilities Act (the ADA) applies to places of public accommodation. Whether this would be the common area or homes within a community will be determined on a case-by-case basis. If the ADA is applicable to your community, then common areas of the community, e.g., clubhouse, mailboxes, general walkways, must be made accessible to handicapped individuals. Consult the Associations legal counsel to determine your communitys obligation, if any, to retrofit portions of the common areas. Handicapped accessibility into an individual unit or within that unit is the responsibility of the individual owner and at the individual owners expense under the governing documents and fair housing law. Fair housing law requires the Association to permit reasonable accommodations by an owner to facilitate the accessibility to their home, at their expense, but subject to Association approval for changes to common area, or subject to Association approval if there is a covenant requiring a
