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Home Insider Blogs Nadeen Green's Blog The Non-Synonymity of Handicapped and Accessible
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Dec 08
2011

The Non-Synonymity of Handicapped and Accessible

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Posted by: Nadeen Green on Dec 8, 2011 14:57

Tagged in: Fair Housing

Good grief – the title of this blog sounds like an article in a boring math journal.  Hopefully I can manage to make this not a boring fair housing blog.  I’ll try to do that by making this entry a brief one.

Question – should you be using the universal wheelchair symbol -   Fair Housing Wheelchair  - in your advertising?

Answer – it depends!  (Yea, we lawyers try never to give a clear and concise answer.)

On what does it depend?  It depends on whether you really have handicapped apartments! (Duh)  Handicapped apartments are not the same as accessible apartments.  Handicapped apartments are those which have been built expressly for people with disabilities (PWDs).  You are well aware when you are in one of these units – kitchen counter heights, the bathrooms, and the closet rods are only some of the many clues.  Accessible units are required for all (each and every!) ground floor or elevator-reachable units in communities built for occupancy on or after March 13, 1991 when 4 or more non-townhome units are under one roof.  The wider doorways, the door latches (rather than knobs), lower thermostats, usable kitchens and bathrooms and other design features make it possible for certain PWDs to manage, yet TABs (temporarily able-bodied) can manage just fine as well.  Thus, by law (as in the Fair Housing Act) those of you at 1991+ properties should have accessible units.  But they are not handicapped units, so do not use the logo!  If you use the logo when you do not actually have handicapped apartments, you are sending the wrong message.  And that is not a good plan!

There, I am done. 


Comments (2)Add Comment
62
written by Brent Williams, December 12, 2011
Random thought as I read your blog, Nadeen: I wonder if handicapped units have a different retention rate, on average, than non-handicapped units that helps offset the additional costs...
3010
written by Nadeen Green, December 12, 2011
Brent, I sometimes hear that the "handicapped units" will often stand empty (BTW - usually there is not a duty to keep them available for PWDs, but may be necessary to have a non-disabled person agree in writing to relocate if the unit is needed for a PWD). Perhaps some of this blog's readers (blogees?) will weigh in with their information, knowledge and input...
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