Topic: Help with reserved handicap parking

We are doing away with our reserved parking so are seeing more requests for accommodations to add or reserve handicap parking. We need to be consistent with how many spots we will add/reserve for handicap parking. Any suggestions?

Talk with your city/county they often can give you a minimum for amount of spaces you have. .. )we have one for 88 units and it is by the office.. no one parks in it)

Some places do one or two per building.

We had a lot and I mean a LOT of rebellion when we went from Assigned to sticker only.. Biggest thing is hold your ground... I am not sure about your state but I know in mine we as managers can't have anything towed out of an assigned space-- I tried to use this as a plus by telling people that now they don't have to wait for the tow truck driver to sign the release that they want it towed etc and cause issues between tenants..

We also began allowing 1 car per unit any other stickers are $30 a month... all units that don't have a car I keep in the books as them having a car so that their space is a floater and available if they do get a car.

You cannot by law reserve the blue handicapped parking spots. You are required to accommodate a household if they have met all requirements. hope this helps.

Permits, unassigned parking
Labeled visitor spaces

The limit is the total number of spaces at your community, unless you like getting sued and losing in court. And then paying out lots of money to your residents.

Your "blue line/blue sign" parking spaces are ADA and cannot be reserved; you can not reduce the number of spaces that were mandated when your community was built.

For Fair Housing accommodation requests, you should assign a non-handicap space if you approve the request. The attached guidance from HUD/DOJ should be helpful, especially page 6. There is no limit to the number of spaces that can be assigned as Fair Housing reserved spaces; the law says you must approve all requests that meet the reasonable test (does not fundamentally alter the way you do business; does not create an undue administrative or financial burden.)

Hope this helps.

As I began reading my blood pressure started rising, then I came to Doug's post. Whew. I want to add that my clients have all gone to reserved parking for all residents. It is working really well. Garden style communities in Dallas area are very short of spaces because occupancy is so high. We use a towing company who issues the stickers and permit numbers and they control it so the manager doesn't have to. And YES you must provide a reserved parking space for valid requests based on disability. And YES, they may require a second reserved spot for their caregiver.
PLEASE before taking action on FH related issues, ask. Rather than make an expensive mistake, ask!!! Doug and I are always willing to help, as are others who train FH.

Thank you for providing the attachment. Would it please be possible to email the attachment to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.? I am unable to open the pdf.

You can access the HUD/DOJ Guidance here: www.hud.gov/sites/documents/DOC_7771.pdf