4.1 II. Federal Law—Fair Housing Amendments Act

• Library: Disability Law and Practice, Vol. 3 (NY) 2017

II. Federal Law—Fair Housing Amendments Act

The FHAA makes it unlawful to discriminate in the sale or rental of housing or to otherwise make housing unavailable because of the disability of the buyer/renter, the intended resident or anyone associated with that person.¹⁰ Person with a handicap is defined as an individual who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of his or her major life activities, or who has a record of having such an impairment or is regarded as having such an impairment.¹¹ This definition is almost identical to that found in the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act, and controlling ADA and Rehabilitation Act case law applies to FHAA claims.¹² The recent amendments to the ADA do not change the ADA definition of the disability, but mandate a far broader and more generous interpretation of the definition than the courts had previously provided. It is unclear at this time how this will impact the interpretation of the FHAA definition of disability.

The term major life activities encompasses walking, talking, thinking, learning, socializing, seeing, hearing or working.¹³ The determination of disability is based upon function, not clinical diagnosis, and is made on a case-by-case basis.¹⁴ Individuals suffering from alcoholism and those in recovery from drug addiction may be covered by the FHAA, but current users of illegal drugs are not.¹⁵ The case law is unclear about how long an individual must have refrained from illegal drug use before the use is no longer considered current. Individuals convicted of manufacturing or distributing a controlled substance are not covered by the FHAA.¹⁶

The FHAA provides individuals with disabilities the same protections afforded other protected classes covered by the Fair Housing Act, including prohibitions against discriminatory...