The Trainer
HANDLING REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION REQUESTS; CALCULATING INCOME AND ASSETS FROM PENSIONS AND RETIREMENT ACCOUNTS
In this month's feature, we cleared up 10 common misconceptions about handling reasonable accommodation requests in compliance with fair housing law. The number of disability discrimination complaints filed against housing providers continues to rise every year. To avoid having a complaint filed against your site, it's important for you and your staff to understand how to respond when you receive an applicant's or resident's request for an accommodation for a disability.
This month we also discussed how to calculate a household member's income and assets from pension funds and retirement accounts. How you treat money from these sources differs, and you need to know the rules on both so you can properly calculate household income and assets.
TRAINER'S QUIZ
INSTRUCTIONS: Each of the questions below has only one correct answer. On a separate sheet of paper, write down the number of each question, followed by the answer you have chosen—for example, (1) b, (2) a, and so on. The correct answers (with explanations) follow the quiz. Good luck!
QUESTION #1
Your site allows residents to park anywhere, but an applicant says she wants an assigned parking space because she can't walk too far. You can't be accused of a fair housing violation if you:
-
Ignore her comment because she didn't ask for a reasonable accommodation for a disability.
-
Ignore her comment because she doesn't appear to be disabled.
-
Treat her comment as a reasonable accommodation request.
QUESTION #2
A resident, who uses a wheelchair due to a mobility disorder, asks for a staff member to drive her to medical appointments as a reasonable accommodation for her disability. Since she has a disability-related need for the accommodation, you must grant her request. True or false?
-
True.
-
False.
QUESTION #3
A resident with a mobility disorder has recently started using a motorized scooter around the site. You're worried that his use of the scooter in the common areas will present a greater risk of damage and accidents. You can require him to pay an extra deposit or obtain liability insurance as a condition for allowing him to use the scooter outside his unit. True or false?
-
True.
-
False.
QUESTION #4
You can never ask about an applicant's disability. True or false?
-
True.
-
False.
QUESTION #5
When Roger Resident retired, his company's pension fund paid him a lump-sum amount of $10,000. He spent $2,000 on a car, bought $1,000 in stock, and deposited $7,000 in his savings account. How should you treat the lump-sum amount?
-
Count the entire $10,000 as income.
-
Count $2,000 as income, and the $8,000 in stock and savings as assets.
-
Don't count any of the $10,000 as income. Count the $1,000 in stock and $7,000 he deposited in savings as assets.
QUESTION #6
You should count amounts that an employed household member may withdraw from a pension fund as assets. True or false?
-
True.
-
False.
QUESTION #7
Tara Tenant has an individual retirement account (IRA). She is employed and doesn't plan on retiring until she's 65. She hasn't withdrawn any money from her IRA during the past six months. Her current IRA balance is $3,000, subject to a 10 percent penalty for early withdrawal. What is the asset value of her account?
-
$3,000.
-
$2,700.
-
You don't have enough information to calculate the asset value.
QUESTION #8
You shouldn't count 401(k) withdrawals as income. True or false?
-
True.
-
False.
ANSWERS and EXPLANATIONS
QUESTION #1
Correct answer: c
Though the applicant's comment is somewhat vague, it suggests that she may have a disability-related need for an assigned parking space. Your best bet is to have a formal policy on how to handle reasonable accommodation requests, and to follow it whenever an applicant or resident says she needs or wants an exception to your general rules for a disability-related reason.
Don't ignore the applicant's comment simply because she didn't say anything about needing a “reasonable accommodation.” Although an applicant isn't entitled to receive a reasonable accommodation unless she asks for one, the law doesn't require an applicant to use the term “reasonable accommodation” or make a request in a particular manner.
Finally, don't ignore the comment simply because she doesn't appear to be disabled. The Fair Housing Act's disability provisions apply to many diseases or conditions that don't have obvious signs or symptoms.
QUESTION #2
Correct answer: b
False. The Fair Housing Act doesn't require you to take the resident to medical appointments as an accommodation for her disability, because her request is unreasonable. If your site doesn't provide transportation services for residents, then driving her to medical appointments would require a fundamental change in the nature of your operations. Instead of simply denying the request, however, the HUD/DOJ guidelines say that you should explore possible alternatives and discuss them with the resident.
QUESTION #3
Correct answer: b
False. It's unlawful to require individuals with disabilities to pay extra fees or deposits as a condition of receiving a requested accommodation, according to HUD/DOJ guidelines. The site may charge the resident for the cost of repairing any damage to his unit or the common areas caused by the scooter only if the site has a practice of assessing residents for any damage they cause to the premises.
QUESTION #4
Correct answer: b
False. Although the Fair Housing Act usually bars housing providers from asking whether an applicant or anyone in his household has a disability and the nature or extent of any disability, there's an exception that permits disability-related inquiries when necessary to respond to a reasonable accommodation request. You may obtain information that's necessary to evaluate whether a requested accommodation is necessary because of a disability, according to the HUD/DOJ guidelines. But the exception is limited—you can't ask for documentation when both the individual's disability and need for the requested accommodation are obvious.
QUESTION #5
Correct answer: c
At retirement or termination of employment, any lump-sum amount a household member elects to receive from a pension fund is counted as an asset—but only as long as the household continues to possess it. If the household uses all or a portion of the money for something that's not an asset, such as a car, that amount is not counted as an asset.
QUESTION #6
Correct answer: a
True. Some household members who are still employed have a “vested interest” in all or some of their pension funds—meaning that the money “belongs” to them and will eventually be paid out to them after they retire. Sometimes these household members have the right to withdraw some or all of their vested interest in these funds. In this situation, you must include as an asset any amount a household member can withdraw from the fund while she's still employed. However, amounts that would be accessible only if the person retired or left the company first are not counted. Be sure to deduct any early withdrawal penalty the resident would have to pay if she made the withdrawal.
QUESTION #7
Correct answer: c
You can't determine the asset value until you know how old Tara is—that is, whether she's older or younger than 591/2. If she's younger than 591/2, you must deduct the early withdrawal penalty from the balance of the IRA. For example, if Tara is 50 and were to withdraw all the money from her IRA, the penalty would be $300 ($3,000 x 10 percent). So the asset value of her account would be $2,700 ($3,000 - $300). But if Tara is 60, then the asset value of her account would be $3,000.
QUESTION #8
Correct answer: a
True. Withdrawals from retirement accounts such as IRAs and 401(k) accounts that are not periodic payments are not counted in annual income.