More than one in five adults in the U.S. experience mental illness each year. While mental health conditions present their own challenges, many people also experience additional barriers and discrimination as a result of their disabilities. This Mental Health Awareness Month, we are shedding light on the challenges faced by people experiencing mental illness, and the protections that the Fair Housing Act offers to ensure that all people – regardless of disability – can live where they choose, free from discrimination.
How Does the Fair Housing Act Protect Against Disability Discrimination?
The Fair Housing Act, which protects anyone living in the United States from housing discrimination, outlines seven protected characteristics – race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status and disability. Of these characteristics, disability-related discrimination is consistently the number one most reported type of discrimination, both locally and on a national scale. It’s important to note that the disability protection of the Fair Housing Act protects against discrimination based on physical and mental disabilities that substantially limit one or more major life activities. This may include mental health challenges, like anxiety, depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder, for example.
The Right to Reasonable Accommodations and Modifications
In some situations, tenants experiencing mental health challenges might need to request a reasonable accommodation or modification to allow them equal access of their home. A reasonable accommodation is a change, exception, or adjustment to a housing provider’s rule, policy, practice, or service that may be necessary for a person with a disability to have equal opportunity to use and enjoy their housing, including public and common use spaces. A reasonable modification is a physical change made to accommodate a person’s disability, which can be made to the interior of a unit, a common use space, or the exterior of a building. If you are living with a mental health condition, you may request a reasonable accommodation or modification from your housing provider. This can be a verbal request, but we recommend submitting a request in writing. Your housing provider may request proof of a covered disability if there is no apparent connection between your request and disability. The letter can come from a health care provider, therapist, or someone with close knowledge of your disability. While verification letters can state that the requested accommodation or modification is needed in connection with the tenant’s disability, housing providers can never ask any questions about the nature or extent of a person’s disability or require you to disclose a diagnosis.
What Does Mental Health Discrimination Look Like?
Discrimination can come in many forms – and often doesn’t look the same every time – but it’s important to be able to recognize and address it if it happens to you. Here are just a few examples of what housing discrimination based on a person’s mental health disability might look like:
- A housing provider refuses to allow a tenant with an anxiety disorder to live with their service animal, even though they have provided a reasonable accommodation verification letter.
- A housing provider evicts a tenant after learning they have been diagnosed with schizophrenia, despite the tenant never violating the lease agreement.
- A housing provider tells a tenant that the neighbors might not welcome them because of their mental health disability, so they should probably look elsewhere for housing.
- A loan officer refuses to provide information regarding loans and insurance to someone seeking a mortgage loan because of the client’s mental health condition.
- A real estate agent approaches homeowners in a neighborhood and tries to persuade them to sell their homes because a group home for people with disabilities is going to be located in the area, insinuating that home values will drop.
Fair Housing Advocates are Here to Help
If you think you have experienced housing discrimination because of your mental health disability, or for another reason, please contact the Fair Housing Center for Rights & Research for assistance at 216-361-9240 and ask to speak to an advocate, or email us at advocates@thehousingcenter.org. The Ohio Civil Rights Commission is also available by phone at 1-888-278-7101, or online at www.civ.ohio.gov. No matter what your situation is, you deserve fair housing, free from discrimination. If you or someone you know needs assistance, fair housing advocates are ready to help you exercise your rights.