Overview
If you or your family member has a disability and rents or owns a home, federal and Washington State law protect you from housing discrimination, and those protections are more specific and more powerful than most families realize. You have the right to ask your landlord to change their rules or policies to accommodate your disability. You have the right to make physical modifications to your home so you can use it safely. And your landlord generally cannot say no just because the change is inconvenient.
This page explains your fair housing rights in plain language: what they are, how to use them, and what to do if they’re violated.
Two Laws That Protect You
The Federal Fair Housing Act (FHA)
A federal law that prohibits housing discrimination based on disability (and several other protected characteristics). It applies to most housing in the United States, private rentals, homeowner associations, federally subsidized housing, and more.
The Washington Law Against Discrimination (WLAD)
Washington State’s own anti-discrimination law, which matches and in many areas exceeds federal protections. In Washington, you are protected by both laws simultaneously, whichever provides the stronger protection applies to your situation. WLAD is enforced by the Washington State Human Rights Commission (WSHRC).
Who Is Protected
You are protected under fair housing disability laws if you have a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities — including walking, talking, seeing, hearing, breathing, learning, or caring for yourself. This includes individuals with developmental disabilities, intellectual disabilities, autism spectrum disorder, physical disabilities, mental health conditions, and many chronic health conditions.
You are also protected if you have a history of such an impairment, or if others perceive you as having one. Family members, roommates, and others associated with a person who has a disability are also protected from discrimination based on that association.
Two Types of Rights: Accommodations vs. Modifications
These two terms are often confused but cover different things. Both are your legal right.
Reasonable Accommodations — Changes to Rules or Policies
A reasonable accommodation is a change, exception, or adjustment to a rule, policy, practice, or service, not a physical change to the building. It’s a request for your landlord to do something differently because of your disability.
Examples:
- Allowing a service animal or emotional support animal in a “no pets” building
- Assigning a reserved parking space closer to your unit for a mobility impairment
- Allowing a caregiver, home health aide, or support person to live with you without being counted toward occupancy limits
- Changing the rent due date to align with when SSI or SSDI payments arrive
- Allowing rent to be paid by mail instead of in person at the office
- Allowing a live-in aide who would otherwise exceed the occupancy limit
- Waiving a guest policy to allow a support person to spend additional time in the unit
- Permitting a fence height variance to accommodate the safety needs of a child with a disability
Your landlord cannot charge you extra fees or require additional deposits as a condition of granting a reasonable accommodation.
Reasonable Modifications — Physical Changes to the Home
A reasonable modification is a structural change to your unit or the building’s common areas that makes it accessible for you to use and enjoy. These are physical changes, not policy changes.
Examples:
- Installing a wheelchair ramp at the entrance
- Installing grab bars in the bathroom
- Widening doorways
- Lowering countertops or installing an accessible sink
- Converting a bathtub to a roll-in shower
Who pays for modifications?
In standard private rental housing, the tenant typically pays for modifications to their own unit. However, landlords in federally assisted housing (including Section 8/HCV units) must pay for modifications as a required accommodation. Your landlord may require you to restore the unit to its original condition when you move out, except for reasonable wear and tear, but cannot refuse to allow the modification.
How to Request an Accommodation or Modification
You do not need to use legal language or reference specific laws to make a valid request. You simply need to communicate two things:
- That you (or your family member) have a disability
- That the accommodation or modification is needed because of that disability
Put it in writing. While oral requests are technically valid, a written request creates a record. Send it by email, certified mail, or any method where you can document that the landlord received it.
Documentation. If your disability is not obvious, your landlord may request a letter from a licensed care provider, a doctor, therapist, social worker, or other professional, confirming that you have a disability and a disability-related need for the accommodation. They cannot ask for details about your diagnosis or medical history.
Your landlord must engage with you. Once a request is made, the landlord is required to enter into an interactive, good-faith process to find a workable solution. A failure to respond, a flat refusal, or an unreasonable delay is itself a fair housing violation. If the specific accommodation isn’t possible, the landlord must work with you to find a reasonable alternative.
What Landlords Cannot Do
Under the Fair Housing Act and WLAD, your landlord cannot:
- Refuse to rent to you because you have a disability
- Charge you higher rent, higher deposits, or different fees because of your disability
- Refuse to allow a reasonable accommodation or modification
- Ask about the nature or severity of your disability (they can only confirm the existence of a disability-related need)
- Refuse to renew your lease, evict you, or reduce services in retaliation for requesting an accommodation
- Advertise housing in a way that indicates a preference against people with disabilities
Washington-Specific Protections: Source of Income
Washington State goes further than federal law in one area that directly affects many families navigating disability services: landlords in Washington cannot refuse to rent to you because your income comes from SSI, SSDI, a Section 8 voucher, or other public assistance. They must evaluate whether your income is stable and sufficient to pay rent, not where it comes from. This is a powerful protection that prevents landlords from screening out applicants simply because they receive disability benefits.
Assistance Animals: A Special Category
Under both the Fair Housing Act and WLAD, landlords must allow assistance animals, including both service animals and emotional support animals (ESAs), as a reasonable accommodation, even in properties with a “no pets” policy. Landlords cannot charge pet fees or deposits for an assistance animal. They may request documentation of a disability-related need for the animal (if the need is not obvious), but they cannot require the animal to be trained or certified.
What If Your Rights Are Violated?
If a landlord refuses to accommodate your disability, discriminates against you, or retaliates against you for making a request, you have the right to file a complaint. You do not need an attorney to do so.
Option 1 — Washington State Human Rights Commission (WSHRC)
File a complaint with WSHRC within 12 months of the alleged discrimination. WSHRC will investigate and may facilitate resolution or pursue enforcement action.
Phone: (360) 753-6770 | Toll-Free: 1-800-233-3247
File a complaint at hum.wa.gov
Option 2 — U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
File a complaint with HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity within one year of the alleged discrimination.
Phone: 1-800-669-9777 | TTY: 1-800-927-9275
File online at hud.gov
Option 3 — Free Legal Help
- Disability Rights Washington — Free legal advocacy for people with disabilities in Washington State: disabilityrightswa.org | (800) 562-2702
- Northwest Justice Project — Free civil legal aid for low-income Washington residents, including fair housing cases: nwjustice.org | 1-888-201-1014
- Columbia Legal Services — Free legal help for low-income residents in Eastern Washington: columbialegal.org
Washington State Human Rights Commission — Fair Housing | HUD Fair Housing Complaint | Disability Rights Washington | Northwest Justice Project
