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Fair Housing

Disability Rights Arizona (DRAZ) fights against housing discrimination. We provide advocacy services to tenants, homeowners, people living in residential treatment facilities, people seeking housing, people experiencing homelessness, people facing eviction, and others facing housing discrimination based on disability. Our goal is for people with disabilities to have access to stable and accessible housing of their choice in the community.

Aerial view of a community in Arizona during the golden hour at sunset.

Disability Rights Arizona (DRAZ) fights against housing discrimination. We provide advocacy services to tenants, homeowners, people living in residential treatment facilities, people seeking housing, people experiencing homelessness, people facing eviction, and others facing housing discrimination based on disability. Our goal is for people with disabilities to have access to stable and accessible housing of their choice in the community.

DRAZ’s Civil Rights Team

Disability Rights Arizona works to ensure that people with disabilities have access to housing that they can use and enjoy. DRAZ’s work includes advocating for elimination of discriminatory rules, obtaining necessary accommodations to neutral rules and policies, and permitting reasonable modifications to housing and common areas. DRAZ’s also addresses discrimination by zoning departments and by public housing authorities in subsidized programs that limit housing opportunities for people with disabilities. DRAZ understands that accessible housing and non-discriminatory housing policies are critical to people with disabilities to be able to live, work, and participate fully in their communities.    

DRAZ’s Civil Rights Team advocates for people with disabilities in a variety of ways, such as providing legal information and advice, direct client services, outreach and training in the community on fair housing rights, and systemic work promoting fair housing practices.

Here are some examples of how the Civil Rights Team may provide direct services to people with disabilities in housing matters:

  • Draft a reasonable accommodation request for a tenant whose disability now requires a wheelchair for mobility.
  • Draft a reasonable modification request to allow a homeowner to install a shade screen because of disability-related sun sensitivity.
  • Negotiate with a housing provider to make their rental payment option in the portal to be accessible to a blind tenant or to allow an alternative way to pay.   
  • File an ADA complaint against a public housing authority that refused to provide a sign language interpreter to a Deaf applicant for subsidized housing.  
  • Represent a person at mediation when denied access to a homeless shelter because of his assistance animal.
  • Represent a person before a zoning commission to advocate for a reasonable accommodation of a zoning law restricting group homes for people with disabilities.   

DRAZ’s Civil Rights Team also advocates for people to be treated fairly when they file fair housing complaints, and for systemic changes promoting the Fair Housing Act’s disability-related protections.

Fair Housing Rights at a Glance

People with disabilities have the right to:

  • Apply for housing without being asked about their disabilities or being screened from consideration because of disabilities.  
  • Request and be approved for reasonable accommodations or modifications to use their home or the common areas of the housing community.
  • Request and be approved for reasonable accommodations from public housing authorities to have an equal opportunity to participate in subsidized housing programs.
  • Not be treated differently and unfairly in the terms, conditions, and benefits of housing as compared to people that are not disabled. 
  • Have housing built in compliance with seven accessibility requirements in covered multi-family housing.
  • Have an assistance animal that helps symptoms of their disability in their home without pet fees, even in housing communities with “no pets” rules or restrictions on the breed and size of pets.
  • Not be harassed because there is a tenant, family member, or a visitor with disabilities. 

See our Get Help page if you need legal assistance related to you or your housing rights.

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We are committed in providing accurate disability-related legal information and advice to more individuals who need our services and assistance. In addition to limited legal representation, our goal is to provide efficient, streamlined services to educate people with disabilities and their family members on how to enforce their legal rights through self advocacy.

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