Vouching for Fair Housing: Landlords’ Duty to Accept Housing Vouchers as Reasonable Accommodations for Handicapped Tenants

Abstract

Earning enough income to afford housing is challenging. Maintaining a steady job that covers both housing and basic essentials requires significant time and energy. Now, imagine you have a physical disability affecting your mobility. Suddenly, your job options are limited, and your health care costs increase. Now, imagine you suffer from a psychological disability as well. Your health care costs skyrocket because you must pay for medications to alleviate both your physical and psychological disabilities, equipment to assist your mobility, therapy fees, and other essential health care costs. In addition, your already limited job opportunities have again been significantly reduced. Even if you do find a viable job, you continue to suffer from your disabilities every single workday. Your disabilities might even be so constraining that, regardless of whether you want to work, you are incapable of doing so. The already challenging task of affording housing becomes insurmountable