ADA
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (as amended) prohibits discrimination on the basis of mental and physical disabilities and also sets standards for accessibility.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is overseen by the US Department of Justice Civil Rights Division. The US Access Board develops and oversees accessibility requirements based on the ADA, the Architectural Barriers Act (ABA), the Rehabilitation Act, the Communications Act and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
Every state has its own civil rights, human rights and/or fair housing statute. Some states, like Florida and Minnesota, have precise language about specific types of adaptive alterations.
Florida Homeowner's Associations (720.304(5))
(5)(a) Any parcel owner may construct an access ramp if a resident or occupant of the parcel has a medical necessity or disability that requires a ramp for egress and ingress under the following conditions:
1. The ramp must be as unobtrusive as possible, be designed to blend in aesthetically as practicable, and be reasonably sized to fit the intended use.
2. Plans for the ramp must be submitted in advance to the homeowners’ association. The association may make reasonable requests to modify the design to achieve architectural consistency with surrounding structures and surfaces.
(b) The parcel owner must submit to the association an affidavit from a physician attesting to the medical necessity or disability of the resident or occupant of the parcel requiring the access ramp. Certification used for s. 320.0848 shall be sufficient to meet the affidavit requirement.
(b) Subject to the provisions of applicable law, a unit owner of a unit that is used as a dwelling, whether primary, secondary, or seasonal, may, at the unit owner's expense, make improvements or alterations to the unit as necessary for the full enjoyment of the unit by any person residing in the unit who has a disability, as provided in the Fair Housing Amendments Act, United States Code, title 42, section 3601, et seq., and the Minnesota Human Rights Act, chapter 363A, and any amendments to those acts. This subsection applies to all common interest communities subject to this chapter, chapter 515, or 515A, notwithstanding any contrary provision of section 515B.1-102.
2. An association may not:
(a) Unreasonably restrict, prohibit or otherwise impede the lawful rights of a unit’s owner to have reasonable access to his or her unit.
(b) Charge any fee for a person to enter the common-interest community to provide services to a unit, a unit’s owner or a tenant of a unit’s owner or for any visitor to the common-interest community or invitee of a unit’s owner or a tenant of a unit’s owner to enter the common-interest community.
(c) Unreasonably restrict, prohibit or withhold approval for a unit’s owner to add to a unit:
(1) Improvements such as ramps, railings or elevators that are necessary to improve access to the unit for any occupant of the unit who has a disability;
