Can You Refuse to Lease to a Person With a Disability?

No. Under the Fair Housing Act, tenants or prospective tenants with a disability have the right to apply for and live in a rental unit regardless of their impairment. Therefore, it’s forbidden to discriminate based on this condition.

According to Federal law, someone with a disability could include:

• A person with a mental or physical disability that substantially limits their ability to perform one or more major life activities

• A person that has a record of the disability

• A person that is considered by others as having the disability

In addition, you should consider the following list of conditions as examples of disabilities:

• Mobile disability

• Visual impairment

• Hearing impairment

• Intellectual disability

• Alcoholism

• Drug addiction

• Mental illness

• Some terminal illnesses, such as HIV