Douglas v. Kriegsfeld Corp., 884 A.2d 1109 (2005)

Citation: Douglas v. Kriegsfeld Corp., 884 A.2d 1109 (2005)
Parent Document: Douglas v. Kriegsfeld Corp., 884 A.2d 1109 (2005)
Jurisdiction: DC (municipal)
Effective Date: 2005-10-13
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/1472683/douglas-v-kriegsfeld-corp/ ↗

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Under the Fair Housing Act, a landlord "is only obligated to provide a reasonable accommodation" to a tenant "if a request for the accommodation has been made."[17] A tenant who requests a "reasonable accommodation," moreover, should "make clear[]" to the landlord that "she is requesting an exception, change, or adjustment to a rule, policy, practice, or service because of her disability."[18] And "she should explain what type of accommodation she is requesting."[19] On the other hand, the Fair Housing Act "does not require that a request be made in a particular manner."[20] Even more importantly, the tenant's failure to make clear in her initial request "what type of accommodation she is requesting" is not fatal. According to applicable case law, including an administrative adjudication by HUD itself, once the tenant requests a "reasonable accommodation" (or, without using those exact words, requests an accommodation for a disability) the landlord is obliged under the Fair Housing Act to respond promptly.[21] If the request is not sufficiently detailed to reveal the nature of that request, the Actas properly interpretedrequires the landlord to "open a dialogue" with the tenant, eliciting more information as needed, to determine what specifics the tenant has in mind and whether such accommodation would, in fact, be reasonable under the circumstances.[22] Any delay from the landlord's *1123 failure to respond promptly to the tenant's request may become the landlord's responsibility.[23]

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