Fair Housing Act and Restrictive Covenants

Started by DerekW1 • 5 replies • 2057 views

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DerekW1 (Texas)
Posts: 2

Posted:

Hello,

We have a policy in our neighborhood that says that a shed cannot be taller than 8'. We have a resident who has presented a certification of disability from his doctor and has asked that we allow for reasonable accomodation to the policy to allow for a door that he can walk through without bending. He is 6'5". In order to accomodate this we would have to allow the shed to be 9'6" according to the major local builders.

Is this reasonable? Any insight would be helpful.

Thanks in advance!

GlenL (Ohio)
Posts: 5,491

Posted:

If that is the only way to accommodate his disability then yes it seems reasonable. That doesn't mean that you are stuck with a 9'6" shed forever. When he moves it can be a condition that the shed be brought into compliance. You really should seek legal council on this matter.

Studies show that 5 out of 4 people have problems with fractions

DonnaS (Tennessee)
Posts: 5,671

Posted:

Who says that a 6' 5" guy needs a 9' 6" shed? How about an 8 foot shed, maybe with a different roof line or door that keeps the shed within the CC&R restrictions? This sounds like someone just using the FHA rules to get a bigger shed. Compromise here would help.

DerekW1 (Texas)
Posts: 2

Posted:

Well, there are 3 quotes from the major shed builders in the area saying that given the size they needed on the door it would be 9'6". One of them actually said it couldn't be smaller than 10'! Our neighborhood has other structures that are taller than this and we don't pursue those, so that is why I was wondering if this would be worth the struggle. I will pusure an opinion. I just don't want to pour unneeded money into it.

DonnaS (Tennessee)
Posts: 5,671

Posted:

Derek,

Given the above information from you it sounds like the restrictive covenants have not been followed previously on these sheds. You cannot enforce the restrictions on this one guy without opening the association up to a battle with this H.O. You might have to amend this restriction to allow for a different height for the sheds. If you do not allow his shed, you are open then for "selective enforcement" and that never passes thru a court of law.

TimB4 (Tennessee)
Posts: 21,059

Posted:

Derek,

To comply with a medical request and your covenants I would suggest the following:

Approve the shed, based on medical conditions with the specific requirement that the shed must be removed at which time the medical condition ceases to be an issue or the house is sold which ever is first.

Run it by your lawyer, but I believe that by making them remove the shed when the house is sold or the conditions ceases to be an issue (expecting it to be a permanent disability the would apply at the persons death) you might be able to satisfy both requirements.

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