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Posted By SheliaH on 04/16/2022 6:06 AM
If he's a fully mobile person, what is the accommodation for? Is he wanting to use the thing by himself - if so, what's the medical reason for that?
As for making an exception for a personal hot tub, you might want to run that by the association attorney, as the ADA may come into play.
The Fair Housing Act, not the ADA, is the relevant statute.
Back to the OP.
See below for what the HUD web site says about "who is disabled." The homeowner here may very well not have a disability that substantially limits him/her in the participation of major life activities. Or perhaps regular soaks in the hot tub (on account of a bad back or similar?) are what prevent the homeowner from being limited in life activities. Round and round the two sides' attorneys could potentially go. The applicant for the hot tub may very well, if push comes to shove, not meet the definition of "disabled." The problem is the 'pushing and then shoving' costs a lot of money in attorney fees.
This topic comes up a lot here. Let's see what the latest is from HOATalk members.
From https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/fair_housing_equal_opp/disability_overview#_Who_Is_a :
Federal nondiscrimination laws define a person with a disability to include any (1) individual with a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities; (2) individual with a record of such impairment; or (3) individual who is regarded as having such an impairment.
In general, a physical or mental impairment includes, but is not limited to, examples of conditions such as orthopedic, visual, speech and hearing impairments, cerebral palsy, autism, epilepsy, muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), developmental disabilities, mental illness, drug addiction, and alcoholism.
Some impairments are readily observable, while others may be invisible. Observable impairments may include, but are not limited to, blindness or low vision, deafness or being hard of hearing, mobility limitations, and other types of impairments with observable symptoms or effects, such as intellectual impairments (including some types of autism), neurological impairments (e.g., stroke, Parkinson’s disease, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, or brain injury), mental illness, or other diseases or conditions that affect major life activities or bodily functions.
The term “major life activities” includes those activities that are important to daily life. Major life activities include, for example, walking, speaking, hearing, seeing, breathing, working, learning, performing manual tasks, and caring for oneself. There are other major life activities that are not on this list. Major life activities also include the operation of major bodily activities, such as the functions of the immune system, special sense organs and skin, normal cell growth, and digestive, genitourinary, bowel, bladder, neurological, brain, respiratory, circulatory, cardiovascular, endocrine, hemic, lymphatic, musculoskeletal, and reproductive systems.
Under regulations implementing the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 some types of impairments will, in virtually all cases, be found to impose a substantial limitation on a major life activity resulting in a determination of a disability. Such impairments are “predictably assessed” as disabilities by the very nature of the impairment as substantially limiting a major life activity or major bodily function. Examples include deafness, blindness, intellectual disabilities, partially or completely missing limbs or mobility impairments requiring the use of a wheelchair, autism, cancer, cerebral palsy, diabetes, epilepsy, muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection, major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, obsessive compulsive disorder, and schizophrenia. This does not mean that other conditions are not disabilities. It simply means that in virtually all cases these conditions will be covered as disabilities.
In general, the definition of “person with a disability” does not include current users of illegal controlled substances, but does provide protections for individuals with drug or alcohol addiction. Individuals would also be protected under Section 504 and the ADA if a purpose of the specific program or activity is to provide health or rehabilitation services to such individuals.