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JOINT STATEMENT OF THE <br />DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE AND THE <br />DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND <br />URBAN DEVELOPMENT <br />Since the federal Fair Housing Act ("the Act") was amended by Congress in 1988 to add protections for persons with <br />disabilities and families with children, there has been a great deal of litigation concerning the Act's effect on the ability <br />of local governments to exercise control over group living arrangements, particularly for persons with disabilities. The <br />Department of Justice has taken an active part in much of this litigation, often following referral of a matter by the <br />Department of Housing and Urban Development ("HUD"). This joint statement provides an overview of the Fair <br />Housing Act's requirements in this area. Specific topics are addressed in more depth in the attached Questions and <br />Answers. <br />The Fair Housing Act prohibits a broad range of practices that discriminate against individuals on the basis of race, <br />color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, and disability. The Act does not pre-empt local zoning laws. <br />However, the Act applies to municipalities and other local government entities and prohibits them from making zoning <br />or land use decisions or implementing land use policies that exclude or otherwise discriminate against protected <br />persons, including individuals with disabilities. <br />The Fair Housing Act makes it unlawful -- <br />• To utilize land use policies or actions that treat groups of persons with disabilities less favorably than groups <br />of non -disabled persons. An example would be an ordinance prohibiting housing for persons with disabilities <br />or a specific type of disability, such as mental illness, from locating in a particular area, while allowing other <br />groups of unrelated individuals to live together in that area. <br />• To take action against, or deny a permit, for a home because of the disability of individuals who live or would <br />live there. An example would be denying a building permit for a home because it was intended to provide <br />housing for persons with mental retardation. <br />• To refuse to make reasonable accommodations in land use and zoning policies and procedures where such <br />accommodations may be necessary to afford persons or groups of persons with disabilities an equal <br />opportunity to use and enjoy housing. <br />• What constitutes a reasonable accommodation is a case -by -case determination. <br />• Not all requested modifications of rules or policies are reasonable. If a requested modification imposes an <br />undue financial or administrative burden on a local government, or if a modification creates a fundamental <br />alteration in a local government's'land use and zoning scheme, it is not a "reasonable" accommodation. <br />The disability discrimination provisions of the Fair Housing Act do not extend to persons who claim to be disabled <br />solely on the basis of having been adjudicated a juvenile delinquent, having a criminal record, or being a sex <br />offender. Furthermore, the Fair Housing Act does not protect persons who currently use illegal drugs, persons who <br />have been convicted of the manufacture or sale of illegal drugs, or persons with or without disabilities who present a <br />direct threat to the persons or property of others. <br />72 <br />