Division on Civil Rights Director Craig T. Sashihara announced today that the Division has posted a new Disability Accommodation Fact Sheet on its Web site that explains disability accommodation rights for the owners and occupants of condominiums, cooperatives and other common interest communities governed by a homeowners’ association or similar entity.

The Fact Sheet discusses a variety of issues related to the rights of persons with disabilities under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD), and includes examples of both reasonable accommodation and unlawful failure to accommodate in a common interest community setting.

The Fact Sheet also includes a section focused on assistance animals such as service dogs and emotional support animals, and provides information on how persons with disabilities can pursue a formal complaint if they believe their rights under the LAD have been violated by a board, association or other housing provider.

Among the examples of unlawful conduct cited in the Fact Sheet is refusal by a governing association to allow reasonable modification to existing premises – such as the widening of a doorway, construction of an entry ramp or installation of grab bars – to accommodate a person with a disability.

The Fact Sheet also notes that it is illegal to deny full and equal access to a disabled person accompanied by a service dog or guide dog, and explains that such dogs are exempted under the LAD from any “no pets allowed” policy that may be in place.

Click here for the the pdf:  fact_disability-accommodation