1.3.5 Disability, Addiction, or Domestic Violence

Where an admissions denial is based on activity related to a disability or addiction (for example, a drug or behavioral-health related conviction), a landlord covered by the Fair Housing Act must consider a reasonable accommodation request for admission.1  Drug and alcohol addiction constitutes a disability under the Fair Housing Act so long as the individual is not currently using.2

Under Louisiana state law, a covered landlord may not deny an applicant admission based on activity directly related to domestic abuse or sexual assault.3  The applicant must provide requisite documentation and otherwise qualify to enter into the lease agreement.4

• 1For a more extensive discussion of reasonable accommodations under the FHA, see Section 13.5.2.
• 224 C.F.R. § 100.201(a)(2). The Fair Housing Act requires housing providers to take into consideration the rehabilitation of a person with a substance use disorder. United States v. S. Mgmt. Corp., 955 F.2d 914, 918 (4th Cir. 1992) (“Someone who as a medical matter will always have a craving for narcotics, but who has been able to control that craving for some (undefined) period of time, must not be denied access to housing on the basis of that craving and its attendant dangers.”).
• 3La. R.S. 9:3261.2(D)(1)(a). For a more complete discussion of LAVAWA, see Section 1.7.
• 4La. R.S. 9:3261.2(D)(1)(a).