But what about parking?

How do owners and managers of residential rental properties comply with all the applicable laws regarding parking for the disabled? There are federal laws, state laws and sometimes local laws which may conflict with one another, and may apply to different areas of the property or different users of the parking spaces. This article is designed to help clarify the current state of the law. The federal law called the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires that any area to which a member of the public is invited, must be “accessible” to disabled persons. There must be curb cuts, ramps, wide doorways, lever door handles, etc. on the routes that a disabled person might take in order to contact a representative of the owner of the property. Under California law, properties with 16 or more residential rental units must have a representative of the owner on-site. If that representative interacts with the public, for instance conducting tours and taking applications from prospective residents, the office (or the portion of the representative’s unit which is used to conduct business) must comply with the ADA.

But what about parking? If there is no parking on the property…or all parking is reserved for residents, then there is no “public” parking and the ADA does not apply to parking on that property. If there is prospective resident or guest parking on-site, the ADA applies and there must be a blue-striped space with the blue wheelchair sign designated for the use of persons with disability placards or license plates. The ADA requires at least one designated disabled space for every twenty-five parking spaces. The ADA focuses only on public parking, so the rule can be interpreted to mean that there must be one designated disabled space for every twenty-five public spaces. There are few rental communities which have twenty-five or more spaces for public parking. Therefore, the requirements of the ADA should be able to be met on properties which have public parking by establishing at least one designated disabled parking space in each area in which the public is allowed to park. The first designated space must be a van-accessible space. In parking lots with numerous disabled spaces, one out of eight such designated spaces must be van-accessible.

Take note that all public places must be made accessible to the extent that it is readily achievable and technically feasible. It is a common misconception that older properties are “grandfathered in” and do not have to comply with ADA guidelines. Many landlords have been sued for failure to comply with the ADA in recent years and have found out the hard way that their properties were not exempt. When considering changes to an older property to make it ADA compliant, a Certified Access Specialist (CaSP) should be consulted. Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations (CCR) serves as the basis for design and construction of buildings in California and includes accessibility requirements for residential rental property. Unlike the fair housing act, the CCR requires blue, disabled spaces to be located in the private (“resident only”) parking areas of the property. The CCR indicates that disabled spaces located in the “resident only” parking areas can be assigned to specific residents.

The code further indicates that all disabled spaces must be painted blue and have the universal disabled (wheelchair) symbol, and that unassigned or guest spaces must also have the disabled parking signage - assigned disabled spaces do not require signage. Local government codes may require a greater or lesser number of accessible spaces than what is required by federal or state law. If this is so, the laws which provide the greatest benefit to disabled persons should be followed. The California Department of Motor Vehicles website seems to indicate that anyone with a disabled placard or license plate may park in any designated disabled space. It does not appear to make a distinction between public and private property or between reserved and unreserved spaces. The “violating” resident may argue that the disabled placard or license plate gives him/her the right to park in any disabled parking space. The reservation of a space that is close to the resident’s unit is generally considered to be reasonable. The expense and effort of the reservation of the space is often minimal and usually borne by the landlord.

The request from the person and its approval or denial should be processed in accordance with fair housing guidelines. If the property has no reserved parking spaces, a space would be reserved pursuant to the resident’s request, as an exception to the rules. Note that if other residents ask why someone was given a reserved space, the confidentiality of the person with the disability must be maintained. An owner or manager should just indicate that although the reason for the reservation cannot be disclosed, the action was taken in compliance with the law. If the party questioning the action files a discrimination complaint, the documentation regarding the accommodation should support the reasonableness of the landlord’s position. If all of the spaces on a property are assigned to residents, making a reasonable accommodation can be very challenging. Other residents can be asked to trade spaces voluntarily…without disclosing the reason. If no one will cooperate, you may need to explore other alternatives (as outlined below).