Making Today s Home, Tomorrow s Home Home Repair Accelerator

2013 Advanced Elder Law Review: November 5-6 | Washington, DC

Making Today’s Home, Tomorrow’s Home

Home Repair Accelerator

Presented by:

Kelly Persons, AARP Foundation; Amy Levner, Home and Family Partner

Facilitator:

Susan Ann Silverstein, AARP

AARP Foundation 2

The Housing Impact Area of AARP Foundation seeks to win back

opportunity for the vulnerable 50+ through four strategic housing objectives:

• Preserve adequacy and affordability within current homes

• Increase the supply and options of adequate and affordable housing • Raise awareness of the housing needs faced by the vulnerable 50+ • Build thought leadership through research and convenings

The Housing Problem:

From Chicken Coop to the Current State of Housing

1947

A retired public school

principal from California, Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus,

discovered one of her

retired colleagues living in a chicken coop.

T

o

d

a

y

low-income, 50+ households live in unaffordable and/or inadequate housing.

AARP Foundation 3 Need for Home Repair Assistance

Aging

Homes Components With Aging

Owned by Older People

With Lower Incomes

The current demand for home repair services for low-income households far surpasses what existing

organizations are able to provide. This demand will only grow as

America’s homes and people continue to age.

AARP Foundation 4 Our Solution

In 2013, AARP Foundation awarded grants totaling $780,000 to home repair organizations to pilot new models of efficiency and cost recovery that are

scalable, able to be replicated, and that result in a sustained increase in the number of home repairs completed.

AARP Foundation

Habitat for Humanity International

50+ Repair Program

7 Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative (NRI) affiliates will complete home repair and/or rehab projects for vulnerable 50+ homeowners in 5 states

• 27 low-income 50+ households to receive repair services

• Define repair pricing & develop payment/cost recovery models • Publish 50+ Resource Guide to ensure program replication

5 National Grantee

AARP Foundation

Rebuilding Together

Safe at Home Fee-for-Service Program

Using a flat fee or co-pay scale, 11 Rebuilding Together affiliates in 10 states will implement fee-for-service models to expand services to

households above 60% AMI

• 600 low-income 50+ households to receive repair/modification services

• Homeowner/client education, fall prevention, detecting scams &

basic home maintenance & “Safety First” education program shared with nonprofits/service providers

6 National Grantee

AARP Foundation

Neighborhood of Affordable Housing – Boston, MA

Greater Boston Senior Home Repair Collaborative

A city-wide coalition of nonprofit home-repair organizations will pilot a flat fee-for-service model for homeowners with higher incomes

• 500 low-income 50+ households to receive repair services • Toolkit/guide developed to support program replication

• Services expanded to residents living outside Boston metro area & to homeowners aged 50-61

7 Community Grantee

AARP Foundation

Greater Lansing Housing Coalition - Lansing, MI

Tuesday Toolmen

Retired, skilled tradesmen volunteer on Tuesdays to complete minor home repairs & modifications that allow low-income 50+ homeowners to remain safely in their homes

• 52 low-income homeowners receive home safety repairs

• Develop training workshop & materials to replicate Toolmen chapters in other communities

8 Innovation Grantee

AARP Foundation

2013 Overview

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Investment: $780,000 – 4 nonprofit organizations

Identify: 2-3 scalable cost recovery models

Develop: 4 replication guides

Repair: 700+ homes of vulnerable 50+

AARP Foundation

Plans for Expansion

Home Repair Accelerator

10 2013 700+ homes repaired in 15 states 2-3 cost-recovery models identified 2014 1,200+ homes repaired 4 replication guides complete (Q1) Expansion of HRA (Q2-4) 2015+ National nonprofit grantee organizations roll home repair

AARP Foundation

• Replication of models in 10 markets

• Expansion of HRA to mobile homes and rental (tentative)

Home Repair Accelerator

2014

AARP Foundation

Our Goal:

Increase # of 50+ who are able to age at home Annual savings: $41,000 - $75,000/HH

How: home repairs/modifications to support aging in place mean vulnerable 50+ can remain safely and independently in their homes

Genworth 2013 Cost of Care Survey: $41,400 – average annual cost of assisted living; $75,555 – average annual cost of nursing home care

AARP Foundation

For more information, please contact:

Kelly Persons

(202) 434-2299

Kpersons@aarp.org

2013 Advanced Elder Law Review: November 5-6 | Washington, DC

Making Today’s Home, Tomorrow’s Home

Using the Fair Housing Act

Presented by:

Kelly Persons, AARP Foundation; Amy Levner, Home and Family Partner

Facilitator:

Susan Ann Silverstein, AARP

Susan Ann Silverstein

Senior Attorney

2

AARP Foundation Litigation 601 E Street NW

Washington, DC 20049 202-434-2159

ssilverstein@aarp.org www.aarp.org/litigation

FHA can remove barriers to

allowing changes to home

3

• Homeowner association rules

• Zoning and land use

• Historical preservation

• Condos and Coops

The Fair Housing Act

4

•

1988 Fair Housing Amendments Act (FHAA)

• Added DISABILITY and FAMILY STATUS to the classes protected by the Fair Housing Act (FHA) of 1968

• And strengthened and enhanced enforcement, remedies and procedural amenities.

•

42 USC § 3604 et seq.

FHAA and Disability

5

• “[C]lear pronouncement of a national

commitment to end the unnecessary

exclusion of persons with handicaps from

the American mainstream. It repudiates the

use of stereotypes and ignorance, and

mandates that persons with handicaps be

considered as individuals.” H.R. Rep.

100-711 at 18

Previous history of RA

(Section 504 of Rehab Act)

6

“The concept of "reasonable accommodation" has

a long history in regulations and case law dealing with discrimination on the basis of handicap. A discriminatory rule, policy, practice or service is not defensible simply because that is the manner in which such rule or

practice has traditionally been constituted. This section would require that changes be made to such traditional practices if necessary to permit a person with handicaps an equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling.”

H.R. Rep. No. 10-711, 100th Cong., 2d Sess., 25, reprinted in 1988

Three affirmative obligations

for housing providers

7

• . § 3604(f)(3) makes it unlawful to:

• refuse to permit reasonable physical modifications of certain premises; • refuse to make reasonable

accommodations in housing rules and policies; and

• fail to include certain accessibility features in the design and

construction of new multifamily dwellings

Design and Construction

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Covered

• Housing in buildings with four or more units

• Constructed for first occupancy after March 13, 1991 • In elevator buildings, all units

• In buildings without an elevator, ground floor units

Not Covered

• Detached single family houses

• Multistory townhouses without elevators •Duplexes or triplexes

7 Basic Design and

Construction Requirements

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1. Accessible building entrance on an accessible route

2. Accessible and usable public and common use areas

3. Usable doors

4. Accessible routes into and through covered unit 5. Light switches, electrical outlets, thermostats, and other environmental controls in accessible locations 6. Reinforced walls in bathrooms for later

installation of grab bars

Design and Construction

10

Magnificent Seven

• 42 U.S.C. § 3604(f)(3)(C)(i)-(iii)(IV) and 24

C.F.R. § 100.205(a).

Hud/DOJ Joint Statement on Design and

Construction (PDF)

Reasonable

Accommodations & Mods

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Definition of Dwelling

• A building, structure, or portion thereof • Occupied as, or designed, or intended for

occupancy as, a residence by one or more families,

• And any vacant land which is offered for sale or lease for the construction or location thereon of any such building, structure, or portion thereof. • Exceptions: owner occupied, 4 or fewer

units; single-family if owns 3 or less, other criteria

Definition of Dwelling in

Case Law

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• Hovsons, Inc. v. Township of Brick, NJ, 89 F.3rd _{1096 (3d Cir. 1996) (nursing home)}

• US v. Lorantffy Care Center, 999 F. Supp. 1037

(N.D. Ohio 1998) (Assisted Living

• U.S. v. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, 764 F.

Supp. 220 (D.P.R.) 1991 (nursing home)

• Baxter v. City of Bellville, 720 F.Supp 720 (D.D.

Ill. 1989) (home for AIDS patients)

• Group homes in the zoning and land use context, see generally

Reasonable

Accommodations

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• Reasonable accommodations are changes to usual policies, rules, practices, or services

– Needed by a person with a disability – In order to benefit from housing

– Because of the disability

• Reasonable accommodation requirements apply to builders, developers, property managers, homeowners associations, and others engaged in housing-related activities

• Reasonable accommodations are paid for by the housing provider

Reasonable Modifications

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• Reasonable modifications are structural changes to housing

– That may be needed by a person with a disability – In order to benefit from the housing

– Because of the disability

• Reasonable modification requirements apply to builders, developers, property managers, homeowners associations and others engaged in housing related activities

• Reasonable modifications are paid for by the person with a disability,

Don’t be confused!

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• RA and RM are in addition to any and all design and construction requirements

• RM are to existing premises. A request to change designs or plans is a request for an accommodations

• Existing premises include common spaces

• If there weren’t a rule, you wouldn’t need to request an accommodation

Reasonable Accommodation

& Mods Cites and Resources

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• HUD/DOJ Joint Statement RA

http://www.hud.gov/offices/fheo/library/huddojst atement.pdf

• HUD/DOJ Joint Statement Modifications

http://www.hud.gov/offices/fheo/disabilities/reason able_modifications_mar08.pdf Regulations • Reasonable Accommodations 24CFR§100.204 • Reasonable Modifications 24CFR §100.203

Denial of Accommodations

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• Requests for accommodations:

• May not be required in a particular format • Are granted if they are practical and feasible • May be denied if they:

– Impose undue financial and administrative hardship – Constitute a fundamental alteration of the program

 Questions should be addressed through an

Reasonable Modifications

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• Reasonable modifications:

• Are made to existing premises whether for sale or rental

• Must be permitted if they are: – Done in a workmanlike manner – All necessary permits are sought

• NOTE – there is no determination of undue financial and administrative burden or fundamental

alteration, those inquiries do not apply to RM

Permission for Modification

May Not be Conditioned on:

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• Payment for liability insurance

• Compliance with aesthetic standards

• A requirement that a particular contractor be used • A requirement that a particular style of construction be used for the

modification

• A requirement that a particular accessibility standard be used

Rental Units

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• Permission required to modify LL’s property • For the interior of rental units, restoration may

be required, but wear and tear is excepted

• Can only require if reasonable

• If would interfere with marketing to or use of by other tenants

• Reasonable costs of restoration may also be required and may be escrowed in interest bearing account

• Case by case, factual assessment

• Separate from security deposit account • Must allow payment plan

• If LL decides not to restore, $ returned to T immediately

• Restoration and costs of restoration may NOT be required for public and common use area modifications

Examples of Reasonable

Modifications

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• Flashing light attached to doorbell

• Replacement of door knobs with lever hardware • Installation of fold-back hinges on a door

• Installation of reinforcements in a bathroom wall, if the design and construction provisions did not already require them

• Construction of a ramp

More on Modifications

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• Can be made at any time, not just purchase or move in

• Size doesn’t matter, anything from one grab bar to removing an interior wall, from raising a dishwasher to removing all lower cabinets

• Aesthetics should not trump access and use; standard is workmanlike

• Parking spaces are generally treated as RA by courts even if ancillary costs

Typical Modifications –

Individual Unit Entrance

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• Accessible path • Landing

• Step and threshold at doorway

lighting, ramp, railing, depth and height of steps • Width of door entrance

• Door entrance

• Lever handle, automatic controls, weight • Accessible route to the entrance

• Covered area

Typical common area

modifications

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• Gates and latches

• Swimming pool access

• Paths to beaches and recreational areas • Playgrounds

• Laundry facilities

• Mailbox areas – USPS complications • Entry areas (similar to individual)

• Landings

Individual unit modifications

Enforcement

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• No requirement to exhaust

• Private right of action by an aggrieved party through filing affirmative lawsuit in court

• Defense or counterclaim (e.g. in eviction case) • Administrative complaint with HUD

http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/topics/hou

sing_discrimination

• Administrative complaint with equivalent state or local agency. See

www.fairhousing.com for

comprehensive list of fair housing organizations.

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You can’t be denied permission to make most changes you need to your home or common areas that are reasonable and safe. (If you rent and the change would affect the next tenant, you have to restore your unit before you move.)

THE FAIR HOUSING

ACT HELPS YOU AGE IN

PLACE IN YOUR HOME