The purpose of this toolkit is to supply you with the tools essential to acknowledge the barriers that may avoid you from the complete use and satisfaction of your home and what you can do to remove them.

The federal Fair Housing Act (FHA) requires residential or commercial property owners to enable affordable modifications and affordable accommodations to persons with disabilities so that they can have full use and pleasure of the residential or commercial property where they reside. The availability laws under the FHA make sure that, either through structural changes to the building (typically described as "sensible adjustments") or changes in guidelines and policies (typically referred to as "affordable lodgings"), people with specials needs have equal access to and pleasure of their homes as do non-disabled individuals.

If you are an individual with a disability, you have the legal right to acquire an adjustment or lodging to your residence, if it is an affordable request and it is needed to manage you access to and equivalent pleasure of the residential or commercial property. This request can be made prior to moving into the system or at any time during your occupancy. This toolkit is created to help you assert your civil rights and demand a sensible adjustment or a reasonable accommodation from your housing company.

This toolkit consists of:

- Information about your legal rights.

• Steps that will assist you ask for an affordable modification or lodging.
• Templates for composing a request for an affordable modification/accommodation.
• How and where to turn for aid.
  
  Fair Housing for People with Disabilities
  
  Everyone has a right to fair housing. The ability to live where one selects with self-respect and without worry of discrimination is a standard right ensured to all individuals. The Fairfax County Office of Human Rights and Equity Programs (OHREP) imposes the Fairfax County Human Rights Ordinance and the Fairfax County Fair Housing Act, which forbid discrimination in housing. If you are a person with a special needs, you can equivalent access to housing, including full satisfaction of your housing. If you think that you, or someone you know, have experienced housing discrimination in Fairfax County, you can submit a fair housing problem with OHREP, but you must do so within 365 days from the date the supposed discriminatory act took place, or in the case of a continuing infraction, from the date the alleged discriminatory act ended.
  
  What is an Impairment?
  
  The federal Fair Housing Act specifies a special needs to consist of a physical or mental disability that significantly limits one or more major life activities. Major life activities are main activities to life, such as seeing, hearing, walking, breathing, carrying out manual jobs, looking after oneself, and speaking. A special needs can consist of a hearing, visual, or mobility disability