Enforcing the Fair Housing Amendments Act to benefit people with mental disability

Housing is integral to successful community care for many people with mental disabilities. To try to eliminate discrimination in access to housing for people with physical or mental disability and to support their right to live in the community of their choice, Congress enacted the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988. The author examines representative court cases that have applied the act to restrictions related to people with mental disabilities; they include cases testing restrictions applicable only to mentally disabled people, restrictive covenants, failure to make "reasonable accommodation," state and municipal laws that predate the 1988 act, and exclusion because of dangerousness to others. To date, the courts have been receptive to the use of the act in challenging laws and practices that create barriers for people with mental disability.