No one could say that J. Anel Gonzalez was not thorough when he conducted an apartment search a couple of years ago. The Chicago resident called 100 potential landlords seeking appointments to view apartments advertised for rent.
Landlords greeted his calls cheerily, but often grew less enthusiastic as the conversations progressed, leaving Gonzalez to hang up, feeling frustrated and angry.
He was not looking for a luxury apartment with a rent that was out of his price range, nor was his credit or employment history questionable.
“I would tell them, `I’m employed. My income is enough to pay $500 a month. There’s no reason (not to grant an appointment),’ ” he recalled.
Gonzalez found that some landlords’ attitudes turned from welcoming to wary when he told them that he is a paraplegic. Seven years ago, the 28-year-old, who uses a wheelchair, was injured in a car accident.
“When they found out that I was a person with a disability, that was when they changed their face,” Gonzalez recalled. “Then they started to hem and haw, to make excuses and say, `I don’t know. You have a disability.’ “
Of course, what these landlords were doing is illegal. The final straw for Gonzalez came when one person told him, “There are places for you people (with a disability) to go. You should go to a nursing home.”
Gonzalez contacted Access Living, one of 23 non-profit housing centers in Illinois that enforce fair housing laws. Gonzalez filed a complaint against the landlord with the Cook County Commission on Human Rights. It was settled for $15,000 in fees and damages, which were paid by the landlord.
Unfortunately, Gonzalez’s experience is not unusual. From 1994 to 1996, five fair housing centers in Chicago and the suburbs, including Access Living, counted 4,500 housing-related calls from people with disabilities.
Of those calls, 2,900 were from people with disabilities looking for accessible, affordable, integrated housing. Five hundred calls alleged housing discrimination against a person with a disability.
The agencies investigated 233 of those claims, which might have included, for example, viewing the property to see if it is accessible or sending someone with a disability and someone without one to the property. These “testers” would, unbeknown to the landlord, make note of the way they were treated to determine if there was a difference in the questions or reception each received from the landlord.
Of the 233 complaints that were investigated, the fair housing centers proceeded to the next step with 153 of them. They opened cases, either writing letters to the landlord seeking a resolution of the alleged discrimination or filing a complaint, such as was done in Gonzalez’s case. By the end of the two-year period, 137 of these discrimination cases were resolved with 35 of them resulting in damages totaling $149,000 paid by landlords.
The Fair Housing Act, which was amended in 1988, is intended to ensure that housing discrimination does not occur based on sex, race or color, national origin, religion, family status or disability.
By law, all rental housing of four units or more that was ready for first occupancy after March 13, 1991, is supposed to be accessible to people with disabilities. However, only the ground floor units have to be accessible in buildings with four units or more that do not have elevators.
Accessibility covers seven different points. Requirements include doors that are wide enough for a person in a wheelchair to enter; accessible electrical outlets, light switches and environmental controls; and bathroom walls that are reinforced so that grab bars can be added.
Such accessibility is not required in older housing, but landlords of buildings old or new, cannot maintain rules or policies that discriminate against a person with a disability. For example, when a landlord learns that a potential tenant is a person with a disability, he cannot refuse an appointment, suddenly say the unit is rented or ask questions that are illegal.
“People would ask me, `How (with a wheelchair) are you going to transfer to the bathtub?’ ” Gonzalez recalls. “Or, `Do you cook your own meals? How do you do that by yourself?’ Those aren’t questions that a landlord has to know.”
In private housing, tenants are responsible for paying for modifications inside their units that would make the apartment more livable, such as adding grab bars in the bathroom.
In some cases, the unit must be restored to its original condition when the tenant moves out. Under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, landlords of housing that receives federal funds are required to pay for these modifications.
Lisa Danna Fanella, a civil rights staff attorney for Access Living, admits that fair housing laws can be confusing. She urges people with disabilities to learn about their rights and to take steps to ensure that they are not discriminated against.
For example, she said people should make it a practice to take notes of their conversations with potential landlords. These notes should specify what questions the landlord asked and what their attitude seemed to be toward the person.
Housing complexes that receive federal funding are required to make at least 5 percent of their units accessible to a person with a disability. In addition, 2 percent of the units must be accessible to people who are hearing impaired or deaf. Flashing door bells and smoke detectors would be features of these units.
Fortunately, there are places where it is highly unlikely that discrimination will occur. One such complex is Maple Court in Naperville. It opened a year ago and includes 48 units.
Twenty of those units are barrier-free. They meet the legal requirements for accessibility and even go beyond those requirements. These apartments have such features as showers that are large enough for a person in a wheelchair to roll into. They also offer lowered light switches, lowered ovens and cooking surfaces, open space beneath sinks, electrical outlets that are easily reachable, 6-foot-wide patio doors and extra large closets.
The complex was built by William Malleris. Due to a neuromuscular disability, Malleris uses a wheelchair. He moved from Minnesota to Chicago six years ago. However, he found there was not much choice in housing here for people with disabilities.
“I could see that a need was there,” he said. “I moved here and saw that there was no accessible housing. I was very determined that this needed to be done.”
Thirty days after the complex opened, all of the units were rented. Twenty-eight of the units are rented to people without disabilities.
His efforts at providing an integrated community are applauded by Ann Ford, executive director of the Center for Independent Living in Glen Ellyn.
“We deal every day with people (with disabilities) who are looking, looking, looking for housing,” she said. “We’re into real, true integration of people (with disabilities) into society. They should not be limited to a couple of choices.”
Having a community where people with disabilities live next to those who do not, breaks down barriers, Malleris said.
Now in his mid-30s, Mike Faiscella was 20 when he developed multiple sclerosis. He uses a wheelchair and lives in one of the units at Maple Court.
“I like it. It’s quiet. Everything’s level. Everything’s accessible. You can get (a wheelchair) under the sink (to wash dishes),” he said.
Integrated housing breaks down false stereotypes. “Peoples’ attitudes have to change. We’re all just people. We (people with disabilities) have dreams and goals too,” Faiscella said.
Changing attitudes was one of the reasons that Gonzalez pursued his discrimination complaint against the landlord. He has since moved into a house that he rents from friends.
“I feel happy,” he said. “The way you make a difference is to educate people and make changes in policy and procedures (of landlords). It was worth my (bad) experience.”
