The function of this toolkit is to provide you with the tools necessary to acknowledge the barriers that might prevent you from the full use and satisfaction of your home and what you can do to eliminate them.

The federal Fair Housing Act (FHA) requires residential or commercial property owners to allow reasonable modifications and reasonable lodgings to persons with impairments so that they can have full usage and enjoyment of the residential or commercial property where they reside. The availability laws under the FHA guarantee that, either through structural changes to the structure (typically described as "sensible adjustments") or modifications in guidelines and policies (usually referred to as "reasonable accommodations"), individuals with impairments have equivalent access to and satisfaction of their homes as do non-disabled persons.

If you are a person with a disability, you have the legal right to get a modification or lodging to your house, if it is a sensible request and it is essential to afford you access to and equivalent satisfaction of the residential or commercial property. This demand can be made prior to moving into the system or whenever throughout your . This toolkit is developed to help you assert your civil rights and request a reasonable adjustment or a sensible lodging from your housing service provider.

This toolkit includes:

- Information about your legal rights.

• Steps that will help you ask for an affordable adjustment or accommodation.
• Templates for composing a request for a reasonable modification/accommodation.
• How and where to turn for aid.
  
  Fair Housing for People with Disabilities
  
  Everyone has a right to reasonable housing. The ability to live where one picks with self-respect and without fear of discrimination is a standard best guaranteed to all people. The Fairfax County Office of Human Rights and Equity Programs (OHREP) enforces the Fairfax County Human Rights Ordinance and the Fairfax County Fair Housing Act, which forbid discrimination in housing. If you are an individual with a special needs, you can equal access to housing, including full enjoyment of your housing. If you think that you, or somebody you understand, have actually experienced housing discrimination in Fairfax County, you have the right to submit a fair housing grievance with OHREP, however you should do so within 365 days from the date the alleged discriminatory act happened, or in the case of a continuing violation, from the date the alleged inequitable act ended.
  
  What is a Disability?
  
  The federal Fair Housing Act specifies a special needs to include a physical or mental impairment that substantially restricts several major life activities. Major life activities are central activities to life, such as seeing, hearing, strolling, breathing, carrying out manual jobs, caring for oneself, and speaking. An impairment can consist of a hearing, visual, or movement impairment