NAA Offers 2022 Emotional Support Animal and Accessible Design and Construction Toolkits

The National Apartment Association (NAA) recently announced the release of two important fair housing resources authored by industry experts. NAA says these resources will be critical to help industry professionals understand their fair housing responsibilities and remain legally compliant.

Emotional Support Animal Toolkit

This resource includes a comprehensive FAQ section, covering the mostly commonly encountered issues with assistance animal requests. Determining whether a request for an animal is actually a request for a reasonable accommodation is a common issue. Other aspects of the Toolkit include but are not limited to:

• The process for evaluation of a request for ESA.
• Is there such a thing as a ‘visiting’ ESA?
• How are assistance animals handled in common areas?
• What do you if they are a nuisance or vicious or aggressive?
• What requirements can you impose like vaccinations, spay and neutering?

Accessible Design and Construction

This Toolkit is a comprehensive resource that addresses the requirements for accessibility in multifamily housing as well as common issues seen in the field. It gives a practical approach on how to resolve problems upfront and after the development is in service. Amongst the many knowledge points gained from this resource are understanding HUD Safe Harbor rules to ensure compliance and the difference in applicability and design guidelines between the Fair Housing Act and the ADA. Specifically, the Toolkit provides but is not limited to:

• A detailed design and construction checklist with diagrams and photos.
• Examples of common design and construction issues.
• Best practices to follow during the design & construction process.
• Best practices for property managers to follow to identify and remedy ongoing accessibility issues.
• A list of common accessibility misconceptions that can lead to noncompliance.
• How accessibility complaints arise, who can be sued, and how to respond.

There is a small cost for these:

• $90 for members and $175 for nonmembers for the Accessible Design and Construction Toolkit
• $150 for members and $250 for nonmembers for the bundle of both products

You can now listen to the Kickoff recording and view the presentation slides. To order, click here.