HUD Handbook 4350.3 § 2-33

A.        If a member of a tenant household becomes disabled with an impairment that
                 requires special accessibility features and the tenant requests an accessible unit,
                 an owner may move that tenant into an accessible unit in lieu of making the
                 tenant’s existing unit accessible and usable. (See Chapter 4 for more
                 information.) However, if a tenant needs only minor modifications to his or her
                 unit, and does not need a fully accessible unit, the landlord should make the
                 modifications and leave the project’s fully accessible units available for tenants
                 who need such units.

       B.        If a member of a tenant household is a person who does not need specific
                 accessible features, but whose disability requires that they live on a particular
                 floor or location on the floor, the owner must move that tenant household to the
                 new unit. If such a unit is not available, the owner should assign the tenant to the
                 next available unit that meets the need of the tenant. This accommodation must
                 be based on the tenant’s disability-related need for the particular floor or location
                 on the floor, and not based on the tenant’s personal preferences.

6/07                                             2-30                          HUD Occupancy Handbook
                                                                               Chapter 2: Civil Rights and
                                                                           Nondiscrimination Requirements

Requirements for Persons with Disabilities

Subsection 2:
Policies and Procedures to Ensure
Nondiscrimination and Promote Accessibility

C.       **If a tenant household is being moved to a different unit as a reasonable
                  accommodation to a household member’s disability, then the owner must pay for
                  the move unless doing so would constitute an undue financial and administrative
                  burden.**

                  Example – When Owners Should Move Tenants to Accessible Units
                 The head of household’s grandmother, who is a member of the
                 household, cannot climb the two flights of stairs to the unit because she
                 has arthritis in her knees. The head of household requests that they be
                 moved to a unit on the ground floor. The owner must move the
                 household to the next available ground floor unit. If there are no ground
                 floor units of the correct bedroom size expected to be available within a
                 reasonable time (e.g., 30 days), the owner may make a unit available by
                 requiring a tenant in a ground floor unit who is overhoused or
                 underhoused to move to a unit within the project that is the correct size
                 for the household.