The Fair Housing Amendments Act (FHAA), 42 U.S.C. §§ 3601 et seq., prevents a landlord from inflexibly applying a no-cosigners policy to disabled tenants, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held. The FHAA requires a landlord to reasonably accommodate disabled tenants who cannot meet the income requirements for a lease because of their disabilities by assessing, on an individual basis, the risk of nonpayment created by a cosigner arrangement.

Here, Giebeler, who has AIDS, was unable to work due to his illness. His mother agreed to pay the rent for him. The apartment complex, which had minimum financial requirements for lessees and did not allow cosigners, refused to rent to Giebeler or his mother.

Giebeler filed suit against the apartment complex and several of its employees individually, alleging violations of the FHAA in that defendants failed to reasonably accommodate his disability. The trial court granted defendants summary judgment.

Reversing, the Ninth Circuit noted that plaintiff's disability is directly related to his inability to obtain a lease in his own name. His lack of income is due to his illness, the court noted, and therefore he is disabled for the purposes of the FHAA, and the apartment complex is required to reasonably accommodate him. Citing U.S. Supreme Court case law, the court said that it is permissible for an accommodation to favor disabled persons over others, and accommodations may compensate for the practical impact of a disability, not merely for its immediate manifestations. Plaintiff's inability to work is such a practical impact, the court said.