On August 31, 2026, the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity issued a memo that would significantly constrain the ability of individuals to bring disability-based discrimination claims related to the failure of housing providers to design and construct certain multifamily dwellings with required accessibility features under the Fair Housing Act (FHA). These requirements apply to covered multifamily dwellings built after March 13, 1991, including rental properties serving older adults and the aging services workforce. The memo provides a new interpretation of how the statute of limitations applies to these FHA design and construction claims. A statute of limitations generally bars a party from filing a claim after a certain period following an injury or event.
Under a previous 2013 memo, which HUD has now rescinded, HUD and the Department of Justice interpreted the one-year statute of limitations for administrative claims to begin when an “aggrieved person” is injured as a result of a failure to design and construct housing in compliance with FHA accessibility requirements. This interpretation was based on HUD’s view that “complaints can be filed at any time that the building continues to be in noncompliance, because the discriminatory housing practice, failure to design and construct the building in compliance, does not terminate” until the building is brought into compliance with the FHA and the continuing violation ends.
Under the new memo, however, HUD now considers the one-year statute of limitations to begin when the allegedly unlawful design and construction practice ends, specifically upon completion of construction, as evidenced by the issuance of a certificate of occupancy. HUD makes clear that the continued existence of an inaccessible feature does not restart or extend the limitations period because the failure to design and construct a covered multifamily dwelling in compliance with the FHA is a discrete, rather than continuing, violation.
While this change in interpretation may relieve owners of the obligation to make accessibility modifications once a certificate of occupancy has been in effect for more than one year, it leaves people with disabilities with very limited recourse for obtaining administrative relief from HUD for fair housing access claims related to design and construction violations.
LeadingAge opposes this concerning continuation of HUD’s efforts to roll back longstanding civil rights protections in housing, including its proposed removal of gender identity and disparate impact protections.
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