Many affordable senior housing communities have implemented visitation restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. On October 8, 2021, HUD announced an agreement to resolve resident complaints against a property’s visitor restriction. 

A resident in Alabama filed a complaint alleging that her housing community’s visitor restriction was discriminatory; the community had instituted a policy prohibiting visitors to the property under the age of 12. The resident had previously been caring for her grandchildren at the property.

HUD’s Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, Demetria McCain, said of the complaint, “While housing providers can certainly take reasonable precautions to protect their residents from COVID-19, such as requiring residents and visitors to wear masks…they may not impose blanket prohibitions on any visits from children.” HUD stated that the policy unfairly kept residents from visiting with family and friends in their own homes. 

The Fair Housing Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act prohibits housing providers from discriminating on the basis of disability, including the perception that a person is unsafe to associate with because of the fear they may spread contagious disease. The Fair Housing Act also prohibits discrimination based on familial status, and the Age Discrimination Act of 1975 prohibits discrimination based on age.

HUD had previously weighed in to say that when establishing visitor restrictions, housing providers could not infringe upon the civil rights of residents and could not restrict resident access to essential caregivers. More information about the resident’s complaint and HUD’s resolution agreement with the housing provider are available here.