Accommodation Policy
Krystle Property Management, Inc.
Reasonable Accommodation/Modification Policy
Introduction: Reasonable accommodations are exceptions or changes to rules, policies, or procedures that are necessary due to a disability. Reasonable modifications are structural changes to the existing premises that are necessary due to a disability.
Tenants, occupants, and prospective tenants who have a disability (physical or mental) as described under federal and California fair housing laws and require a reasonable accommodation or reasonable modification have the right to make such a request. It is the policy of Krystle Property Management, Inc. that such requests not be discouraged.
Definition of Disability: California’s fair housing law defines disability as a physical or mental impairment that limits one or more major life activities. Major life activities are activities that are of central importance to daily life such as seeing, hearing, walking, breathing, performing manual tasks, performing self-care, and learning. Individuals are also protected by fair housing laws if they are regarded as impaired or have a record of impairment.
Service, Emotional Support, or Companion Animals as Reasonable Accommodations: It is the express policy of Krystle Property Management, Inc. that any employee, tenant, or prospective tenant may make a reasonable accommodation request to have any service animal, emotional support animal, or companion animal insofar as said animal may qualify as a reasonable accommodation. Any individual with a disability or disability-related need for an exception to a rule, policy, practice, or service shall be entitled to a reasonable accommodation.
Tenants, occupants, prospective tenants, and employees who desire to make a reasonable accommodation or modification request should contact the managing broker, Derrick Karimian, at (707) 563-0424, derrick@KrystleProperties.com, or in person at 2101 Tennessee Street, Vallejo, CA 94590, during normal business hours (9 am – 5 pm).
Policy Regarding Reasonable Accommodations and Modifications
Making the Request: The tenant/occupant of a property managed by Krystle Property Management, Inc. must initiate the process for a reasonable accommodation/modification by making such request.
- Requests can be made orally or in writing and need not mention or use the phrases “reasonable accommodation” or “reasonable modification.” In general, a tenant, employee, occupant, or prospective tenant need only make clear to Krystle Property Management, Inc. that he or she is requesting that an exception, change, adjustment, or modification be made to a rule, policy, practice, service, building, or dwelling unit because he or she has a disability.
- To more efficiently process any reasonable accommodation requests, Krystle Property Management, Inc. has developed a reasonable accommodation/modification form that will be provided to any person making such request.
- Despite Krystle Property Management, Inc.’s developing a form to facilitate the processing of any reasonable accommodation request, said form is not required to be used to make a request. A tenant, occupant, prospective tenant, or employee need only make clear that he or she is requesting that an exception be made to a rule, policy, practice, or service because he or she has a disability. The use of the Krystle Property Management, Inc. form is not required to make such request.
Oral Requests
Oral requests taken by any employee or agent of Krystle Property Management, Inc. shall be logged immediately upon such request being made. The logged information must include the name of the individual, the property address for which the request is being made, the contact information of the individual, a summary of the request, and the date and time of such request. Said request shall be immediately forwarded to the managing broker, Derrick Karimian, and logged into the tenant’s, occupant’s, employee’s, or prospective tenant’s file.
Written Request
A written request taken by any employee or agent of Krystle Property Management, Inc. shall be logged immediately upon such request being made. The logged information must include the name of the individual, the property address for which the request is being made, the contact information of the individual, a summary of the request, and the date and time of such request. Said request shall be immediately forwarded to the managing broker, Derrick Karimian, and logged into the tenant’s, occupant’s, employee’s, or prospective tenant’s file.
Review of Request by Management Staff
- All reasonable accommodation and modification requests are to be consistently recorded as specified in this policy. All requests made by any individual shall be responded to in a timely matter.
- In order for a reasonable accommodation to be necessary, there must be an identifiable relationship, or nexus, between an individual’s disability and the requested accommodation. Krystle Property Management, Inc. is entitled to request verification of a disability or information necessary to evaluate if the requested accommodation may be necessary due to the disability if said disability is not obvious or otherwise known or the need is not readily apparent.
- Upon receipt of a request for reasonable accommodation, the managing broker will arrange to have a meeting in person or by telephone with the individual making such request in order to collect further information necessary to evaluate the request.Individuals making reasonable accommodation requests may submit verification of their disability from a doctor or other medical professional such as a therapist, physician’s assistant, nurse, counselor, social worker, peer support group, non-medical service agency, or reliable third party who is in a position to know about the individual’s disability.
- Individuals making a reasonable accommodation request shall cooperate with Krystle Property Management, Inc. in providing any disclosure or waiver of release of information forms necessary should their medical or other service provider require one to discuss the verification information provided to Krystle Property Management, Inc.
- Upon review of the information provided by the individual and the apparent or verified disability by a knowledgeable third party, the request shall be granted unless the request is unreasonable.
Decision after Management Review
- Upon review of any documentation and any verification of materials submitted to Krystle Property Management, Inc., the managing broker will provide a written response to the individual about the status of the granting or denial of a reasonable accommodation request. Any written response shall be kept in the tenant’s, occupant’s, employee’s, or prospective tenant’s file.
- Krystle Property Management, Inc. shall engage in the interactive process with any individual where a request is denied in its entirety or in part. Krystle Property Management, Inc. will perform a review of each individual’s circumstances on a case-by-case basis, based on various factors such as the cost of the requested accommodation, the financial resources of the property owner, the availability of alternate accommodations that would effectively meet the requester’s needs, and any direct threat of injury to the individual, the tenants, the occupants, or the public.
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