HUD Section 504 — Nondiscrimination and Accessibility in Federal Housing Programs

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. § 794) prohibits discrimination based on disability in any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance. For the ~$77 billion that the Department of Housing and Urban Development disburses annually (FY2026 enacted appropriation) — to public housing authorities, Section 8 landlords, CDBG grantees, HOME program recipients, multifamily mortgage insurance participants, and hundreds of other recipients — Section 504 means that people with disabilities cannot be excluded from these programs, and that the housing and facilities they fund must be physically accessible. HUD's implementing regulations appear at 24 CFR Part 8 and go well beyond the general prohibition: they impose specific design and construction requirements (5% of units in new multifamily projects must be accessible for mobility impairments; 2% for hearing or vision impairments), require program-wide transition plans to achieve accessibility of existing facilities, and govern how accessible units must be allocated to ensure people who need them actually get them.

Legal Authority

• 29 U.S.C. § 794 — Rehabilitation Act of 1973 § 504; prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities in any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance; requires recipients to provide reasonable accommodation and make programs accessible; the primary civil rights authority for HUD's accessibility requirements
• 42 U.S.C. § 5309 — Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 § 109; prohibits discrimination in CDBG-funded programs on the basis of disability (among other protected characteristics); extends § 504 nondiscrimination requirements to CDBG grantees
• 24 CFR Part 8 — HUD § 504 implementing regulation; establishes accessibility standards for HUD-funded housing, self-evaluation requirements, transition plans for existing facilities, complaint procedures, and compliance monitoring

Key Mechanics

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act prohibits HUD recipients (public housing agencies, state and local governments, nonprofits receiving HUD grants) from discriminating against qualified persons with disabilities in any aspect of their housing programs. The rule has two distinct applications. For new construction, at least 5% of units in a HUD-funded project must be accessible to persons with mobility impairments and an additional 2% must be accessible to persons with sensory impairments (visual and hearing), meeting the Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards (UFAS) or equivalent. For alterations, when a recipient modifies a building, the altered areas and path of travel to the altered areas must be made accessible to the maximum extent feasible. Recipients must conduct a self-evaluation of their programs and facilities, identify barriers, and develop a transition plan for correcting programmatic and physical barriers over time. On the accommodation side, recipients must provide reasonable accommodations — changes in rules, policies, practices, or services — to allow persons with disabilities equal opportunity to use and enjoy housing; they must also allow reasonable modifications (structural changes to units or common areas) at the tenant's expense for privately owned housing, or at the recipient's expense for public housing. Complaints of § 504 violations may be filed with HUD's Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity.

Current Rule (2026)

What This Rule Does

Section 504's nondiscrimination mandate prohibits HUD program recipients from:

• Denying a person with a disability the benefits of a program solely because of the disability
• Providing a lesser service or benefit to a person with a disability
• Using selection criteria that screen out people with disabilities without a legitimate, disability-neutral justification
• Failing to make reasonable accommodations that would allow a person with a disability to participate in the program

The Part 8 regulations translate these broad principles into concrete requirements for housing programs, where the physical characteristics of the dwelling are often the core barrier to participation.

Key Provisions

§ 8.1 — Purpose: implements Section 504 to prohibit exclusion of "otherwise qualified" individuals with handicaps from HUD-assisted programs solely because of their handicap; also implements § 109 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. § 5309)

§ 8.2 — Applicability: Part 8 applies to all applicants for and recipients of HUD assistance in operating programs or activities receiving such assistance — this broad reach covers not just direct HUD programs but every downstream recipient of HUD funds

§ 8.3 — Definitions: key definitions include:

• Accessible (for facilities): can be approached, entered, and used by individuals with physical handicaps — applied when used with new or altered non-residential facilities
• Accessible (for dwelling units): on an accessible route and, when designed/constructed/altered or adapted, can be approached, entered, and used by individuals with physical handicaps; a unit that is on an accessible route and is adaptable is accessible within this definition
• Individual with handicaps: any person who (1) has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, (2) has a record of such impairment, or (3) is regarded as having such impairment; the definition tracks the Rehabilitation Act's standards

§ 8.10 — Employment nondiscrimination: recipients cannot discriminate against qualified applicants with handicaps in any aspect of employment connected to the HUD-assisted program — recruitment, hiring, promotion, compensation, training, discharge; this tracks Title I of the ADA for the program employment context

§ 8.11 — Reasonable accommodation: a recipient must make reasonable accommodation to the known physical or mental limitations of an otherwise qualified applicant or employee with handicaps unless the recipient demonstrates the accommodation would impose an undue hardship on the program; reasonable accommodation in housing includes making facilities usable, job restructuring, modified work schedules, or acquiring modified equipment

§ 8.20 — Program accessibility (non-housing facilities): no qualified individual with handicaps shall be denied the benefits of a HUD-funded program because a recipient's non-housing facilities are inaccessible; recipients need not make every facility accessible — they must ensure the program as a whole is accessible when viewed in its entirety (the "program accessibility" standard, less demanding than "facility accessibility")

§ 8.22 — New multifamily housing construction: all newly constructed multifamily housing projects using HUD financial assistance must include:

• At least 5% of total dwelling units (or one unit, whichever is greater) accessible for persons with mobility impairments
• At least 2% of total dwelling units (or one unit, whichever is greater) accessible for persons with hearing or vision impairments
• A higher percentage may be required by HUD if local demand data (from census or disability surveys) shows greater need
• The 5%/2% thresholds apply per project; a 200-unit development must include 10 mobility-accessible units and 4 hearing/vision-accessible units

§ 8.23 — Alterations of existing housing: when substantial alterations are made (alterations costing 75% or more of replacement cost of the completed facility, for projects of 15+ units), the § 8.22 new construction accessibility requirements apply; for other alterations, to the maximum extent feasible, they must be made accessible; once 5% of units are fully accessible, no further unit alterations for accessibility are required under this paragraph

§ 8.24 — Existing housing programs: recipients operating existing HUD-funded housing programs must ensure the program, viewed in its entirety, is accessible — but they need not make every facility accessible; they may achieve accessibility through reassignment of services to accessible buildings, assignment of aides, or provision of services at alternate accessible sites; recipients must develop and implement a transition plan identifying steps to make the program accessible over time

§ 8.25 — Public housing and multi-family Indian housing: the same 5%/2% thresholds apply to all newly constructed public housing and multi-family Indian housing; existing public housing authorities must conduct a needs assessment of current tenants and waitlist applicants requiring accessible units and develop a transition plan for meeting those needs

§ 8.26 — Distribution of accessible units: accessible dwelling units must be distributed throughout projects and across building locations (not concentrated in one building or one part of a project); they must be available in a sufficient range of sizes and amenities so that a person with handicaps has choices comparable to other eligible persons; accessible units may not be segregated from non-accessible units

§ 8.27 — Occupancy of accessible units: when an accessible unit becomes vacant, the owner or manager must offer it:

1. First, to a current occupant of a non-accessible unit in the same or comparable project whose disability requires the accessible unit's features
2. Second, to an eligible applicant on the waiting list whose disability requires the accessible unit's features
3. Only then to an applicant not having handicaps requiring the accessible features — with the right to require a non-disabled occupant to move to a non-accessible unit if an eligible person with a disability subsequently needs the accessible unit (with reasonable notice) This priority system ensures accessible units are actually used by the people who need them, not simply allocated to whoever is next on the waitlist

§ 8.28 — Housing voucher programs: PHAs administering Section 8 housing vouchers must notify eligible individuals with disabilities of voucher availability, encourage participation by owners with accessible units, provide accessible unit listings to voucher holders with disabilities, and consider reasonable accommodation requests for extended voucher search periods for disability-related inability to locate accessible units

§ 8.32 — Accessibility standards: design, construction, and alterations must comply with sections 3–8 of the Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards (UFAS); departures are permitted where substantially equivalent or greater access is provided; UFAS compliance creates a safe harbor for Part 8 compliance for covered construction and alterations

How It Affects You

If you have a disability and are seeking HUD-assisted housing: Section 504 gives you the right to request a reasonable accommodation at any point in the application or tenancy process — not just accessible unit assignment. You can request that the housing authority communicate with you by a different method (large print, interpreter), that a unit be modified at housing authority expense (for features required for your disability), or that a rule be waived if it creates a disability-related barrier (e.g., a no-pets policy waived for a service animal or emotional support animal, which is required by the Fair Housing Act in addition to Section 504). Requests for reasonable accommodation must be made to the housing authority or private owner; if they deny the request, you can file a complaint with HUD's Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity.

If you are a public housing authority or Section 8 landlord receiving HUD funds: you must comply with Part 8's accessibility requirements regardless of whether you have any current tenants with disabilities. New construction must meet the 5%/2% accessible unit thresholds. You must have a transition plan for existing housing. You must use the accessible unit occupancy priorities in § 8.27. You must provide reasonable accommodations. HUD's Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity enforces Part 8 through complaint investigation and compliance reviews; failure to comply can result in loss of HUD funding.

If you're a CDBG or HOME grantee: the nondiscrimination requirement flows through your HUD grant to your projects. Housing projects your community builds or rehabilitates with CDBG or HOME funds must meet Part 8's accessibility standards (the 5%/2% thresholds for new multifamily construction; alteration requirements for rehabilitation). Community facilities funded with CDBG must be programmatically accessible. Your grantee compliance obligation includes ensuring subrecipients meet Part 8 as a condition of their subawards.

How Section 504 relates to the Fair Housing Act and ADA: Section 504 (Part 8) applies specifically to HUD-funded programs and activities. The Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. §§ 3604, 3617) imposes accessibility design requirements on most new multifamily housing (7+ units) regardless of federal funding and protects against disability discrimination in most rental housing. The Americans with Disabilities Act applies to HUD itself as a public entity and to commercial places of public accommodation. For HUD-assisted housing, all three laws may apply simultaneously, and recipients must comply with all applicable requirements — Part 8's accessibility thresholds often exceed FHA's minimum design standards.

Statutory Authority

This rule implements:

• 29 U.S.C. § 794 (Rehabilitation Act § 504) — prohibits discrimination against otherwise qualified individuals with handicaps in any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance; requires all federal departments to promulgate regulations to implement § 504 for their assisted programs
• 42 U.S.C. § 5309 (Housing and Community Development Act § 109) — parallel nondiscrimination requirement specific to HUD-administered programs under the Housing and Community Development Act (CDBG, Section 8, HOME); § 109 reinforces § 504 for HUD's core housing programs

Recent Rulemakings

2010 Final Rule (75 FR 29218): updated Part 8's accessibility standards to reference current UFAS provisions and aligned Part 8 requirements with the Fair Housing Act's design-and-construction standards for new multifamily housing; clarified that public housing authorities must assess the accessibility needs of current tenants and waiting list applicants. 2016 Guidance (81 FR 25317): HUD issued guidance on how to determine whether a requested reasonable accommodation or modification is reasonable under Section 504 and the Fair Housing Act. No structural amendments since 2010; accessibility standards continue to be applied through UFAS and Fair Housing Accessibility Guidelines.

Implementing Regulations — HUD's Own Disability Nondiscrimination Obligations (24 CFR Part 9)

While Part 8 governs HUD-assisted programs (placing Section 504 obligations on grantees, PHAs, and developers), 24 CFR Part 9 governs HUD's internal obligations as a federal executive agency under Section 504 and the Rehabilitation Act — covering HUD's own programs and activities (its own offices, administration, public-facing services, and employment programs).

• § 9.101 — Purpose: implements Section 119 of the Rehabilitation, Comprehensive Services, and Developmental Disabilities Amendments of 1978; prohibits discrimination by HUD itself on the basis of disability in any program or activity HUD conducts
• § 9.110 — Self-evaluation: HUD must evaluate its own current policies and practices to identify and modify any that discriminate on the basis of disability; the self-evaluation must be done with input from individuals with disabilities and disability advocacy organizations
• § 9.111 — Notice: HUD must make available to employees, applicants, participants, and the public a notice describing the nondiscrimination requirements and providing contact information for HUD's Section 504/ADA Coordinator
• § 9.150 — Physical accessibility: HUD's facilities and public meetings must be accessible to persons with disabilities; HUD must ensure that communications (written, electronic, in-person) are accessible to individuals with visual, hearing, or cognitive disabilities
• § 9.160 — Complaint process: individuals who believe they have been subjected to discrimination by HUD itself may file a complaint with the HUD Section 504/ADA Coordinator; the Coordinator has responsibility for coordinating HUD's compliance and investigating complaints about HUD's own programs

Part 9 should be distinguished from Part 8 (which places nondiscrimination obligations on recipients of HUD assistance). Part 9 is HUD's compliance with its own obligations as a federal agency conducting programs — the legal basis is Section 504's requirement that federal executive agencies not discriminate in their own operations.

Pending Action