Guidance on the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design

Subpart D - Title III Regulation A number of commenters expressed term vacation rental can select any rental concerns about the ability of the Department or management company to lease and to require owners of accessible units manage their unit, or they may rent them to participate in the rental program, to out on their own. They also may choose require developers, condo associations, or never to lease those units. Thus, there are homeowners associations to retain owner- no guarantees that at any particular time, ship of accessible units, and to impose accessible units will be available for rental accessibility requirements on individual by the public. According to this commenter, owners who choose to place inaccessible providing incentives for owners of acces- units into a rental program after purchase. sible units to place their units in the rental These commenters stated that individuals program will not work, because it does who purchase accessible vacation units in not guarantee the availability of the requi- condominiums, individual vacation homes, site number of rooms dispersed across and timeshares have ownership rights in the development, and there is not any their units and may choose lawfully to make reasonable, identifiable source of funds their units available to the public some, all, to cover the costs of such incentives. or none of the time. Commenters advised the Department that the Securities and A number of commenters also indicated Exchange Commission takes the position that it potentially is discriminatory as well that if condominium units are offered in as economically infeasible to require that connection with participation in a required a developer hold back the accessible rental program for any part of the year, units so that the units can be maintained require the use of an exclusive rental agent, in the rental program year-round. One or impose conditions otherwise restricting commenter pointed out that if a developer the occupancy or rental of the unit, then did not sell the accessible condominiums that offering will be viewed as an offering or timeshares in the building inventory, the of securities in the form of an investment developer would be subject to a potential (rather than a real estate offering). SEC ADA or FHAct complaint because persons Release No. 33-5347, Guidelines as to the with disabilities who wanted to buy acces- Applicability of the Federal Securities Laws sible units rather than rent them each year to Offers and Sales of Condominiums or would not have the option to purchase Units in a Real Estate Development (Jan. them. In addition, if a developer held 4, 1973). Consequently, most condominium back accessible units, the cost of those developers do not impose such restric- units would have to be spread across all tions at the time of sale. Moreover, owners the buyers of the inaccessible units, and who choose to rent their units as a short- in many cases would make the project Department of Justice Guidance on 2010 Standards: Title III - 53