Organizational Sign-On Letter in Support of Legislative Clarification of Elevator Accessibility Requirements

The Honorable Tim Scott
Chairman
Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
United States Senate

The Honorable Elizabeth Warren
Ranking Member
Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
United States Senate

Re: Urgent Need for Legislative Clarification of Fair Housing Act Accessibility Requirements for Elevators in Small Multifamily Buildings

Dear Chairman Scott and Ranking Member Warren:

I am writing to urge you to incorporate legislative language into current housing legislation clarifying the accessibility provisions of the Fair Housing Amendments Act (FHAA), to ensure that federal law does not unintentionally prevent the installation of safe, wheelchair-accessible elevators in small multifamily buildings.

This clarification is urgently needed not only to reduce the cost of housing production, but also to improve the quality and accessibility of the nation's housing stock.

Under current practice, the FHAA has been widely interpreted as requiring that any elevator installed in covered multifamily housing must meet the size specifications of the ANSI A117.1 standard (now known as the ICC A117.1 standard). While this standard is one valid means of compliance, it has often been treated as the only permissible option. This interpretation has had the unintended effect of discouraging elevator installation altogether in many small and mid-scale apartment buildings.

As a result, small-footprint multifamily buildings of three, four, five, and even occasionally six stories are constructed without elevators across the United States. In these buildings, only ground-floor units are accessible, while the majority of homes remain inaccessible to wheelchair users, seniors, families with strollers, and others with mobility needs. This outcome is not only inconsistent with the intent of the Fair Housing Act. It also represents a significant decline in the quality and long-term usability of American housing.

By contrast, in peer countries across Europe, elevators are standard in buildings of this size because building codes allow appropriately sized, fully wheelchair-accessible elevators that are feasible to install in small structures. These buildings provide durable, accessible housing for residents across all stages of life and form the backbone of some of the world's most successful urban neighborhoods.

Clarifying the FHAA to explicitly allow smaller, wheelchair-accessible elevators would enable the United States to produce housing that is both more affordable and more functional. This reform would expand accessibility, not weaken it, by making elevators economically feasible in buildings where they are currently omitted, without imposing additional regulatory requirements on developers.

Congress can accomplish this by clarifying that compliance with A117.1 is one acceptable means of satisfying FHAA accessibility requirements, but not the exclusive means, and that state and local building codes may permit smaller elevators, provided they meet functional wheelchair accessibility standards.

Without this clarification, current federal interpretation will continue to discourage elevator installation in a growing share of new multifamily housing, particularly as more jurisdictions move to allow small, single-stair buildings. With this clarification, Congress can remove a major barrier to accessible, high-quality, and cost-effective housing.

This is a targeted, high-impact reform that would improve housing affordability, expand accessibility, and help bring American urban housing standards into alignment with those of other advanced nations.

I respectfully urge you to take action to incorporate this clarification into forthcoming housing legislation.

I would welcome the opportunity to provide additional information or connect you with technical experts, accessibility advocates, and housing providers working on this issue.

Thank you for your leadership on housing.

Sincerely,
Dr. Alicia Pederson
Founder, Courtyard Urbanist
[additional signatories to follow]

Organizations and individuals interested in signing this letter should sign the form below:
Deadline for initial signatories: February 20, 2026

cc:
The Honorable John Thune, Majority Leader, United States Senate
The Honorable Mike Crapo, United States Senate
The Honorable Raphael Warnock, United States Senate
The Honorable Tina Smith, United States Senate
The Honorable French Hill, Chairman, House Financial Services Committee
The Honorable Maxine Waters, Ranking Member, House Financial Services Committee

Proposed Legislative Language (Sample Amendment)
Section __. Clarification of Accessibility Compliance for Elevators in Covered Multifamily Dwellings.

Sections 804(f)(3)(C) and 804(f)(4) of the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3604(f)(3)(C) and 3604(f)(4)) are amended by adding at the end the following:

“For purposes of this subsection, and for purposes of determining compliance through compliance with appropriate requirements of the American National Standard for buildings and facilities providing accessibility and usability for physically handicapped people (ANSI A117.1) or any successor standard, nothing in this Act shall be construed to require adherence to any specific elevator size, dimensional, or technical standard, including ANSI A117.1, where an elevator otherwise provides functional access for wheelchair users. Nothing in this Act shall be interpreted to prohibit State or local governments from adopting, maintaining, or permitting alternative elevator size, dimensional, or technical standards in covered multifamily dwellings, provided that such elevators accommodate wheelchair users and provide accessible access to covered dwelling units in accordance with this Act.”