Must Condo Association Provide Handicapped Parking for Renter?

J.D. from New Haven County writes:

Dear Mister Condo,

I live in a condo association with no assigned parking spaces. Is the condo association required to provide handicapped parking spaces to renters who do not have a lease with the owner of the condo?

Mister Condo replies:

J.D., generally speaking, condo associations are under no obligation to provide handicapped parking spaces to unit owners or renters. I am not sure how you have a renter without a lease with the owner of the condo but that is irrelevant to the question at hand. The Board is required to give due consideration and reasonable accommodation to any resident’s request for a handicapped parking space but they are not obligated to provide one. In fact, in most associations, there are so few parking spaces available that the request is usually deemed unreasonable. However, if the requester feels they are not being given fair consideration of their request, they may file suit against the Board seeking their handicapped space. If that happens, the association will likely have to hire its own attorney to defend against such suit. Good luck!