Giebeler v. M & B Assocs., 343 F.3d 1143 (9th Cir. 2003)

An HIV-positive man applied to rent an apartment, even though he did not meet the rental company's minimum required income. After his initial rejection, plaintiff attempted to re-lease the apartment with a cosigner, but the defendant, pursuant to its no cosigner policy, rejected his application again. In response to the plaintiff's claim of a Fair Housing Act violation, the Ninth Circuit found that reasonable accommodations included those addressing financial limitations caused by a disability, and that in this case the plaintiff's disability was the reason he was unable to meet the defendant's income requirements. The court thus found that the defendant's refusal to waive the no cosigner policy meant that the disabled plaintiff (and others like him) would be deprived of an equal opportunity to use and enjoy the dwelling.