Locating an accessible house or apartment can be time-consuming, so it usually comes down to making a few modifications in an elevated apartment building or ranch-style house or trailer. Under the Fair Housing Act, a landlord cannot refuse to allow a renter to make reasonable accommodations to a rental unit for wheelchair accessibility, as long as the renter agrees to restore the unit to its original state, when he or she moves out. Read more about the Fair Housing Act.

For assistance locating accessible housing, contact your local Independent Living Center; they will have referrals. . A directory of all the CILs is listed on the Independent Living Research Utilization Project (ILRU) Web site: http://www.ilru.org and also at Virtual CIL: http://www.virtualcil.net/cils

Check with other non-profit organizations for housing listings. Looking through mainstream classifieds and most realty companies is often fruitless, but look in your telephone directory yellow pages for realty companies that cater to locating properties with wheelchair access. There are a few rare birds!

The Wheelchair Accessible Home Clearinghouse To look for or list accessible housing for sale or locate realtors who specialize in accessible housing other related resources, go to http://www.waccess.org. A 24-page newsletter from Wheelchair Access Inc. is also available at PO Box 12, Glenmoore, PA 19343; tel. (610) 942-3266; fax (610) 942-0282; or email: info@waccess.org.

The National Accessible Apartment Clearinghouse is a database of apartment listings for people with special housing needs. Information is available on more than 18,000 units nationwide by calling the clearinghouse's hotline (800) 421-1221, or by visiting their Web site at: http://www.forrent.com.