Legal Question in Disability Law in California

Normally, the handicapped tenant is responsible for physical modifications to an apartment, not the landlord. (The exception is in federally subsidized housing.) The landlord is required to permit the modifications, but may require the tenant to remove them when the tenant vacates. The landlord can also ask to see plans in advance, require the work be done with a building permit and by a licensed contractor.

The landlord may not require the tenant when he vacates to remove modifications that do not reduce the suitability or attractiveness of the unit for other tenants. For example, a tenant may have to remove a railing in a bathtub, but not the reinforcements behind the wall that support the railing. Also, a tenant does not have to remove modifications outside the apartment, such as a ramp.

Talk to your landlord and tell him you will pay for the modifications, unless you live in federally subsidized housing. There may be agencies that will help you pay for this, although I do not know how their funding is affected by the budget problems. Only if the landlord refuses to allow you to make reasonable modifications at your expense is he discriminating.