fair housing?

can anyone help us to develop a way to identify residents whom may need assistance in evacuating from our highrise in the event of fire or other such emergency where the elevators would be out of service, and stay within guidlines of fair housing, please help.

I did something like this while I was at a property for residents that had special needs; primarily disabilities.

As part of all the resident files for this property; the residents sign a 'authorization to release information' form that stipulates that any release of information will be documented by court order, signed release (residency verifications for loans/credit cards, employment, or other housing); or to first responders in the event of an emergency. I also had a page in each file listing emergency contact information in the event that something happened to the resident that they would be unable to speak for themselves; allowing us to abide by their wishes and contact someone they trusted to act on their behalf.

I created a simple spreadsheet that lists the unit number, the resident name, and the nature of the disability (mobility, sight, hearing) that might impede timely evacuation. I kept a copy in the leasing office, and sent a copy to the captain of the closest firehouse, with quarterly updates.

If you have something to send me, I would be glad to take a look at it.

First things first, I would suggest a meeting with your local fire department so that you have a general idea how you would be expected to evacuate any and all of your residents in the event of an emergency when elevators are not available. I don't know whether a fire department would also agree to meet with your residents for a fire/emergency safety session, but perhaps that is something that could be arranged.

More specifically from a fair housing standpoint, you as the landlord (LL) do not want to be one who "identifies" those residents who may need assistance; those residents should self-identify. So once you have a general evacuation plan, that should then be sent to all residents along with an invitation to all residents to let you know should they believe they would find the evacuation plan problematic. For those who would self-identify as to having problems with the evacuation, you would have a discussion of possible ideas (some of which you may get from the fire department). A questionnaire for these scenarios could be created so that folks are electing at their option to share whatever information they may wish to vacilitate their safety.

Another resource for you to consider may be your insurer, as they may already have addressed tihs issue and created some guidance as part of their risk management. They want LLs to have smart policies in place to better foster safety since that can mean less claims which means less money paid out.

I should add that our plan was created jointly by the local FD, the insurance agency (that was experienced with special needs housing) and the property attorney in such a way as to limit the amount and type of information released and under what circumstances.

I created a form that we give all residents along with an emergency evacuation plan. We explain to the resident that if they feel they would need assistance in evacuating the building they are to complete that form and return it to the office, where similar to Johnny we have an excel file that's shared with the FD as well as a printed sheet they keep in the fire box.

The City of Houston has a great sample plan.. you can take from it even if you are not in Houston..

Good Luck

www.houstontx.gov/fire/business/triad.html