Those dealing with behavioral health problems face a lot of challenges, but housing shouldn’t be one of them. Tenants have rights—including those with health issues. Such rights can help keep someone housed or make them more comfortable in their homes.
This Tenant Law Center presentation will provide an overview of tenant rights related to behavioral health issues, including a discussion about the Americans with Disabilities Act and Washington Law Against Discrimination. It will also discuss reasonable accommodations and modifications and walk providers through the process of helping clients make these requests. Finally, providers will be able to ask legal experts all of their burning questions about how to help clients dealing with housing instability.
Presentation Resources
Washington State
Oregon State
Other Resources
Elizabeth Powell has been actively practicing law since she was admitted to the Washington Bar in 2000. She volunteered for the King County Housing Justice Project for years and took the knowledge she gained representing tenants facing evictions into her private practice, where she litigated well over a thousand cases in the last 23 years. She was solo counsel on Thoreson Homes v Prudhon, a Div I published decision which reversed the trial court. She has presented at CLE’s geared towards landlord-tenant litigation and has assisted with litigation and/or settlement of housing cases all over the state. She has handled grievance hearings with PCHA, THA, SHA, and KCHA. She has litigated matters involving the WSLAD, the ADA and service animals, and reasonable accommodation.
Kasey Burton is a Senior Staff Attorney at the Tenant Law Center, which provides eviction prevention and tenant advocacy services to King County. Kasey has spent several years practicing landlord-tenant law as both a right-to-counsel attorney for tenants facing eviction and providing eviction prevention assistance, which has allowed her to pursue her passion for housing justice. Kasey attended the University of Washington for both her Bachelor’s in Political Science, with a minor in Law, Societies, and Justice, and her Juris Doctorate. She is currently working on her Master’s in Public Administration at the University of Colorado Denver and hopes to use this degree to facilitate her engagement in policy change that provides Washington citizens who are tenants or unhoused with the protections they deserve.
Andra Kranzler is the Directing Attorney with the Tenant Law Center. Prior to joining TLC, Andra practiced employment and labor law focusing on race and gender equity in employment. She served as a legislative assistant for City of Seattle Councilmember Lisa Herbold and staffed the City of Seattle’s Source of Income Discrimination, Move-in Fees and Fair Chance Housing legislation. Andra earned her J.D. from Seattle University School of Law. Andra has a B.A. in Urban and Regional Planning from Eastern Washington University. Andra currently serves as the President for the Purpose, Dignity and Action and currently serves as a member at large for the Loren Miller Bar Association. Prior to attending law school Andra was an advocate for people living homeless.
