# 75


III-1.2000                                   May 25, 1993


DJ 202-PL-146




Ms. Nancy R. Snow
State of Colorado
Department of Regulatory Agencies
Civil Rights Division
1560 Broadway, Suite 1050
Denver, Colorado  80202-5143

Dear Ms. Snow:

     This letter is in response to your request for information
about the provisions of title III of the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA).

     The ADA authorizes the Department of Justice to provide
technical assistance to individuals and entities having rights or
obligations under the Act.  This letter provides informal
guidance to assist you in understanding the ADA's requirements. 
However, it does not constitute a legal interpretation or legal
advice, and it is not binding on the Department.

     You have asked whether title III of the ADA covers certain
areas within existing multi-family dwellings:  (1) an office
where people make inquiries and applications; (2) common areas,
such as meeting rooms or club houses, used only by residents and
their non-paying guests; (3) common areas available to be rented
to the public; and (4) parking areas and exterior access routes
in buildings that contain offices or common areas that must
comply with the ADA.  You have also asked for a definition for
"short-term" rentals such that a residential hotel offering them
would be a place of lodging covered by the ADA, and whether
congregate care facilities other than homeless shelters, such as
nursing homes, which offer medical or social services, are
covered by the ADA.

     Title III of the ADA, which applies to certain privately
owned and operated facilities, does not apply to strictly
residential dwellings.  However, common areas in residential
buildings, such as rental offices and meeting rooms, that fall in
one of the twelve categories of places of public accommodation 
under title III and that are not intended for the exclusive use
of tenants and their guests are subject to the ADA.  For example,
rental offices that are open to the public would be considered
rental establishments or service establishments under title III. 
Meeting rooms, if not restricted to tenants and their guests,
would be a place of public gathering covered by the ADA. 
Parking, entrances, access routes, and restrooms serving the
areas covered by the ADA would also be covered.  In determining
whether the ADA applies to a particular part of a residential
facility, it makes no difference whether the facility has, or is
required to have, accessible living units.  

     The Department has not established a definition of "short-
term" rentals in the context of ADA applicability to places of
lodging.  Such determinations can only be made on a case by case
basis.  We have concluded in one specific situation that a
facility intended or used for stays of one week or less is a
"public accommodation" offering "short-term" rentals, and thus
subject to ADA coverage.  However, that finding does not preclude
ADA coverage of facilities where longer stays are permitted.

     Congregate care facilities offering medical or social
services are covered by the ADA, regardless of the transience of
their occupants, if they are determined to be "social service
center establishments," one of the ADA's twelve categories of
places of public accommodation.  The preamble to the title III
regulation specifically states that nursing homes and homeless
shelters providing social services to their occupants are covered
as social service center establishments, independent of their
coverage as places of lodging.  Further discussion of this issue
is included on pages 35551-52 of the title III Federal Register
publication.

     I hope this information is responsive to your inquiry.  To
provide additional information, I have enclosed copies of the
regulations and technical assistance manuals for both titles II
and III of the ADA.

                            Sincerely,



                         John L. Wodatch
                              Chief
                      Public Access Section
Enclosures (4)