# 202

October 25, 1996





The Honorable Vernon J. Ehlers
Member, United States House of 
  Representatives
166 Federal Building
Grand Rapids, Michigan  49503

Dear Congressman Ehlers:

     This is in response to your inquiry on behalf of your
constituent, Mrs. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX, regarding whether hotels can
require deposits for auxiliary aids and services such as
assistive listening devices.  A hotel is considered a public
accommodation and is covered under title III of the Americans
with Disabilities Act (ADA).  Please excuse our delay in
responding.

     The ADA requires public accommodations, including hotels, to
furnish appropriate auxiliary aids and services where necessary
to ensure that no individual with a disability is excluded,
denied services, segregated or otherwise treated differently than
other individuals without disabilities because of the absence of
auxiliary aids and services.  Specifically, your constituent
inquires whether a hotel can require credit card imprints before
auxiliary aids such as an assistive listening device would be
provided.  Section 36.301 of the title III regulations prohibits
a public accommodation from imposing a surcharge on a particular
individual with a disability or any group of individuals with
disabilities to cover the cost of measures that are required to
provide that individual or group with the nondiscriminatory
treatment required by the ADA.  

     It is the Department's view, however, that reasonable,
completely refundable, deposits are not prohibited by this
section.  Requiring deposits is an important means by which an
entity can ensure the availability of equipment to meet the 
auxiliary aids requirement with future patrons.  Therefore, the
requirement of a credit card imprint would not be considered an
unreasonable deposit.  Further discussion of the meaning of
surcharges and deposits may be found in the appendix to the
enclosed regulation on page 305.

     For your information, I am enclosing a copy of the title III
regulation and the Department's Title III Technical Assistance
Manual.  I hope this information will be helpful to you in
responding to your constituent. 

                            Sincerely,



                         Deval L. Patrick
                    Assistant Attorney General
                      Civil Rights Division

Enclosures