A parking space close to your home can be a reasonable accommodation the HOA must provide — and where common-area parking is required to be accessible, the association can be cited by the city for missing markings and signage.
Parking as a reasonable accommodation
Even where spaces are unassigned or first-come, the Fair Housing Act can require an HOA to make an exception and assign or designate an accessible space near your unit when you need it because of a disability (a mobility impairment, for example). Refusing to consider it, or applying “we don’t assign spaces” as an absolute, is where associations get into trouble — the whole point of a reasonable accommodation is a change to the usual rule.
Cost: a policy change (designating a space) is generally the association’s to make at no charge to you. A physical change (repainting, adding a sign, striping an access aisle) is a modification — who pays depends on whether it is in a common area the HOA must keep accessible; see accommodations & modifications.
Common-area accessibility (ADA & building code)
Separate from the FHA, where an HOA’s parking or facilities are open to the public or are required to be accessible under the ADA or local building/fire code, the association must maintain them properly — including:
- Properly marked accessible spaces with the required signage and the international symbol of access.
- Striped access aisles next to accessible spaces.
- Visible fire-lane / no-parking markings and required safety signage.
These are enforced by local government. A city inspector can cite — even criminally cite — an association whose parking area lacks required ADA markings, access aisles, or fire-lane striping. If you have reported missing accessibility markings and the HOA has ignored you, that report and the timeline are worth preserving.