ASK THE LAWYER
MARK TSCHETTER | TSCHETTER HAMRICK SULZER
Assistive Animals F.A.Q.
Does a landlord have to allow assistive animals
at no pet communities or no pet properties? Yes. Assistive animals are not pets. Assistive animals are
necessary for a disabled tenant to use and enjoy the
rental on the same basis as a non-disabled individual. Under fair housing laws, disabled tenants are
entitled to an exception to any “no pet” policy if they
meet the legal requirements. A disabled tenant’s
legal right to have an assistive animal, to meet a
disability related need, is called a reasonable accommodation. Failure to accommodate a qualified disabled tenant, by allowing an assistive animal at a no
pet community, is housing discrimination and subjects
the landlord to significant legal liability.
If the tenant’s animal does not perform a service,
do we still have to allow the animal? Yes, if the tenant
meets legal requirements. While the rental industry
consistently uses the term “service animal”, the
proper term is “assistive animal”. An assistive animal
is either a service animal or an emotional support
animal, also known as a companion animal. Service
animals perform a service for the tenant or provide
a disability related benefit. An emotional support
animal lessens a tenant’s disability related symptoms
or provides other disability related benefits. Under
fair housing laws, if a disabled tenant has a disability related need for an emotional support animal, you
must accommodate the tenant by making an exception to your no pet policy, just as you would be required to make such an exception for a disabled
tenant requesting a service animal.
Can we require the
tenant to provide
documentation? Maybe.
If the tenant’s disability and need for
an assistive animal is obvious, then
you may not require documentation. If the tenant’s disability and
need for the assistive animal is not
obvious, then you may require
documetation. You should
have well thought out and
specifically defined policies
for handling reasonable accommodation requests in
general, and specifically for handling assistive animal requests
made by tenants. You should also attend
a fair housing class which discusses how to properly handle reasonable accommodations in detail,
including which forms to use when a tenant makes
an assistive animal request.
Is documentation provided by an Internet company suficient documentation of a tenant’s disability
and need for an assistive animal? Probably not. Under
the law, a person providing documentation must be
in a position to know that the tenant is disabled and
has a disability related need for an assistive animal.
What legal requirements must a tenant meet to Generally, a company that generates revenue by churnhave an assistive animal? A tenant must meet three ing out assistive animal letters, based on ten minute
requirements to be granted a reason