HUD Releases
Emotional Support
Animal Guidance
J
anuary 28, 2020, the U.S. Department of Housing
and Urban Development (HUD) released new
guidance to clarify the responsibilities of both rental
housing providers and renters concerning reasonable
accommodation requests for emotional support animals
(ESAs) in housing. NAA staff has reviewed the guidance
and is working with industry experts to update NAA’s ESA
products accordingly, including NAA’s ESA Toolkit and
NAAEI's ESA course. In light of the revised guidance, you
are strongly advised to consult your legal counsel before
taking any action regarding emotional support animal
requests.
For four years, this has been a priority issue for NAA
and we have been urging HUD to issue new guidance, so
this clarity is welcome news that was urgently needed in the
face of growing abuse. As rental housing operators know,
in recent years there has been a significant increase in
requests for emotional support animals from applicants and
residents. The overwhelming number of accommodation
requests for ESAs are to allow animals in
no-pets buildings, grant exceptions to existing policies on
prohibited breeds or weight restrictions or to avoid paying
pet deposits or fees. This made it extremely difficult for
owners and operators to parse out legitimate requests from
illegitimate ones.
We hope this new federal guidance will help rental
housing providers mitigate abuse, ensure better compliance
with fair housing laws and continue to protect the rights
of disabled persons to live with their service animals and
emotional support animals. NAA will communicate the
specifics of the guidance as soon as
the analysis is complete.
www.aamdhq.org
Keeping the World Safe
from Lawyers, one
Trip Hazard at a time!
LOCALLY OWNED AND OPERATED SINCE 2003
AFTER
TRIP HAZARDS EXIST:
In sidewalks, driveways, curbs, pool decking,
around tree roots, drainage areas…
“Increase Tenant Satisfaction & SAVE up to 80%
of project costs by SIDEWALK SHAVING, NOT REPLACING.”
CONCRETE REPAIR EXPERTS
General Concrete • Crack Repair / Caulking • Protective Coatings
303.287.1959 • AtlasConcreteSolutions.com
JANUARY 2020
TRENDS | 43