Service Animals & Comfort animals

What is the difference between a Service and an Emotional Support Animal? A service animal is any guide dog, signal dog, or horse individually trained to provide assistance to an individual with a disability

Service or Comfort Animals Service animals or emotional support animals are covered under federal & state laws. Landlords and homeowners’ associations must make . reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities. This includes individuals without disabilities who live or are associated with people with disabilities. A “reasonable accommodation” is a change, exception, or adjustment to a rule, policy, or practice in order to allow a person with disability to have equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling. This generally includes waiving the prohibition against no-pet policies and allowing service animals and emotional support animals to reside on the property.

Comfort Animals An emotional support animal provides comfort to a person with a psychiatric disability, but is not trained to perform specific tasks to assist them. Emotional support animals are not limited to dogs or horses

No Pets Policy Housing complex has a “no-pets” policy, must allow a resident have a service or emotional animal

What are You Allowed to ask an Applicant who Requests Accommodation to allow a Service or Emotional Support Animal? (1) Verification that the applicant/resident has a disability and a disability-related need for the requested accommodation; (2) Documentation of the disability and need for the animal from an appropriate third party (i.e., medical provider, mental health provider, other professional).

What Else Can You ask? You may also ask for information necessary to evaluate the disability-related need for the requested accommodation, such as: • Ability to meet requirements of tenancy/ownership; • Whether applicant is qualified for a dwelling available only to persons with handicaps; • Whether an applicant is qualified for priority available to persons with handicaps; • Whether the applicant is a current illegal abuser or addict of a controlled substance; • Whether applicant has been convicted of the illegal manufacture/distribution of a controlled substance.

5. What am I NOT allowed to ask from an Applicant You cannot ask an applicant for the following information: • If he or she has a disability when the applicant does not raise the issue first; • Nature or extent/severity of the disability. This also means that you cannot ask an applicant for his or her medical records.

Obvious Disability Note: You cannot require documentation if the disability or need is relatively apparent, obvious, or already known to the provider. For example, a blind tenant should not be required to provide documentation of his or her disability and need for a guide dog. In fact, if an applicant’s disability is obvious, and if the need for the requested accommodation is obvious, then you cannot request any additional information.

Can I charge an extra fee or require additional deposit from applicants with disabilities? No. You cannot charge a fee or require additional security deposit as a condition of allowing the service or emotional support animal. However, you can charge the applicant/tenant at the end of his or her tenancy for any damage caused by the service or emotional support animal (beyond that of normal wear and tear).

Demeanor Landlords should be careful not to give the impression that they are harassing or otherwise doubting the tenant’s request, but simply doing due diligence in confirming the document. Fair housing laws generally require that the person providing a tenant’s documentation about the disability must be a person “who is in a position to know” about the tenant’s disability. It’s entirely within your rights to confirm that a legitimate health professional has prescribed the companion animal for the tenant..

What are appropriate methods of documentation/verification of disability? Verification of disability may be obtained through the following methods: • A third party verification form that we send to the applicant or resident’s physician, psychologist, clinical social worker, or Veteran’s Administration. This form must be signed by the applicant/resident authorizing the release of such information to the owner; • Receipt of social security disability payments.

Denial Based on Hardship Landlords can refuse to allow certain companion animals if the animal will present undue hardship or expense for the landlord’s business. An example of this is when a landlord’s insurance company will raise rates or drop coverage for certain dog breeds to live on the property that are considered too aggressive. Before Denial Landlord should consult a Reputable resource to confirm basis for denial.