Emotional Support Animals: Policy Issue
Overview
Reasonable accommodation requests for assistance animals—including emotional support animals—cause concern for apartment owners and operators. They affect an owner’s ability to assess pet deposits and fees and to apply rules and policies to a resident’s animal. Additionally, they expose owners to possible fair housing complaints.
The federal Fair Housing Act ("The Act") provides guidelines that enable a wide range of individuals to verify the disability-related need for an emotional support animal. The Act does not mandate that the individual certifying the residents need for an emotional support animal must have a genuine relationship with the tenant. This lack of specificity in the regulations allows for abuse by individuals who do not legitimately require an assistance animal, as they can easily obtain documentation from online sources or others without a legitimate professional relationship with the tenant. This not only imposes an unfair burden on landlords but undermines the intent of the Act to help those truly in need of an emotional support animal.
NAA Position
The National Apartment Association strongly supports the rights of persons with disabilities to make reasonable accommodation requests so they may have equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling. NAA urges the US Department of Housing and Urban Development to revise its regulations regarding emotional support animals or take other steps to mitigate potential abuse and ensure that the benefit of a reasonable accommodation applies to only those who legitimately need it.
As an Owner or Operator, How Does this Affect My Business?
According to the Fair Housing Act, apartment owners and operators are required to make reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, practices, or services, when such accommodations may be necessary to afford a person with a disability equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling unit or common space. The most requested accommodation is for a rental housing provider to allow an assistance animal (defined as either a service animal or an emotional support animal) that would normally be prohibited, to reside with the resident. The request can come in many forms, such as an exception to community rules that prohibit animals in a no-pets building, prohibit certain aggressive breeds on the property or require the tenant to pay additional fees or deposits for a pet.
Similar to the airline industry, a lack of clarity in the law governing reasonable accommodation requests in housing has created a loophole for bad actors to abuse the system, creating a cottage industry of online outlets that produce the verification required by law for the right price. The law also does not give owners and operators clear guidance on compliance, giving them pause because if they make the wrong decision on a request, it could result in a housing discrimination complaint and having to pay significant monetary damages to the resident.
Contact Information
To learn more about this issue, please contact NAA's Government Affairs team.
For more Information:
Related Content
HUD Releases Emotional Support Animal Guidance
Handling Emotional Support Animal Requests With…
