Understanding your obligation to provide fair housing for renters with emotional support animals is an important part of your role as a landlord. When it comes to housing laws for people with emotional support animals, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. Here’s what you need to know when a renter makes a request for an emotional support animal and housing accommodations at your property so you can make sure you comply with the law.
The Federal Fair Housing Act and Emotional Support Animals
It’s important for landlords to understand the laws guiding the presence of emotional support animals and housing. The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination against renters with disabilities, so you need to make sure you’re in compliance with these federal regulations at all times.
While some disabilities are obvious to observers, others may be completely invisible. The Fair Housing Act’s definition of persons with disabilities includes individuals with physical or mental impairments that limit major life activities, such as:
- Autism
- Cerebral palsy
- Epilepsy
- Mental illness
- Visual, speed, or hearing impairments
Renters with emotional distress issues or mental illness may have an emotional support animal. These animals offer relief from symptoms of a renter’s disability. Under the Fair Housing Act, landlords must provide reasonable accommodations for renters with valid emotional support animals. This is true even if your building has restrictions on pets or a total no-pet policy.
Emotional support animals can help alleviate symptoms such as depression, severe anxiety, or phobias. The Fair Housing Act allows people with emotional and mental disabilities to have their assistance animals with them so that they have equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling. The federal law makes sure landlords cannot discriminate against renters who have an emotional support animal.
Service Animals vs. Emotional Support Animals
Landlords must understand their requirements for fair housing for service animals as well as emotional support animals. Services animals and emotional support animals aren’t quite the same thing.
Service dogs are highly trained to complete specific tasks, like helping someone navigate public places or alerting a person to low blood sugar. An emotional support animal, on the other hand, does not require specialized training to give their owners comfort and support.
So, while coverage of a service dog under the Fair Housing Act might make sense to you right away, it’s important for you to understand how the law covers emotional support animals as well. People can use various kinds of animals to get the emotional support they need to have a fulfilling life. Emotional support animals can include dogs and cats as well as turtles, fish, gerbils, and more.
Emotional Support Animals in No-Pet Housing
The Fair Housing Act does not consider emotional support animals as regular pets. Thus, policies that usually apply to pets do not apply to emotional support animals.
In other words, you cannot charge fees or deposits for an emotional support animal, even if you normally would charge fees and deposits for other pets on your property. You also cannot put weight or breed restrictions on emotional support animals as you would on other pets. Further, you must still make reasonable accommodations for emotional support animals, even if your property does not usually allow pets.
What Can Landlords Ask Under the Fair Housing Act for an Emotional Support Animal?
You do have the right to ask a renter for proper documentation for their emotional support animal. The only documentation necessary is a letter provided by a licensed healthcare professional. Healthcare professionals who can write these letters include:
- Licensed counselors
- Licensed therapists
- Nurses/Nurse Practitioners
- Psychiatrist
- Psychologists
- Physician
- Physician assistants
- Social workers
The licensed healthcare professional should write the letter on their letterhead. You can look for the following in a valid letter:
- Signature and date from licensed professional
- Contact and license information of licensed professional
- A statement that the renter has a mental/emotional impairment, and that they require their emotional support animal to alleviate symptoms or effects of the impairment
What can’t landlords ask under the Fair Housing Act for an emotional support animal?
The Fair Housing Act provides specific rules about what you can’t do as a landlord when a renter requests reasonable accommodations for an emotional support animal. You cannot:
- Ask a renter for extensive details about their disability
- Request a certification for the emotional support animal—the letter from a licensed healthcare professional is sufficient validation
- Require the emotional support animal to have specific training related to a disability
- Ask a renter to pay extra rent or pay a fee or deposit for their emotional support animal
- Make a renter register their emotional support animal — an official registry does not exist
Most importantly, you cannot require a renter to disclose details about their diagnosis or the severity of their disability. While some renters will choose to give you additional forms or addendums voluntarily, you must never request medical records or require a renter to have a medical examination.
Can a landlord deny an assistance animal under the Fair Housing Act?
In a few limited circumstances, you may deny a renter with an assistance animal under the Fair Housing Act without violating the law. The Federal Housing Act doesn’t apply to single-family houses that the owner rents without using an agent or to owner-occupied buildings that have no more than four units.
You may also have legal ground to deny an emotional support animal if that animal poses a direct threat to the health and safety of other residents, or if that animal would cause substantial damage to your property. Keep in mind, however, that you cannot make assumptions about a given breed. You must consider every request for an emotional support animal on a case-by-case basis.
A renter can file an official complaint against you if they believe you have denied their request for an emotional support animal without proper justification as doing so violates the Fair Housing Act. The Department of Housing will bring charges against any landlord who does not fulfill their obligations, so you must make sure you are following the Department of Housing’s guidance for assistance animals whenever a renter asks for reasonable accommodations for their emotional support animal.
Understanding the rules laid out by the Fair Housing Act regarding emotional support animals can help you feel confident and make the right (and legal) decision when a renter comes to you with this kind of request.
Related content
