The Fair Housing Act and Support Animals
In generic terms, the Fair Housing Act is a set of laws intended as a means to prevent discrimination against tenants who belong to a protected class. This embraces tenants who rely on support animals for either emotional or physical assistance. One key aspect of the Fair Housing Act that you have to be aware of is that it classifies these animals differently from pets. For that reason, your no-pet policy usually isn’t a legal reason to deny a tenant’s request to keep a support animal on the property.
There are two basic types of support animals. Service animals are animals trained to perform specific tasks. One common example of a service animal is a guide dog that has been trained to help a person with impaired vision. The other type of support animal is assistance or emotional support animal. These animals do not need to be trained to perform one or more specific tasks as service animals do. Conversely, an emotional support animal provides benefits to their owners in other ways. It might be a cat that helps alleviate a person’s depression and anxiety, or a bird trained to alert a deaf person when someone is at the door.
When the Law Applies to You – And When It Doesn’t
Federal law states that property owners cannot deny a tenant’s request to keep either a service animal or an emotional support animal in their rental home. Not only that, but you also are not allowed to charge the tenant a pet deposit or additional rent. The tenant, however, must provide documentation of the support their animal offers. This might be either a service animal certification or a letter from a medical or mental health professional describing the need for the support animal.
Be that as it may, there are a few exceptions to this rule. The first exception is based on the property type. Just in case your rental property is owner-occupied or is owned by a private organization that uses the property for its members, the support animal rule does not apply. The FHA likewise does not apply if you own less than three single-family houses and rent them out yourself.
Other possible exceptions to federal law include dangerous animals or denial of insurance. In the case that you can prove that the animal the tenant wants to keep on the property poses a direct threat to the safety of others, you may possibly be able to deny their request. With that said, however, your denial cannot legally be based on the animal’s breed or size alone. Another potential exemption might happen to come from your insurance carrier. In case your insurance provider refuses you a landlord insurance policy or would like to charge excessive amounts to allow the support animal on the property, you could most certainly be able to successfully argue that you are unable to grant the tenant’s request reasonably.
Support animals and their owners have specific legal protections that, as a Leland rental property owner, you must understand very well. With considerably more intricacies in federal law, it is always best to be prepared with the right information before they ask to keep a support animal on the property. If ascertaining well the ins and outs of all property management laws seems like an overwhelming work, why not hire a company already well-versed in this aspect of the law? Contact us today to learn how we can make your life easier as a rental property owner.