Potential tenant has a emotional support dog

[Anonymous]

Hi, I need some advice on this. My potential tenant has a emotional support dog and want to waive the pet fee which I am fine with it. But is there anything I need to worry about if I rent it to him? I am not familiar with this type of issue. Will he cause a problem on my house? or my community?

thanks.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn’t waive the pet fee personally. I would be ok renting to them though.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't rent to that person.

[Anonymous]

just so you know, and emotional support animal is not a licensed thing. It's a thing people may rely on, but there is no training the dog is required to do. From your POV, that dog is not different than any other pet and there's no guarantee it will be better or worse trained than the next pup.

[Anonymous]

Maybe not a fee, but certainly an extra deposit.

[Anonymous]

Everyone I know who has an "emotional support dog" is simply abusing the designation to try to get out of paying pet fees. There is no specific training for an "emotional support animal." I have multiple friends who do it and they know it's wrong.

A "service dog" is different. They are trained and credentialed. They are frequently the animals of blind owners and veterans with PTSD. A lot of money has gone into their training and companionship. I wouldn't hesitate to rent to someone with a legitimate service animal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn’t waive the pet fee personally. I would be ok renting to them though.

Would not waive the fee. Has nothing to do with appreciating support animals.

[Anonymous]

Op, you've gotten really bad advice in this thread so far. You cannot charge more fees for an emotional support animal or refuse to rent on that basis. It's against local, state, and federal fair housing laws.

It sounds like you're not contemplating doing these illegal things, though, and are just asking about any perils of people who require emotional support animals, right? Lots of veterans have them to help with PTSD. Lots of people with depression or anxiety have them. The animals help their person keep their mental health under control. No reason to be worried about a potential tenant who is taking care of their mental health in this way.

[Anonymous]

If you don’t mind a pet, and don’t care about the fee (which I think is really nice of you), it’s fine. No different than having any other kind of pet.


But I think PP has a good idea of requiring a big deposit, depending on the size of the animal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op, you've gotten really bad advice in this thread so far. You cannot charge more fees for an emotional support animal or refuse to rent on that basis. It's against local, state, and federal fair housing laws.

It sounds like you're not contemplating doing these illegal things, though, and are just asking about any perils of people who require emotional support animals, right? Lots of veterans have them to help with PTSD. Lots of people with depression or anxiety have them. The animals help their person keep their mental health under control. No reason to be worried about a potential tenant who is taking care of their mental health in this way.

OP can’t charge a bigger deposit than he/she would for another animal, but they can charge the same they would otherwise.

[Anonymous]

You can't discriminate against a tenant with a service animal and have to rent to him and allow the dog without a pet fee. You don't have to do that with an emotional support dog.

Let them rent, let them have their dog, and don't charge a pet fee. Charging a pet fee is not only gauging and a recipe for bad feelings, it can also backfire. A tenant paying a pet fee is less likely to be careful with their animal because they know the fee covers it. Besides, most dogs don't do any real damage. That's a cat thing.

Be nice.

[Anonymous]

12:17 is wrong. An emotional support dog is a pet. This is not the same as a service animal that has undergone 1-2yrs of training and been placed with an individual who has been identified and screened as needing a service dog. This is why service dogs have access to places that other animals don't - restaurants, shops, etc.

Our sweet family dog cheers me up on a bad day and snuggles with the kids if they are sick, heck that makes her an emotional support animal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op, you've gotten really bad advice in this thread so far. You cannot charge more fees for an emotional support animal or refuse to rent on that basis. It's against local, state, and federal fair housing laws.

It sounds like you're not contemplating doing these illegal things, though, and are just asking about any perils of people who require emotional support animals, right? Lots of veterans have them to help with PTSD. Lots of people with depression or anxiety have them. The animals help their person keep their mental health under control. No reason to be worried about a potential tenant who is taking care of their mental health in this way.

Yea, no. There's a distinction in the law between service animals and emotional support ones, and by and large the laws concerning emotional support animals are far less strict at every level.

[Anonymous]

This potential tenant would be a hard no for me.

[Anonymous]

OP- I guess I am more concern about the tenant itself. His finance is good and his gf is also moving in as well. But will he be emotional problem for me?? LOL