Tenant brought in a pet and is calling it an emotional support animal

[Anonymous]

My friend who owns a rental property says in his lease “no animals or pets are allowed on property.” Period.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My friend who owns a rental property says in his lease “no animals or pets are allowed on property.” Period.

While landlords can include that language, it will not stop HUD from investigating them for violations of the fair housing act if they discriminate against someone for having an ESA: https://www.humanesociety.org/resources/fair-housing-act-and-assistance-animals

[Anonymous]

VA passed a law last year that makes it a lot harder to pass off an illegitimate ESA. I would absolutely not offer the tenant cash for keys. You are already out of pocket with legal fees.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do the research yourself, but in most cases the fair housing act does not apply to landlords with a single rental property.

This is not true for reasonable accommodations.

[Anonymous]

Man, there's a lot of bad information on this thread. OP it sounds like you sought and received sound legal advice. To everyone else, the federal Fair Housing Act does in fact require all landlords to make reasonable accommodations for emotional support animals, not just service animals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Fairfax County defines service animal really narrowly. An emotional support dog is not a service animal. Has her dog been specifically trained to perform tasks to help with her disability?

Service animal means any dog or miniature horse that is individually trained to
do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including a
physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disability. Other species of
animals, whether wild or domestic, trained or untrained, are not service animals for the
purposes of this definition. The work or tasks performed by a service animal must be
directly related to the handler's disability. Examples of work or tasks include, but are not
limited to, assisting individuals who are blind or have low vision with navigation and
other tasks, alerting individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing to the presence of
people or sounds, providing non-violent protection or rescue work, pulling a wheelchair,
assisting an individual during a seizure, alerting individuals to the presence of allergens,
retrieving items such as medicine or the telephone, providing physical support and
assistance with balance and stability to individuals with mobility disabilities, and helping
persons with psychiatric and neurological disabilities by preventing or interrupting
impulsive or destructive behaviors. The crime deterrent effects of an animal's presence
and the provision of emotional support, well-being, comfort, or companionship do not
constitute work or tasks for the purposes of this definition.


(from here: https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/health/sites/health/files/assets/documents/pdf/animal-control-ordinance.pdf)

This is irrelevant because both ESA's and Service Animals are protected in housing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Man, there's a lot of bad information on this thread. OP it sounds like you sought and received sound legal advice. To everyone else, the federal Fair Housing Act does in fact require all landlords to make reasonable accommodations for emotional support animals, not just service animals.

Right, but OP may not be subject to federal fair housing laws, depending on factors such as how many properties are owned, whether she uses a real estate agent...of course, then there are local laws to take into account. Hopefully everyone knows DCUM does not take the place of real legal advice!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Call animal control and report an aggressive dog.

It will be much easier to evict that way.

This! Call animal control! Get anyone who says they were terrorized by the dog to call animal control.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Man, there's a lot of bad information on this thread. OP it sounds like you sought and received sound legal advice. To everyone else, the federal Fair Housing Act does in fact require all landlords to make reasonable accommodations for emotional support animals, not just service animals.

Incorrect. FHA does not apply to every single rental situation.
“Single-family homes rented without the use of a real estate agent or advertising are exempt from the federal Fair Housing Act as long as the private landlord/owner doesn't own more than three homes at the time. Apartments of four units or less are also exempt if the owner lives in one of the units.”

[Anonymous]

What if you’re renting out part of your house (say a basement) and you’re allergic to dogs such that having a dog in your house would prevent you (the landlord) from living in your own house. How can you be legally required to allow someone with a dog as an ESA to rent in your house???

[Anonymous]

I'm so sick of people with ESAs having more rights than people who are allergic to dogs. You can't trust any apartment building to be pet-free.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm so sick of people with ESAs having more rights than people who are allergic to dogs. You can't trust any apartment building to be pet-free.

You know a lot of these people with ESAs have PTSD from being raped or sexually abused. Show a little compassion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm so sick of people with ESAs having more rights than people who are allergic to dogs. You can't trust any apartment building to be pet-free.

You know a lot of these people with ESAs have PTSD from being raped or sexually abused. Show a little compassion.

Then they would have an actual service dog.