Zilch. Nearly.

You can require them to clean up after it, and to not disturb the neighbors. That it be licensed and have required vaccinations. That is about it. Sadly.

Service or ESA animal? ___________

HUD FEDERAL/STATE. 5 19

From the director of HUD’s Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity Enforcement Office.

Landlords are entitled to “reliable verification” of a tenant’s need for an assistance animal and can require documents other than an online certification.

“Consumers are being misled to believe that an online certification or registration—often provided by unlicensed medical persons aguarantees them the right to have an animal in housing regardless of pet policy.”

“HUD does not recognize these pay-to-play certifications as reliable,” Landlords should not feel held hostage by a policy where tenants don’t have to demonstrate in a reliable manner a legitimate need for the assistance of an animal”

Hud reasonable accommodation requests come from a health care provider that identifies the applicant has a medical or mental condition (which is appropriate), but the verification (in a letter) does not always assert that the resident is disabled.

The distinction is important as only individuals with a recognized disability (as that term is defined under Federal law) are entitled to a reasonable accommodation (or reasonable modification) under the Fair Housing Act (FHA).

For example, if a letter notes a resident was diagnosed with “depression” and requires an assistance animal, management is absolutely entitled to confirm if the “depression” rises to the level of a disability.

Indeed, there are countless mental and medical conditions which may – or may not – be severe enough to qualify as a disability.

Also, two different medical verifications identified “therapeutic regimens” or “treatment plans” – but did not assert that an emotional support animal was part of that regimen or plan.

In such a circumstance, owners can also seek supplemental information from the health care provider to confirm that there is a nexus (or link) between the disability and the requested accommodation (or modification).

In an era of highly questionable medical verifications (many of which are purchased over the internet with a credit card), however, I am simply attempting to confirm that a verification is legitimate and is not from a resident without a disability and/or who is not eligible for the requested accommodation.

Inspect the home monthly. Use a black light to look for urine on th carpet and walls. Bill immediately for all damage. Bill for full replacement cost.

Please do not take AllyM's advice and ask for a pet deposit. You could find yourself in court for that (and will lose). They have presented a letter from a doctor stating a need. As the rest have stated, there is little you can do. At this point, you can only continue to inspect for damages, fix and bill for them. When the lease is up, you can also choose to non-renew them if you wish. They are allowed to have the dog at this point, they are not free from any damages the dog causes.

As others have said, don't take AllyM's advice -- it is illegal.

Also, be VERY careful talking OPM [OR]'s advice. What he quoted is from a SPEECH given by one of the HUD directors at a conference. If you read or heard the entire thing, you'll see that he states that they are HOPING to release new "guidance" on that in the future, but it is not yet available and may not be for quite a while because they continue to get push-back on it.

His speech is not the law and is also not even official guidance from the government on this.

Also, he was talking about the fact that there are illegitimate online places to get forms -- but also acknowledges that not ALL of them are bad. Therefore, denying based on them being from an online source is not acceptable even if this guidance is officially released one day. It will just detail more ways to VERIFY that information.

In any case, it sounds like this tenant has given you the required documentation. As others have said, there isn't much you can do at this point. You CAN require that the dog be behaved and not a nuisance, of course. They must clean up after it. It must not bark uncontrollably if it bothers other tenants. They are still responsible for any damage that it causes (even though you can't get an extra deposit or any fees for it up front).

- John...

Carol,

John and I are kind of the resident experts on assistance animals. I actually have a trained service animal, and my team training (where the handler learns to work with their dog) included some training on what I should expect to provide a housing provider, as well as ADA access.

Since you have received a letter from a mental health provider, you have to allow the dog. It is legally an "assistance animal" under the Fair Housing Act (FHA). This assumes you are subject to the FHA, and have four or more rental units or that you own/manage them in other than your own name.

Oh, and don't use your full name on this board. Use initials, just your first name, or nick-name.

Anyway, assuming you are subject to the FHA, you are required to allow the assistance animal, in this case the ESA, once you receive the letter from the health care provider. That letter should be on office letterhead, should include the providers license number, and should state that the individual is under the care of the provider. It should also state that the individual has a disability and requires the assistance animal in part to mitigate the disability or as part of a mental health treatment plan. You can ask for an updated letter each year. I don't accept a note on a Rx pad that says "resident needs dog for anxiety". That is not enough. It needs to rise to the level of a disability, a letter from the provider, and an animal agreement.

You can require a vet record be provided that demonstrates the animal has had all state and local requires vaccines, but in many places this only means rabies.

You can require the resident have renters insurance as long as you require it of all of your residents. You cannot single out the dog owner. If you don't already require renters insurance, it is time to start!

Now, not in the law, and not tested, you may be able to require the dog be on a flea preventative. You can require your resident sign your animal agreement, in which they agree they are responsible for the cost in the event the home develops fleas. If you've been to the Landlording Boot Camp, there is a great animal agreement as part of the forms you get at boot camp. If this is a multi and this is the only resident with an animal, you can explain that they will be responsible in the event the structure gets a flea infestation.

I have an 8-plex. I recently had an issue with fleas. The first thing I did was email all of my residents with animals and request proof their animal was on a monthly preventative. They both had that proof. Turned out the fleas were in the yard and being spread by a local groundhog. So, we had to cover the cost of treating the structure and the yard. $350, but well worth it.

Barb, I was thinking someone mentioned before that If you owned 3 units or less you were not subject to the FHA. Thank you for bringing that up again and verifying what I was thinking I remembered.

Just to make sure I am clear, Since I only have 1 sfh, then that means I would not have to accept any animals or even if it is an ESA or Service Animal then I could still charge a fee and higher rents,right?

We live in a private home with an apartment downstairs. We are not subject to federal Fair Housing Rules either because we live here and it's not really a legal duplex.

She doesn't care. She literally does it all the time on here. Repeatedly. She's convinced she's right and the rest of us are fools, apparently.

Don't worry, if it becomes a legal issue for her, she'll call her friend at the CIA and he'll take care of things...

;)

- John...

Side note: Of course it would never come to that since someone's dead relative would warn her first, of course.

6x6,

So long as you own that one house in your own name, and self manage it, you should be in the clear. Don’t advertise any specifics regarding the tenant you seek, or reject, other than for financial reasons, like, must make 3 time rent monthly, etc.

For choosing a tenant, you would eliminate people by saying, “I just don’t think you and I will be able to work this out”

good lord ally, support animals ARE NOT PETS and so cannot be subjected to PET deposits. this is likely true in ALL states. caklif has recently gotten tough on the abusers of the fake claims

ignore the dog and just enforce ALL other lease terms strictly

late fees

yearly max rent raises

inspections WAY more than you might otherwise, tag for damages mercilessly

good lord ally, support animals ARE NOT PETS and so cannot be subjected to PET deposits. this is likely true in ALL states. caklif has recently gotten tough on the abusers of the fake claims

ignore the dog and just enforce ALL other lease terms strictly

late fees

yearly max rent raises

inspections WAY more than you might otherwise, tag for damages mercilessly

I would think you'd have a case to get rid of her being as she snuck the dog in which suddenly became an emotional support animal after the fact.