I have never had to deal with ESA problems for pets.. However, I know many persons here have had renters or potential renters submit ESA approvals that frequently (probably almost always) aren't legitimate.

I found it interesting that almost all day today I have had appear on the right side of my laptop page ads for a place that will give you an ESA approval for a pet within 24 hours. They describe their approvals as easy to get and supposedly "legal." What a choice of where to run such an ad! I hope they are run out of their shady business.

mapleeaf18 posted this link on 10th. GREAT LINK.

ESA Automation Link (by mapleaf18 [NY]) Posted on: Oct 10, 2022 4:07 PM

Message:

Spin off on ESA Automation. I found a link that has a fillable Reasonable Accommodation Form (which usually stops them dead in their tracks)

Just got a chance to try it out about 30 minutes ago. Said applicant texted and said she has an ESA poodle. I sent her the link to the fillable pdf form. CRICKETS!!

search engine: thslawfirm Mr ESA form revision doc editable pdf

Carolyn,

Those sites should be sued for false advertising.

When I added this line to my application my ESAs dropped to 1 out of 60.

“Misrepresenting a service animal is a crime by Indiana law, punishable by heavy fines and possible jail time. Requests will be reviewed for legality by the Fair Housing office. “

Just a followup: that person with an "ESA" poodle came back with "I have a Dr's letter."

I retorted "that's fine but all the other Request for Accomodation/ESA paperwork will need to be completed.

That was the end of that. They also have youtube videos on how to cheat the system by representing Fluffy as a support iguana et al.

We solved this by allowing one dog and one cat subject to our approval and rules. We do not charge a pet fee anymore but have increased our regular Security Deposit to state maximum of 2x the rent.

No requests for ESAs.

HUD document: "Assessing a Person’s Request to Have an Animal as a Reasonable Accommodation Under the Fair Housing Act"

LLs cannot demand that a request for reasonable accommodation be in writing, let alone a custom written form. The request can be verbal. Requiring applicants or tenants to fill out a form will work great until someone files a complaint with HUD.

mapleaf18: You're skirting around the issue that Scott is bringing up. From what you said here and in the other thread, the tenant did what is required by federal law -- and you told them that they must jump through more hoops if they want to rent from you. That isn't allowed.

You saying that you're "asking" instead of "demanding" doesn't really make sense -- when you've just said above that you told them that they "NEED to complete other paperwork" (that, according to the other thread, appeared to be your custom paperwork).

That doesn't sound like "asking". It sounds like demanding that they do something above what the federal law states is required.

Does it work for you most of the time? I'm sure it does. Will you likely get away with it? Probably. Unless you get unlucky with a tester. But is it in compliance with federal law? Not in my opinion.