We have a real PITA tenant that we want to get out. Among his violations he moved in 2 dogs and two cats. The renat contract(MTM) says no pets,.He claims to other tenants if he is told to get rid of them he will have his Dr issue a emotional pet paper. But they have not done that yet (about 6 months ago when they moved in most) Would it be valid for them to do that after the fact? A lawyer is working on the eviction.

John is right.

Also, many states now require an actual ongoing relationship with the medical provider. So try not to lose too much sleep over it.

In the meantime, figure out where your screening failed you. Was there no sign of pets at their previous home, during your in-home visit?

A very knowledgeable, reputable property manager in my town who has vast experience dealing with ESAs (emotional support animals) stated formally at a landlord training session that I attended recently said that each ESA must serve a DIFFERENT function. That's to say, you can't have 10 puppies just because you wuv dem vewy much and their cuties wettle faces make you smiwile.

Others here have disagreed, but generally speaking in our areas that seems to be safe ground to tread.

Btw, we need to clear up terminology. Your post says, "service animal". Then you said emotional support animal. They are NOT the same thing. Service animals are specific defined as dogs that are trained to perform a specific function to assist a person with a disability. Think "seeing eye dog."

By contrast: cute little cuddlers are ESAs. They often have no training whatsoever.

The downside is the law requires you to accept BOTH, regardless of pet policies, without charging any extra rent or deposit.... IF the tenant has the required documentation.

As John said, odds are they won't get it. But as you noted, they moved them in months ago when they clearly were NOT functioning as either service animals or ESAs. Evict based on past lease violation.

If your eviction attorney is competent, he/she will know everything I've just typed out. Btw, I hope you hired someone who is a local, experienced, landlord/tenant attorney who does evictions multiple times per week. You don't want the family friend or someone who practices in some other area of law. They are typically more expensive and will rack up charges educating themselves on stuff that someone who does evictions regularly already knows. We call them "eviction mill attorneys" here. My attorney's office has 3 attorneys in court most days, Monday thru Friday, each booting 5-8 cases PER DAY. Flat fee of $350 unless we go to trial, and we almost never do. I have never lost an eviction. Ask around a local landlord Facebook group for who has the best rates of success for the best price. You want someone who is the legal equivalent of a pit bull on your side.

Good luck!

Thank you guys for the great information,.

OK good point, we have a number of violations of their rental contract that we can cite.