OPERATIONS
Must Landlords Allow Assistance Animals? EXPLORE HOW TO ACCOMMODATE TENANTS WITH ASSISTANCE ANIMALS WHILE ADHERING TO THE FAIR HOUSING ACT.
GAYLENE ROGERS LONERGAN
A s a real estate investor, you And you want to be fair to your tenants. Does the law require landlords to allow tenants to keep assistance animals on the rented property? Knowing the answer to this question—and the implicit ramifications—is vital both to the protection of people with disabilities and to landlords. Let’s look at some common questions landlords have about have significant assets at stake when you rent a property.
assistance animals—and what the Fair Housing Act (FHA) says. The purpose of the FHA is to protect people from discrimination, including those who lease a home. This protection includes people with physical and/ or mental disabilities who have assistance animals, also referred to as service animals, emotional service animals (ESA), and comfort animals. WHAT ANIMALS QUALIFY AS ASSISTANCE ANIMALS? According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, an assistance animal is
one “that works, provides assistance, or performs tasks for the benefit of a person with a disability, or that provides emotional support that alleviates one or more identified effects of a person’s disability. An assistance animal is not a pet.” HOW CAN A LANDLORD DETERMINE IF THE TENANT’S ANIMAL QUALIFIES? The FHA specifies that someone with a disability must demonstrate a need for an animal related to his or her disability; however, no law states the animal must be trained. The landlord
| :: NOVEMBER - DECEMBER 2024
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