Service Animals & ESA's | Know Your Housing Rights!

The laws and regulations in regards to Service Animals, and Emotional Support Animals, can often be misunderstood by others, even by those who rely on these animals daily. While there are many laws and regulations around the two sets of animals, in this blog we are going to focus on their housing rights, which fall under the Fair Housing Act (FHA), and not the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act).

What is The Fair Housing Act?

The Fair Housing Act (FHA) is a federal housing law that prevents discrimination against tenants in their homes.

Under the FHA, a disability is defined as "a diagnosed physical or mental impairment which significantly limits a person’s major life activities." Even if a lease says "no pets" or restricts pets, based on breed or size.landlords are required to make what is called a “reasonable accommodation” to allow pets who serve as assistance animals, which include both Service Animals and Emotional Support Animals. 

Assistance animals are in a different legal classification than pets, who are not assistance animals, which is why pet restrictions and fees are waived for them. There is no official certification or specific training for service animals, and they can assist in a wide variety of tasks. Breed and weight restrictions cannot apply to assistance or service animals. 

If you would like more information on the difference between a Service Animal & Emotional Support Animal, check out our blog for a more indepth view at Service Dog vs Therapy Dog vs Emotional Support Dogs!

What is the difference between an ESA, Service Animal, and Pet?

While this might seem obvious, many people find it hard to tell the difference. Unfortunately, due to misinformation and scam service animal registry websites, more and more people are misrepresenting their pets as Emotional Support Animals, and Service Animals. 

An Emotional Service Animal can be any animal that helps a person with a diagnosed disability, whether this be a physical or mental disability, just by being there. They are not trained to do any specific task and are not granted public access rights like Service Dogs. The most common thing Emotional Support Animals do is provide comfort or calming abilities to their owner.

A Service Animal is a dog or miniature horse who has been specifically trained to perform tasks to mitigate their handlers disability. The most common kind of Service animal that is widely known around the world is a seeing eye dog, though there are many different kinds. These animals can be of any breed or size of dog, as well as miniature horses,but there are a few common occurrences. These animals should always be non aggressive; they are trained to do specific tasks (comfort is not considered a task) and are granted public access rights. Under the ADA (Americans With Disabilities Act) a pet is merely that. Any person, disabled or not, can have a pet of any animal allowed within their local and landlords restrictions. Many people with a Service Animal or ESA may also have pets and will follow all pet rules in accordance to their local laws, and landlords restrictions for those pets.

How do i demonstrate i have an Assistance Animal to my landlord?

There is a lot of misinformation out there about how you demonstrate that you have an assistance animal. The first thing to remember is there is no registry, certification, or specific training required for assistance animals, meaning you do not have provide proof of training, or a certification to your landlord. What you do need to provide is a letter, from the physician or mental health professional treating your disability, requesting for a reasonable accommodation of having your Service Animal or ESA in the home.

Do i still pay a pet deposit or pet fees for my Service Animal?

Under the FHA, Assistance Animals are not considered pets, therefore you do not have to pay any sort of pet deposit or pet fees for your animal to live in the home with you. The landlord, however, can and usually will still charge a security deposit and will usually seek money from the tenant if there is any damage caused by the animal to the home. Also, if there is an ongoing nuisance issue caused by the animal the landlord does have the right to try to remove the assistance animal through legal proceedings. These animals are also allowed even when the landlord says no pets, or has breed/size restrictions for animals.

What kinds of housing are covered under the FHA?

All types of housing and landlords, including public housing, are covered by the FHA with the exception the following cases: 

1. Rental dwellings of four or less units, where one unit is occupied by the owner; 

2. Single family homes sold or rented by the owner without the use of a broker; 

3. Housing owned by private clubs or religious organizations that restrict occupancy in housing units to their members. 

What do I do if my landlord refuses to accommodate me or breaks the FHA? Landlords must agree to a reasonable accommodation request if the disability claim is true and if the request does not create a hardship on the landlord or other tenants. If your request for a reasonable accommodation is denied by the landlord, you have the right to request that a government agency investigate your claim that the landlord is discriminating against you.

You have several options for filing a complaint:

• You can file a discrimination complaint electronically with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Information about the process is located on the HUD website.
• You can print and complete a HUD Discrimination Form and mail it to the appropriate HUD office.
• Many states have a government agency that investigates discrimination claims. You can also file a complaint directly with your state’s agency

For more information on the FHA checkout HUD's official website!

https://www.hud.gov/

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