What does it mean when a tenant wants to move in with a service animal? How do you handle a tenant who is already living in your pet-free property and comes to you explaining that they need a dog, but that dog is not a pet, it’s a service animal?
These can be complicated questions for California City landlords, especially if you’re not up to date with the fair housing and accessibility laws that regulate service and support animals.
Here’s what you need to know.
Defining Service Animals
Service animals are defined by the U.S. Department of Justice, within
federal laws such as the Fair Housing Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Some states and local governments have created their own laws and regulations. They must support and comply with these federal laws, however.
Outside of the service animal definition you’ll also find companion animals and emotional support animals. Therapy dogs. These are different, and we’ll explain how they’re different later in the blog.
Service Animals and Tenants
According to the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, service animals are defined as dogs that are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities.
Only dogs can be service animals. This was established in 2011. There was a time when tenants might have insisted their miniature horse was a service animal. Some people have tried to use pigs or even snakes as service animals. They’re not - only dogs are certified service animals.
Examples of the work or tasks that a service animal may accomplish for a person with a disability include:
- Guiding people who are blind
- Alerting people who are deaf
- Pulling a wheelchair
- Protecting a person who is having a seizure
- Reminding a person with mental illness to take prescribed medications
- Calming a person with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) during an anxiety attack
Dogs and other animals whose sole function is to provide comfort or emotional support do not qualify as service animals under federal law.
An assistance animal has a broader definition and they have their own protections under the Fair Housing Act. Assistance animals can serve different roles and may be an emotional support animal, companion animal, or therapy animal.
Companion Animals are Different
An emotional support animal is not a service animal, but it’s also not a pet. An emotional support animal is a companion animal that provides therapeutic benefits to an individual with an intellectual, emotional, or psychiatric disability.
The person seeking the emotional support animal must have a verifiable disability. This type of animal is considered a "reasonable accommodation" under the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988.
The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) uses the term "assistance animal" to cover any animal that works, provides assistance, or performs tasks for the benefit of a person with a disability, or provides emotional support that alleviates one or more identified symptoms or effects of a person's disability.
An emotional support animal is one type of assistance animal allowed as a reasonable accommodation, even if you’re
renting out a California City property that does not allow pets.
How this Impacts your California City Rental Property
You’re free to
allow pets or not allow pets in your property. We have found that pets can limit your vacancy loss and lead to higher rents. However, not every rental property owner is thrilled with the idea of pets, and it’s up to you to allow them, not allow them, or consider them on a case-by-case basis.
Service animals, however, are legally required. You must allow them if your tenant requires one of these animals.
You cannot charge a pet fee or a pet deposit. You cannot charge pet rent. Service animals are not seen as pets. They’re seen as accommodations.
