What to Know About Renting to Tenants with Service Animals

Key Takeaways

• Service animals and emotional support animals are not considered pets, so landlords must allow them regardless of pet policies and cannot charge pet fees.
• Under the Fair Housing Act, landlords must provide reasonable accommodations to tenants with disabilities, including permitting verified assistance animals.
• While landlords can request proper documentation and hold tenants responsible for damages beyond normal wear and tear, they cannot restrict assistance animals by breed, size, or type.

As a landlord, one of the rights you have under state law is being able to create your own policies. For example, a pet policy defining whether a resident can or cannot keep pets on the property. If they can keep pets, you can determine the applicable restrictions on things like the number, breed, and size of pets.

That said, if you’re not allowing pets into your rental property, there is one protected class who is exempt and that is disabled tenants with assistance animals. For this group of residents, you must allow them to keep their services animals, regardless of the pet policy you have.

To protect against a potential lawsuits, ensure you are familiar with your legal responsibilities when it comes to renting to residents with service animals. And this is what today’s blog by TJC Real Estate and Management is going to help you with!

Here’s everything to know when it comes to renting to tenants with service animals.

Guidelines Outlined by the Department of Housing and Urban Development Regarding Service Animals

The following are some of the guidelines that the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) gives regarding service animals:

• Service animals are not viewed as pets. They are classified as specially trained animals that work or perform tasks for their handlers.
• As a landlord, it’d be illegal to charge a resident with an assistance animal extra pet fees. This is because, again, service animals aren’t pets.
• You cannot restrict assistance animals based on criteria such as their weight, size, or breed.
• You may require that the resident provide you with written verification from a health care provider that the animal is medically necessary.
• You may evict the resident from their rented unit if they engage in certain behavior for instance, if the animal causes serious property damage, poses a threat to others, or causes disturbance.
• You can charge the resident for any damage exceeding normal wear and tear that their animal causes.
• You can request the resident to provide you with copies of their animal’s health records to ascertain that it is vaccinated and parasite-free.

What Legal Protections Do Residents with Assistance Animals Have?

As a landlord, when renting out your home, you have a legal responsibility to provide the resident with a reasonable accommodation. This means that you may need to change an existing rule or policy in order to allow the resident to have an equal opportunity to enjoy their rented unit.

The following are the requirements that the HUD requires a resident to meet to qualify for the right to reasonable accommodation:

• The resident must have a physical or mental disability that limits their walking, working, seeing, or any other major life activity.
• The renter must have a history of such impairments.
• They must be regarded as having such impairments.

What are the Two Types of Assistance Animals?

As a landlord, you must understand the two types of assistance animals that HUD recognizes:

Service Animals

These are specially trained dogs that perform specific tasks directly related to their handler’s disability. Their training enables them to take action that helps mitigate the effects of a physical, sensory, psychiatric, or intellectual disability. Examples include dogs trained to alert a diabetic owner when their blood sugar drops, guide visually impaired individuals, detect seizures before they occur, or remind their handlers to take medication.

Because their role is task-oriented and medically necessary, service animals are granted strong legal protections, and landlords renting out a home must allow them regardless of pet rules, breed restrictions, or size limitations.

Companion Animals

Also known as emotional support animals (ESAs) or therapy animals, these animals provide comfort, emotional stability, or therapeutic benefits to individuals dealing with mental or emotional disabilities. Unlike service animals, they are not required to have specialized training.

Companion animals can include dogs, cats, and other common domesticated species. Under the Fair Housing Act, ESAs qualify for reasonable accommodation in housing, meaning landlords must permit them even if the property has a no-pet policy, provided the resident supplies appropriate documentation.

It should also be mentioned that while it is totally the landlord's choice in the matter, renting to pet owners has benefits .

What Responsibilities do Landlords Have when it comes to Service Animals and Companion Animals?

The legal responsibility to provide reasonable accommodation to residential tenants with service animals is contained under two key legislations. That is, the Federal Fair Housing Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The Fair Housing Act treats both companion animals and service animals equally. However, this is not the case with Americans with Disabilities Act. As for Americans with Disabilities Act, it doesn’t classify companion animals as service animals.

As such, it doesn’t provide individuals with companion animals the same opportunities as service animals. For example, the individuals may not be able to bring their companion animals to public spaces where pets are banned. A service animal, however, would be accepted.

Regardless, though, as a landlord, companion animals qualify for reasonable accommodations under the Fair Housing Act. Once you have verified the animal qualifies as a companion animal or an assistance animal, you must allow them on the property, no matter what the policy says.

Bottom Line

As a landlord, you have certain legal responsibilities you must uphold when renting out your property. That’s why it’s important to familiarize yourself with your legal responsibilities under federal, state, and local laws.

TJC Real Estate and Management provides expert services to rental property owners. We can help you maximize returns and run a smooth rental operation. Contact us today and let us manage your Denver rentals!