Your Four-Legged Friends and The Fair Housing Act
The Fair Housing Act (FHA) prohibits landlords from discriminating based on disability, race, color, national origin, religion, sex and familial status. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in employment, transportation, public accommodations, communications and state and local government activities.
Both laws contain provisions which address the use of service or companion animals by people with disabilities. While the FHA covers nearly all types of housing, some types of housing, such as public housing, are covered by both laws. Landlords and property managers are required to make a “reasonable accommodation” for both service and emotional support animals.
What is the difference between a service animal and a companion animal? A service animal is a dog that is highly trained to do a specific task or service for the disabled person. The service can be anything from helping the person navigate through public places to alerting him to an oncoming seizure. A companion animal does not need any specialized training and is there to purely give comfort. Companion animals can be dogs, cats, birds, rabbits, lizards, etc. People may use all sorts of animals to give them the emotional support they need to live a fulfilling life.
If a person needs an emotional support animal to help alleviate the symptoms of a disability, he or she must first make the request to his or her landlord. Most accounts indicate that a request should be in writing and explain how the reasonable accommodation helps or mitigates symptoms of the disability. While the tenant does not need to disclose the disability, a landlord may ask the tenant for documentation.
According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO) Notice , a landlord "may ask individuals who have disabilities that are not readily apparent or known to the provider to submit reliable documentation of a disability and their disability-related need for an assistance animal."
IREM’s position on companion animals states: “IREM supports and invites guidance from the government on the issue of companion animals, sometimes referred to as emotional support animals, with respect to the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Fair Housing Act (FHA). Companion animals are not service animals. Service animals require special training. Companion animals receive no specialized training and are typically for individuals with mental disabilities or those in need of emotional support.”
by IREM
(http://www.irem.org/ by Healthy Paws Pet Insurance (https://
