Service Animals & Emotional Support Animals: What Landlords Need to Know
There is a lot of confusion surrounding service animals, emotional support animals, and housing regulations. We’re here to explain how these support animals affect your rental property.
When screening applicants for your rental property, you may run across one who notes they have an assistance animal. Whether it’s an emotional support animal or service animal, they are both protected by law. The most important thing you need to know is that they are not pets. These are animals that work. They provide emotional or additional assistance to people with disabilities.
People often assume that these two animals are the same. While they are both protected by the law, there are important differences to note.
Service Animals
A service animal is a dog of any size or breed that has received individualized training to perform work or tasks that benefit disabled individuals, including people with physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disabilities. By law, service animals are permitted to accompany disabled individuals where any other public member is allowed to go.
Common reasons for a service animal include:
Blindness
Deafness
Wheelchair-bound individuals
Being prone to seizures
You might recognize a service animal by the vest they are wearing, usually labeled “service dog” or something similar to that. Service animals are allowed entry anywhere that their owners are, provided that it is safe. This includes buses, airports, workspaces, planes, and stores. Service animals are working animals and are, therefore, not considered pets. Since 2011, only dogs have been nationally recognized as service animals.
Service Animal Requirements
While there is no specific legal requirement for the amount or kind of work a service animal must provide, it must be able to perform tasks directly related to their owner’s disability. For example, service animals may alert individuals of seizures, remind their handlers with depression that they need to take medication, or retrieve objects for a person who uses a wheelchair. However, if the dog were to provide comfort with its presence, it would not be considered a service animal by the ADA.
Although some states have broader definitions and qualifications for service animals, most states hold the same requirements for service animals, including:
- The service animal must be trained to perform a task for a person with a disability, whether it be physical or mental
- The service animal must always be controlled by its owner or handler. If the handler cannot use a leash or harness, they must be able to control the service animal through other means such as voice or signals.
- Service animals must be allowed in businesses and non-profit organizations open to the general public, regardless of their pet policy.
- Service animals are not required to wear specific collars, vests, or identification tags indicating that they are service animals.
- Handlers of service animals are not required to explain their disability, show medical documentation or show training documentation for their service animal. Additionally, staff members of commercial establishments or businesses can only ask what service the animal provides and whether the service animal is required for a disability.
Emotional Support Animals (ESAs)
Emotional support animals (ESAs) are companion animals that provide support, comfort, and assistance to individuals with emotional or mental disabilities, such as depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress (PTSD). In general, emotional support animals provide individuals with a better quality of life through companionship and comfort rather than providing services or performing tasks for their handler.
Emotional support animals have more restrictions in public spaces. If a retail store states that there are no pets allowed, this applies to emotional support animals. There is no official registry for ESAs. Some pet owners seek out private companies to provide documentation, but this does not guarantee them any additional rights or protections.
However, both emotional support animals and service animals are protected by housing laws.
Emotional support animal requirements
A pet may be classified as an emotional support animal with a written letter from a licensed healthcare professional (a therapist, psychologist, or psychiatrist). The pet owner must be clinically assessed to have a mental, emotional, or psychiatric disability for which effects may be alleviated with the presence of an animal.
- Emotional support animals are not required to be trained to perform specific tasks that aid a person with their disability.
- Although emotional support animals do not require specific training, they are still expected to be docile, not threaten others, and show good behavior.
- The ADA does not recognize Emotional support animals as service animals and are therefore not granted the same legal rights as service animals. However, owners of emotional support animals still have rights protected by federal laws in every state.
- Emotional support animals can be any type of pet, such as dogs, cats, rabbits, etc.
- Emotional support animals are referenced by the Fair Housing Act (FHA) and the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA), which illustrates a person’s right to have emotional support animals at home and during travel.
Support Animals and Housing Laws
Because emotional support animals and service animals are not considered pets, you cannot charge a pet rent or dep deposit. Even if you don’t want pets in the home, you must allow for service animals and support animals. You also cannot discriminate against specific breeds.
The only circumstances in which you may deny a support animal is if the animal would be a threat to the health and safety of others. We don’t recommend using these reasons, however. Disability complaints are one of the most common complaints the fair housing office receives and it’s very unlikely that things will work out in your favor. You could end up having to pay heavy fees for unreasonably denied service animals.
Verification of a Service Animal
If the disability is visibly apparent, no verification is needed for the service animal. Do not ask the tenant what their disability is if this is the case. If a person says that they have an emotional support animal but there is not an obvious disability, you may ask the tenant for written verification.
Do landlords have to accept emotional support animals?
Yes. Federal and State law prohibits landlords and housing providers from rejecting or discriminating against people with disabilities and any accommodations they may require. These accommodations include a service animal or an emotional support animal.
The only circumstances in which landlords can deny emotional support or service animals include:
- When the emotional support animal is dangerous or have a history of attacking others
- If the emotional support animal infringes on rights of other tenants by causing allergies
- When housing the emotional support animal is physically impossible or difficult (particularly in small units or if the animal is particularly large)
- When the tenant’s letter from their mental health provider is expired, although landlords may be flexible in allowing tenants to update their documents
Are emotional support animals service animals?
Emotional support animals are not considered service animals under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Unlike emotional support animals (any kind of animal), service animals (dogs and sometimes miniature horses) are specifically and individually trained to perform tasks for people with either mental or physical disabilities.
Emotional support animal documentation
Individuals with non-apparent disabilities may be asked for documentation regarding their emotional support animal, including their emotional support animal (ESA) letter from a licensed professional who has professionally assessed that they require animal assistance.
Further information
For any further information please feel free to reach out to our Red Heart Management Team!