When renting a property, owners and landlords often ask several questions about animals: Will we allow animals? What animals will we allow? Can we prohibit renters from having animals at the property? 60% of residents have pets or animals; reasonable accommodation requests for assistance animals are up 61% year to year. What rules can be made depends on the classification on the type of animal – pets or assistant animals, which are service animals and support animals.
The decision to allow animals at your rental property is not solely based on personal preference; owners and landlords must also be aware of what the laws state. It’s very important to be clear on the local and federal laws when evaluating potential tenants and their animals. This article provides an overview of the different types of animals and what is or isn’t allowed. For complete laws and guidelines, we recommend working with an experienced property management company, like the team at Caron B Realty International.
- Pets
- Provide no service or emotional support
- Vetting process
- Breed, age, weight, incidents, vaccinations, microchips, service animal papers, etc gives you a FIDO score, like a FICO score for people
- Tenants pay a fee for service, can carry profile to next rental or to any animal service such as groomers
- House rules and building rules only for pets
- Only one that you can have a security deposit for
- Assistance Animals
- These animals are not pets and they cannot be discriminated against, as they are protected classes like race and gender are. Once verified, they must be allowed at the property.
- Service animals i.e seeing eye dogs
- These animals do work or perform tasks to benefit an individual with a disability
- According to the ADA, only dogs qualify; they can’t be limited based on size or breed
- Support animals i.e. therapeutic emotional support animals
- Could be a dog, cat, small bird, rodent, fish turtle, small domesticated animal, could also be a unique animal
- Landlords and owners can get verification and documentation from a healthcare provider.
- Applicants may be asked if they have a disability and what they animal is trained to do but they cannot be asked what the disability is.
- Be aware that some tenants try to get their pet certified or classified as an emotional support animal to circumvent the security deposit and building rules and that there are websites that sell fake documentation.
- Can get payment for damages at the end of tenancy but can’t require a security deposit
- A tenant can move in without an animal and then request a reasonable accommodation to have an animal to assist with a disability.
Our team at Caron B Realty has the services to vet the animals and help you make an informed decision about animals. To talk about animals at your rental property or learn more about our property management services, call our office at (808) 593-9826 or email concierge@caronb.com