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When to Inform a Landlord About Your Emotional Support Animal

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  • 05-09-2018, 10:58 PM
    Tsm
    When to Inform a Landlord About Your Emotional Support Animal
    My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of: WA

    I recently got an ESA letter to have my pet come stay with me in my strictly no-pets apartment. I am moving out within the next 30 days into one that is pet friendly (so that I won’t have to worry about this topic anymore), but will have my pet with me during that time.

    Since I will have my pet with me for the last month of my lease at the no-pet apartment, am I required to give the letter to the landlord before bringing my pet home with me? Or am I allowed to simply show them this when they question why I have a pet, etc.? I know that since I have the letter I am allowed to have a pet as prescribed, since this is the law, but am not aware of what the law is regarding notifying my landlord of having a pet due to this letter when the apartment is no-pets policy.
  • 05-09-2018, 11:40 PM
    Taxing Matters
    Re: Emotional Support Animal Letter to Landlord
    Quote:

    Quoting Tsm
    View Post
    My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of: WA

    I recently got an ESA letter to have my pet come stay with me in my strictly no-pets apartment. I am moving out within the next 30 days into one that is pet friendly (so that I won’t have to worry about this topic anymore), but will have my pet with me during that time.

    Since I will have my pet with me for the last month of my lease at the no-pet apartment, am I required to give the letter to the landlord before bringing my pet home with me? Or am I allowed to simply show them this when they question why I have a pet, etc.? I know that since I have the letter I am allowed to have a pet as prescribed, since this is the law, but am not aware of what the law is regarding notifying my landlord of having a pet due to this letter when the apartment is no-pets policy.

    There is nothing in the law that says when you have to provide the documentation to the landlord. In my view it is better to let the landlord know up front and explain that you have a support animal and that the law protects your right to have a support animal to head off a confrontation where the landlord comes at you upset thinking that you are violating the no pet policy. But since you will only have the pet the last 30 days of your tenancy, there is not much that the landlord can do about it anyway. Ultimately, it’s your call how you want to handle it.
  • 05-10-2018, 05:15 AM
    Mark47n
    Re: Emotional Support Animal Letter to Landlord
    Be aware that the feelings towards what qualifies as a service animal is changing, in WA (and if here then definitely elsewhere) to a definition that is more stringent. I hope it leads to far, far few dogs in the grocery store, hardware store and other, shall we say, businesses. The ESA concept has definitely muddied that water between the blind persons guide dog, epileptic's seizure dog and the like AND the person who just can't be separated from Rover.
  • 05-10-2018, 05:39 AM
    Mr. Knowitall
    Re: Emotional Support Animal Letter to Landlord
    Under the Fair Housing Act (FHA), an emotional support animal is a form of reasonable accommodation of disability. If you want to take action that would otherwise violate your lease, it is best to get the letter in advance, show it to your landlord, and explain that you're bringing the animal into the home as an ESA pursuant to the landlord's obligation to reasonably accommodate your disability under Sec. 804 of the FHA.

    Quote:

    Quoting Mark47n
    View Post
    Be aware that the feelings towards what qualifies as a service animal is changing

    An ESA is not a service animal. Service animals are protected by the FHA and the ADA. ESAs are not covered by the ADA. You have no right to take an ESA into a grocery store. (ESAs are allowed on airplanes under a separate law, the Air Carrier Access Act.)
  • 05-10-2018, 07:33 AM
    flyingron
    Re: Emotional Support Animal Letter to Landlord
    The air carrier access act just says "thou shalt not discriminate against disabled passengers." The details (if anybody is intereted) are down in the FAA regulations 14 CFR 392.117. The FAA is pretty clear on the recency of the letter, who prepares it, and what it contains.


    (e) If a passenger seeks to travel with an animal that is used as an emotional support or psychiatric service animal, you are not required to accept the animal for transportation in the cabin unless the passenger provides you current documentation (i.e., no older than one year from the date of the passenger's scheduled initial flight) on the letterhead of a licensed mental health professional (e.g., psychiatrist, psychologist, licensed clinical social worker, including a medical doctor specifically treating the passenger's mental or emotional disability) stating the following:

    (1) The passenger has a mental or emotional disability recognized in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - Fourth Edition (DSM IV);

    (2) The passenger needs the emotional support or psychiatric service animal as an accommodation for air travel and/or for activity at the passenger's destination;

    (3) The individual providing the assessment is a licensed mental health professional, and the passenger is under his or her professional care; and

    (4) The date and type of the mental health professional's license and the state or other jurisdiction in which it was issued.


    Note that "I get stressed" is not a DSM disorder. Stress is a part of life. The stress and anxiety disorders in the DSM are pretty detailed in that you have to have severe issues functioning as a result of them before the diagnosis can properly be made.
  • 05-10-2018, 09:30 AM
    Tsm
    Re: Emotional Support Animal Letter to Landlord
    Okay, thanks. I know the “right” thing to do is to inform my landlord up front. It’s just that since I only have 30 days left, I’d rather avoid the particularly awkward conversation/email to management and just hold on to the letter if the topic comes up.

    My only other questions is, on all the ESA sites (and I think HUD said it somewhere, too) it said the person with the ESA letter should request accommodation from the landlord once receiving the letter and that accommodation also includes changes to no-pet policies. Is this saying I do have to inform them ahead of time, or just that I should?

    Also... on the topic of esa laws changing, Im not aware of any of this, or whether its true or not. However, I know my ESA documentation doesn’t hold up somewhere like a grocery store, as you mentioned it does. I only plan to use this ESA letter at my current no-pet apartment in my last month of tenancy.
  • 05-10-2018, 10:46 AM
    Mark47n
    Re: Emotional Support Animal Letter to Landlord
    Quote:

    Quoting An ESA is [I
    not[/I] a service animal. Service animals are protected by the FHA and the ADA. ESAs are not covered by the ADA. You have no right to take an ESA into a grocery store. (ESAs are allowed on airplanes under a separate law, the Air Carrier Access Act.)

    That's my point. However, asking people about the disability that requires said animal is problematic. You can only ask two questions as an employee/employer and that are 1) is the service animal required due to a disability and 2) what service has the dog been trained to perform.There is no certification for this and the owner can claim the dog is trained to perform any of a variety of service due to claimed disability and then there is a huge can of worms.

    My stupid labs provide a service; they keep the floors clean...everywhere.
  • 05-10-2018, 11:27 AM
    Mr. Knowitall
    Re: Emotional Support Animal Letter to Landlord
    Quote:

    Quoting flyingron
    View Post
    The air carrier access act just says "thou shalt not discriminate against disabled passengers."

    You are free to argue that the interpretation of that law is unnecessarily broad, but this thread is about housing, not airlines.

    Quote:

    Quoting Tsm
    View Post
    ....it said the person with the ESA letter should request accommodation from the landlord once receiving the letter and that accommodation also includes changes to no-pet policies. Is this saying I do have to inform them ahead of time, or just that I should?

    If you never request accommodation, the landlord has no duty to accommodate you.

    Quote:

    Quoting Mark47n
    View Post
    You can only ask two questions....

    You are again speaking about service animals and the ADA. This thread involves emotional support animals and the FHA.
  • 05-10-2018, 12:58 PM
    Tsm
    Re: Emotional Support Animal Letter to Landlord
    so are you saying I do have to inform them ahead of time and I’d be in the wrong if I do not?
  • 05-10-2018, 01:23 PM
    Mr. Knowitall
    Re: Emotional Support Animal Letter to Landlord
    Quote:

    Quoting Tsm
    View Post
    so are you saying I do have to inform them ahead of time and I’d be in the wrong if I do not?

    Your landlord lacks psychic powers. If you fail to request accommodation, your landlord does not have to offer you accommodation.

    If you want to roll the dice and see what happens if you don't disclose your ESA or share your ESA letter with your landlord, as they say, it's your life. But your landlord does not have to accommodate your ESA unless and until you request the accommodation.
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