Landlord Disregarding Documented Need for Companion Animal
I am going through a similar situation. I have all of the legal documents stating I need my companion animal and I did give the signed doctor letter to my landlord, but they have disregarded it. They are still trying to raise my rent monthly, requiring me to pay a non-refundable fee, and also a fee for any damages my companion has caused. I think what they are doing is illegal.
Does anyone have any court cases that are specific to this or anything specific in MI about fees and companion animals?
Re: Companion Animal Rights
If you go to the site's I suggested in an earlier post, you can do a search on 'disabilities, + pets', + find a LOT of info. I found 3 Adobe Reader articles on 1 case in CT. that the landlord had to pay $115,000 in damages, because he discriminated against a little girl, + her mother, because the little girl had a disability, + had depression because of her disability, + her shrink said to get her a pet, which the mother did, + when the landlord took them to court, he got the surprise of his life when he got the shaft, + had to pay all that money to the woman, + her daughter, because what he did was discrimination against someone with a disability. The pet was to help with the girl with her depression, which worked very well for her.
You HAVE to do the research if you want results, + I did many late night hrs. doing mine. :D :p
Re: Landlord Disregarding Documented Need for Companion Animal
I don't see any requirement under Michigan law that a landlord waive fees for a companion animal as opposed to a service animal. You can read this article for a theory of how you might be able to argue that a companion animal is covered by federal law, but the legal environment is not as favorable (in my opinion) as that article suggests. There does not appear to be any Michigan case law on the issue.
There's no law, anywhere, that frees you from having to pay for damage caused by your animal, in a context where the landlord would charge other tenants for damage to their units.