A Renter’s Guide to Assistance Animals in Arkansas
Assistance animals provide tremendous service and relief for people with disabilities. However, navigating ownership of an assistance animal as a tenant amid various pet policies and restrictions can be challenging. This post provides a brief overview of the rights and limitations that apply to tenants who use assistance animals.
What is an Assistance Animal?
There are two types of assistance animals: service animals and emotional support animals. The Fair Housing Act (FHA) treats both types of assistance animals equally. Per the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a service animal is any dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability. Other species of animals, whether trained or untrained, are not service animals for the purposes of the ADA.
The second category of an assistance animal is emotional support animals (ESA’s). ESAs are trained or untrained assistance animals that do work, perform tasks, provide assistance, and/or provide therapeutic emotional support for individuals with disabilities. Under the FHA, a disability is a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities.
What are my rights as a tenant who uses an assistance animal and how do I exercise them?
Many tenants with assistance animals encounter requests to pay pet fees, pet rent, or policies excluding pets entirely when trying to find a rental home. Per the Department of Housing and Urban Development, assistance animals are not considered pets. Therefore, a housing provider may not exclude them under a pet policy or charge a pet fee or deposit. Further, breed and weight restriction policies do not apply to assistance animals.
Tenants with assistance animals who are facing the imposition of pet fees or pet restrictions may request a reasonable accommodation from their housing provider to exempt them from such policies. These requests can be made verbally or in writing, though making the request in writing is preferable to provide you with documentation of the request should you need it in the future. Requests can be made at any point in the tenancy—while applying for the home, when signing the lease, to avoid lease termination or eviction because of the animal’s presence, etc. The housing provider must consider the reasonable accommodation request even if the resident made the request after bringing the animal into the home.
When making the request, you do not have to provide details about your diagnosis or condition, but you do need to state that you are disabled and that the assistance animal provides a service related to your disability. You should be prepared to provide documentation from a healthcare provider that provides information about your general condition and a connection between the disability and the need for an assistance animal.
What happens if the landlord denies your request for a reasonable accommodation?
First, under the Fair Housing Act, it is unlawful to discriminate in the rental of a dwelling to any renter because of a handicap [42 U.S.C. § 3604(f)(1)]. Discrimination includes the refusal to make reasonable accommodations to housing policies [42 U.S.C. § 3604(f)(3)(B)]. An accommodation is reasonable when it imposes no fundamental alteration in the nature of a program or undue financial and administrative burdens.
However, housing providers can lawfully deny a request if the specific animal at issue (not just a breed generalization) poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others or would cause substantial physical damage to the property and the threat cannot be eliminated or reduced to an acceptable level by the tenant (such as keeping the assistance animal in a secure enclosure).
If you feel your request for a reasonable accommodation was wrongfully denied, you can reach out to an attorney or file a discrimination complaint (either electronically or by mail) directly with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The Center for Arkansas Legal Services helps low-income Arkansans with fair housing issues at no cost. You may be able to get free legal assistance by calling our Helpline at 1-800-950-5817 or applying online at www.arkansaslegal.org.
What information can a housing provider ask me when assessing my reasonable accommodation request?
There are certain questions housing providers can ask people who are seeking reasonable accommodation or who wish to live with an assistance animal. Landlords can ask if the animal is required due to a disability, what work or task the service animal is trained to perform, and (if the disability is not observable) for documentation that gives them a reason to believe the tenant has a disability, such as a doctor’s note. They can also ask what service the animal has been trained to perform. However, they cannot ask about the nature or extent of the disability, the individual’s diagnosis, or to see proof of certification, training, or licenses for the assistance animal.
Who do I contact if I need assistance with a reasonable accommodation request?
The Center for Arkansas Legal Services can assist eligible individuals with navigating the reasonable accommodation process and provide guidance on your rights as a person with an assistance animal. If you need legal help with this issue, you can apply for services at 1-800-950-5817 or go to arlawhelp.org for more information.
Further sources of information:
Fair Hous. of the Dakotas, Inc. v. Goldmark Prop. Mgmt., 778 F. Supp. 2d 1028 (D.N.D. 2011)
Groner v. Golden Gate Gardens Apts., 250 F.3d 1039 (6th Cir., 2001).
AUTHOR: LEXI ACELLO, STAFF ATTORNEY FOR THE CENTER FOR ARKANSAS LEGAL SERVICES