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Tenant Pets When You Must Say Yes No matter how much we like our pets, as owners its an added headache. They can be loud and dirty. They can destroy furniture, flooring and cause infestations. The choice to say yes to a tenant with a pet is individual and if you are having great difficulty renting a unit, it might be easier to get your price quicker if you offer a pet friendly building. Having said that and being a pet lover myself, the choice is the owners to make, Fair Housing Law does not consider the pet owner a protected class and you may say no to pets in your property. But be careful not to use that as the reason you decline one prospective tenant and then take another with a pet, that is discriminatory and cause yourself a nuisance law suit. But if you have a tenant that is disabled and needs a pet, you as the landlord cannot say no. Support Animals must be accommodated, including animals required for emotional disorders often helped by animal companionship. Animals that are claimed as emotional support need not have the special training that a seeing eye dog needs. The claim that the animal provides emotional support to a depressed or otherwise disabled person may be enough. A landlord may be able to deny a support animal IF the cost is prohibitive. The courts recognize that the burden on an owner can be unfair, but that can be a costly argument.
What Are the Rules Fair Housing Law does not consider the pet owner a protected class and you may say no to all pet owners applying for a rental. But be careful not to use that as the reason you decline a prospective tenant and then take another with a pet. That might be seen as discriminatory and cause you a nuisance law suit. If you have a tenant that is disabled and needs a pet either to support living or even just for emotional support, you as the landlord cannot say no.
Fair Housing - Gotta Know it What to Do
The Pet Addendum Its wise to have a pet addendum in the file. It will help you document the understanding. If the pet changes or the circumstances change you will have some control because the agreement has been defined and a lease requires all changes be agreed to by both parties. Your Property Path has a sample pet addendum that you can use with some modification considering the fair housing laws for pets and disabled tenants. REsourced from www.yourpropertypath.com You may republish this article as long as you do not edit and you agree to preserve all links to the author and Your Property Path.com
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