Emotional Support Dog as a puppy? (Pittsburgh, Norristown: real estate, 2014, rental)

[cjsfirsttimecondolandlord]

I am a new landlord renting out my condo (of 10 years) since I moved for business to the Pittsburgh area. The condo is in Norristown, PA, and is a 2nd floor, 2 bedroom only 880 sq ft , with a downstairs (private entrance) home owner.

I have 2 young tenants who JUST moved in over Thanksgiving weekend (11/2014). I allowed their 2 cats to be on the lease, since I was going a few months without a tenant (my real estate agent never took the comps into consideration and I didn't know any better). Three weeks into their new lease, the male tenant says he wants to get a puppy. I said no. He then said, oh the dog is going to be an Emotional Support Dog and it will be a puppy. He offered to pay more as a deposit and monthly. While the female tenant was talking with the downstairs neighbor the female tenant mentioned about getting a dog which surprised the neighbor, knowing I wouldn't allow so many pets. Their plan to get a dog has been in the works for awhile. The HOA limits 2 dogs. BUT he produced a letter from a counselor out of Oregon ($50 and we will write a letter that you need an ESD?) stating the dog is for his health. Are there any restrictions on a mature dog or puppy? Any size limits? Neutered? collecting a deposit or additional monthly rent? What's from keeping him from getting 5 ESD's? This was my home in a very nice condo complex that is just going to the dogs.

I cannot find anything that backs the landlord, only the tenants. In this case, I feel like I have been played.

Please advise. Thanks so much for your input.

[AJNEOA]

I don't blame you for not wanting dogs in your place. People are often times lazy and careless with their own property, I can only imagine what they'll do to other peoples' property.

Emotional Support Animals (ESA) seem like a COS to me, but I'm sure there are honest/good applications (e.g. paralysis, extreme PTSD, etc.). Then there are probably people who have some depression and instead of finding a place that rents to people with dogs, they get a letter from a therapist (not hard) to try and force it in their current residence. Here's some information I found on a reputable site:

To legally qualify, a PSD must be prescribed for a person by his/her licensed therapist (a licensed mental health professional) in a properly formatted letter that specifically states that a PSD is needed to perform necessary tasks that the person is unable to perform for him/herself during certain events.

National Service Animal Registry

On another page on that site, there is a note about federal law:

If a person is physically impaired (disabled) and has individually trained service dog to perform a major life task that the person has trouble performing for him or herself (or an emotional support animal prescribed by a licensed mental health professional), the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988 requires the landlord/property manager to make a reasonable accommodation to their policies and allow the tenant to have an emotional support animal. This includes species, breed, and weight policies.

That means if they have a "cats only" policy, they must accept your service dog. If they have a policy that allows dogs weighing no more than 30 lbs. and your emotional support animal (ESA) weighs 75 lbs., they must make a change in the rules to accommodate you. If they accept all dogs, except pit bulls, and you have a pit bull, they must allow your pit bull to reside with you.

Property managers/landlords are NOT required to make a reasonable accommodation under the Fair Housing Act for ESAs or Service Animals in these cases:

Buildings with 4 or less units where the landlord occupies one of the units
Single family housing sold or rented without a real estate broker
Hotels and Motels are not considered dwellings under the FHA but are considered places of public accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act
Private Clubs
To register your animal, click here.

Documentation Required For Emotional Support Animals
The one requirement for a person to legally qualify for an emotional support animal (ESA) is that the person has a letter from a licensed mental health professional (therapist, psychologist, psychiatrist -NOT the family doctor) on his/her letterhead that states the person is under his/her care, is emotionally or psychiatrically disabled, and prescribes for the person an emotional support animal. Without this letter, if the person presents an animal as an ESA, he/she is in violation of federal law; an offense punishable by fine and imprisonment, if convicted.

If you have no therapist or your therapist is unwilling to write a letter of prescription for an ESA, we recommend Chilhowee Psychological Services, who offers a disability assessment designed to determine your eligibility. If you meet the disabled criteria based on their assessment, then they also send that RX letter to you, written by a licensed therapist. Click here to review: Chilhowee Psychological Services

Personally, I would manage any accommodations you do have to make to the letter of the law. Breed, size/weight, the list of specific duties the dog has to perform, etc. If the letter from the therapist is not specific enough, I would challenge the therapist to be sure they aren't being loose with their prescriptions. If the letter is coming from a service that's writing letters for a simple fee, I would contact the HOA or appropriate regulatory organization to investigate said service.

Btw - The link I sent you also has regulations around what you can/cannot do. It doesn't look like you can force them to pay an additional fee. However, you could always raise rent the following year across the board. Good luck!

[naudia]

First, I highly suggest that you contact an attorney to advise you. Keep in mind, however, that attorneys are not infallible and fair housing law is such a niche that even dedicated landlord-tenant attorneys don't know it well. I am in the fair housing field so here are my two cents based on the federal Fair Housing Act:

A puppy can be an emotional support animal. Emotional support animals do not have to perform any work or be licensed.

You cannot charge extra pet rent or an extra security deposit for an emotional support animal, however, you can deduct any damage the animal does from the security deposit in the same way as any other damage.

What your tenant is seeking is called a reasonable accommodation. Just as the name states, the request must be "reasonable." It's possible that having three animals may not be reasonable, but that depends on the facts of your particular case. At the very least, you need to engage in a dialogue with your tenant because failing to even have a conversation/negotiate is by itself a violation of the federal Fair Housing Act.

You can ask your tenant for a doctor's note (or licensed therapist) prescribing the emotional support animal. You are probably also okay asking why the two animals the tenant already have are not sufficient. So you could ask for the doctor/therapist to indicate why the tenant requires three animals instead of two. If the Oregon doctor's note is more than a year old, you could ask for an updated one. Or if it's recent you could ask when your tenant was last under this doctor's care. Check the rental application. It should have info about your tenant's prior residents going back at least three years. If the tenant has never lived in Oregon you can explain that you are concerned about fraud and ask for a note from a current therapist. Or a note from the Oregon therapist indicating that the tenant is still undergoing treatment with that therapist.

Also, the exemption for single family homes rented without the assistance of a real estate broker mentioned above only counts if the owner owns 3 or fewer single family properties/units and the owner hasn't used the exemption in the past two years. And even under that exemption an owner may still be liable for making discriminatory statements.

[cjsfirsttimecondolandlord]

Thanks so much for your responses. I appreciate your help!

[fsp412]

I have been looking into qualifying my dog as an Emotional Support Animal due to problems where the dog has already proven to be helpful. I am a tenant, and the landlord does allow pets, so this is not an incentive to me to do such. As a landlord, there are some things that you would need to know.
1. Denying a tenant with an ESA (Emotional Support Animal) is in violation of the ADA.
2. Typically only 1 animal qualifies as an ESA with a couple of exceptions.
3. While they don't have the same training as a service dog (such as for visually impaired), they must meet requirements to be official.

An ESA should be registered. This is a similar process to what you would do for a service animal or therapy animal (the animals visiting in hospitals and nursing homes). Registration provides for validity. A single person can only have one ESA unless circumstances or the letter of prescription states otherwise. If there were two people, then there could theoretically be 2 ESAs.

No formal training is required, so theoretically a puppy could qualify, but most likely, the animalshould be a young adult or older. The animal must also be house trained (relieving themselves outside or in a designated litter area), and can not be animal aggressive, nor people aggressive. Obviously, if the animal in question is provoked, the animal is allowed to react accordingly.

Now, you are allowed to receive a letter from a mental health profession stating that the tenant has a diagnosis in the DSM 4/5 and that an ESA is important for the person's treatment. The tenant does not have to disclose the diagnosis, but you have a right to verify with the mental health professional on the validity of the letter. If the tenant is in need of more than 1 ESA, this letter should state that as well. In addition, the letter must be within 1 year since the letter was prescribed, and you are allowed to request an updated letter.

You as the landlord are not legally allowed to charge a higher security deposit, nor a surcharge for an animal (just as you can't do so with someone who has glasses or in a wheelchair). You are still allowed to seek for damages that the ESA does to the unit. and obviously evict if the animal has proven to not meet the ESA guidelines. Hope this helps.