Emotional support animals are not a scam. It is Federal law that if u have a note from your doctor saying why u need one or just that u do u can't be denied even in places that say no pets. U also can't be forced to pay the pet deposit.
An emotional support animal is not a pet. An emotional support animal is a companion animal that provides therapeutic benefit to an individual with a mental or psychiatric disability. The person seeking the emotional support animal must have a verifiable disability (the reason cannot just be a need for companionship). The animal is viewed as a "reasonable accommodation" under the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988 (FHA or FHAct) to those housing communities that have a "no pets" rule. In other words, just as a wheelchair provides a person with a physical limitation the equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling, an emotional support animal provides a person with a mental or psychiatric disability the same opportunity to live independently. Most times, an emotional support animal will be seen as a reasonable accommodation for a person with such a disability. Failure to make reasonable accommodations by changing rules or policies can be a violation of the FHA unless the accommodation would be an undue financial burden on the landlord or cause a fundamental alteration to the premises.
That is the federal law. I am sorry I can't spell that well. I have a learning disability.
Under federal law, you do not have to permit emotional support animals for everyone with a mental illness, only those who are disabled and have a mental illness. The mental illness must be in some way directly related to the disability.
Different laws apply to companion animals and service animals.
The emotional support animal must be
directly related to a verifiable disability.
The landlord can, in some states, require the animal be spayed/neutered.
The landlord can, in some states, place breed/size restrictions on the dog.
The landlord can
charge the tenant fees to return the property to its original state once the tenant moves out (if they had to put in a doggie door, damages, etc).
Any modification to the home is at the
cost of the tenant, not the landlord.
A landlord can have an emotional support animal removed if it poses a threat to others or keeps others from enjoying their dwellings.
A private landlord with fewer than 3 single family houses
does not have to allow emotional service animals at all.
A landlord with 4 or fewer units, who also resides in one of those units,
does not have to allow emotional service animals.
A landlord who does not rent through a real estate broker
does not have to allow emotional service animals.
A landlord
can evict you if the service animal causes damage. This could even be minor damage.
Also keep in mind that a landlord can often times evict you for no reason at all. They may say they wish to remodel the home/unit. A landlord is not required to rent to you
just because you have an emotional service animal. They are allowed to choose another applicant whom they feel can better afford the home/unit or would be better suited for it. Laws do vary in states but to say "
yes, you are guaranteed to get a home if you have an emotional service animal" is false. To say
"you cannot be evicted if you have an emotional service animal" is also false.
At the end of the day, its simply never a good idea to try and force a landlord to allow a pet if they don't normally allow pets. You are asking for a headache because the landlord can just evict you for other reasons not related to having a service or companion animal. I'm not saying thats "right", but you have to ask yourself if you want to be moving again in a few months. Its just easier to find a complex or home where animals are already openly allowed. If it were me, and a landlord didn't allow pets and wasn't familiar with the laws, why would I want to try to force him/her to allow them (even if it was law)? That just gets everything off on the wrong foot and the landlord will be watching me closely for a reason to evict.
