Many people with disabilities require the use of assistance animals in their daily lives. Under the Fair Housing Act, assistance animals for people with disabilities are not considered pets as assistance animals have a specific role to assist a person with a disability in a way that is related to the disability itself. An assistance animal is any type of animal that provides a service to a person with a disability. Assistance animals are animals that do work, provide observation or vigilance, or perform tasks for the benefit of a person with a disability—including providing support or comfort for adults or children with mental or emotional disabilities.
While it is permitted to restrict pets from rental properties or condominiums, it is unlawful to deny a person with a disability the right to possess an assistance animal, as long as the animal’s function has a direct connection to the person’s disability. Under the Fair Housing Act an assistance animal is not required to have formal training or certification and a housing provider is not allowed to require proof that the animal has been certified, trained, or licensed as a service animal. Policies limiting the size, weight, or type of pets allowed do not apply to assistance animals and assistance animals can be any type of therapeutically necessary animal.
A person with a disability can request a reasonable accommodation to a “no pets” policy. A landlord, property manager, condominium board or any other housing provider may request additional information or documentation to verify the need for an assistance animal if the requester has a disability that is not obvious, or the disability related need is not apparent.
Consumers should be aware of the large number of online services that claim to certify a pet as an emotional support animal for a fee. No official certification or registration for emotional support animals or assistance animals currently exists. When making a reasonable accommodation request for an emotional support animal or any other type of assistance animal, all verifications provided to housing providers should come from a medical or other professional who is familiar with the patient or client making the request, their disability, and the disability related need for the animal.
People who own assistance animals must assume all responsibility for the animal including making sure it is up to date on vaccinations, cleaning up after the animal, and making sure it does not disturb neighbors with excessive noise. Owners of assistance animals are exempt from pet fees and pet deposits, but they must nonetheless pay for any damages that the animal might cause. If an assistance animal is dangerous or disruptive to other residents, the housing provider can require its removal or evict the tenant.
Consumers should only request reasonable accommodations for assistance animals when there is a legitimate disability related need and should avoid misrepresenting a pet as an assistance animal. A number of states, including Pennsylvania, have passed laws which criminalize falsely representing a pet as an assistance animal. The Assistance and Service Animal Integrity Act is a law that was enacted in Pennsylvania in 2018 and protects landlords or associations from being held liable for injuries caused by a person’s assistance animal or service animal which the landlord has permitted on the property as a reasonable accommodation and makes it a third degree misdemeanor to misrepresent an animal as an assistance or service animal.
If you live in Philadelphia, Southeast Pennsylvania or the Lehigh Valley and have questions regarding assistance animals in housing, contact info@equalhousing.org, 866-540-FAIR or contact us.