ESA (Emotional Support Animal) Attacks Neighbor's Kid

[Emily N.]

Hi All!

As the title states, we manage an apartment complex with a strict no pets policy and were forced to accept a resident's dog when they submitted an ESA letter. Yesterday we received notice that the ESA (a pitbull) attacked the next door resident's kid and scratched her on the arm as well as growled in her face.

We've instructed the resident to file a police report and they also submitted photos to us of the scratches as well as a recounting of what happened. This property is in New Jersey where most judges side against landlords in court so we are hesitant to file for eviction for fear that they'll come down on us about it being an ESA.

Has anybody else navigated this sort of thing before? Any suggestions are welcome.

Thanks,

E

[Greg Scott]

Your assumption is incorrect. You have the right and arguably the responsibility to remove this animal and/or the resident from your property.

According to HUD: "The FHA does not require a dwelling to be made available to an individual whose tenancy would constitute a direct threat to the health or safety of other individuals or whose tenancy would result in substantial physical damage to the property of others.A housing provider may, therefore, refuse a reasonable accommodation for an assistance animal if the specific animal poses a direct threat that cannot be eliminated or reduced to an acceptable level through actions the individual takes to maintain or control the animal"

You can read the full HUD guidelines here: https://www.hud.gov/sites/dfil...

The ESA abuse by tenants is ridiculous. Amazingly almost all ESAs are restricted breeds like pitbulls or dobermans. We push back hard on ESAs, staying within the HUD guidelines.

Good luck