Pet fee, deposit, or pet rent?

[Mckenzie Mckean]

Hi, 

We are considering accepting a tenant who has two emotional support dogs. What type of additional money do you recommend charging for dogs? TIA

[Nathan Gesner]

You should hire a property manager because you don't know the law and are about to violate Fair Housing.

If the animal is an emotional support animal (ESA), then it is illegal to charge a pet fee, rent, or deposit. You can't deny them, you can't charge for them. You basically have to treat the animal as if it were a wheelchair. However, the animal is an animal, so it has to obey animal rules like being under control at all times, it can't bark and disturb the neighbors, the Tenant has to clean up after it immediately, etc.

The other problem is that you don't know if it is an ESA. Just because someone says it is doesn't make it so. If their disability is not readily apparent (e.g. blind person), then you are allowed to ask for information to confirm their disability and that the animal is "prescribed" by a qualified medical provider. This is not a simple law, so I won't bother going into the details, but I will tell you that Tenants lie about it all the time and either provide no evidence or they will hand you a fake certificate they bought on the internet.

Lastly, an individual can only have one animal per disability. A blind man is not authorized three guide dogs. Your applicant can only have two ESAs if they have two separate medical disabilities and each dog serves a specific purpose for each disability. I've seen hundreds of applications and have not found one yet with a legitimate need for two dogs for emotional support.

You're in one of the most litigious, heavily regulated places in the world. If you are unable/unwilling to learn the laws, then I recommend you hire a professional to help you navigate the process of managing your rentals before it comes back to bite you.