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We only approve fixed dogs/cats. Are we supposed to exempt ESAs from this rule?
I have a young couple with a retriever puppy bombarding me with inquiries. I told them puppies and unfixed dogs would be a no-go for us. They said they don't plan on fixing the dog because they want to breed him (!!). Now they are saying they just registered the dog as ESA. Obviously, ESA letter (if legitimate) gets them around the dog age, but what about spaying/neutering? Is this legal of me to still require the ESA dog to be fixed?
Quote from @Tim Miller:
Quote from @Lisa Hammond:It doesn't cost the landlord, all fees are paid by the either the tenant or the prospective tenant. The cost is as low as $20 per pet profile. If the tenant has an actual "Service Dog (animal)" they pay nothing.
Quote from @Tim Miller:
@Mila F. @Matt Devincenzo Matt is 100% right, they went online to some website to get a fake letter. Because there is no such thing as "Registering" an ESA animal! I also second Matt suggestion, you should signup for petscreening.com and let them sort this out.
I hate sites that won't give a price without going through Request A Demo. I've asked around and not only can I not get a price for petscreening.com I don't think we can "require" that tenants go through them?
"I don't think we can "require" that tenants go through them? " Really people?! You are operating a business and you don't know what you can legally do or not do? Either get a property manager to take over, hire a lawyer or get an education.
It literally took me less than 5 minutes to search the KS Attorney General website for any law saying you can't do this. Guess what? There is no law that say you can't. Just for good measure, I called the Kansas legal service, pretended to be a tenant that was being discriminated against. I had an ESA letter and the LL refused it and said I had to use petscreening.com. Guess what? The landlord can do this.
I did contact our attorney yesterday and we can NOT require they go through petscreening.com in Kansas. We can ask them to do so but all they have to do is present the document to us, they do not have to use another service.
Quote from @Lisa Hammond:
Quote from @Tim Miller:
Quote from @Lisa Hammond:It doesn't cost the landlord, all fees are paid by the either the tenant or the prospective tenant. The cost is as low as $20 per pet profile. If the tenant has an actual "Service Dog (animal)" they pay nothing.
Quote from @Tim Miller:
@Mila F. @Matt Devincenzo Matt is 100% right, they went online to some website to get a fake letter. Because there is no such thing as "Registering" an ESA animal! I also second Matt suggestion, you should signup for petscreening.com and let them sort this out.
I hate sites that won't give a price without going through Request A Demo. I've asked around and not only can I not get a price for petscreening.com I don't think we can "require" that tenants go through them?
"I don't think we can "require" that tenants go through them? " Really people?! You are operating a business and you don't know what you can legally do or not do? Either get a property manager to take over, hire a lawyer or get an education.
It literally took me less than 5 minutes to search the KS Attorney General website for any law saying you can't do this. Guess what? There is no law that say you can't. Just for good measure, I called the Kansas legal service, pretended to be a tenant that was being discriminated against. I had an ESA letter and the LL refused it and said I had to use petscreening.com. Guess what? The landlord can do this.I did contact our attorney yesterday and we can NOT require they go through petscreening.com in Kansas. We can ask them to do so but all they have to do is present the document to us, they do not have to use another service.
My understanding is that if you require ALL applicants to go through petscreening, regardless if they own any animals or not, then this becomes a part of your screening process like running a credit check. In this case ESA owners are not singled out and go through petscreening like all other applicants.
Quote from @Mila F.:
Quote from @Lisa Hammond:
Quote from @Tim Miller:
Quote from @Lisa Hammond:It doesn't cost the landlord, all fees are paid by the either the tenant or the prospective tenant. The cost is as low as $20 per pet profile. If the tenant has an actual "Service Dog (animal)" they pay nothing.
Quote from @Tim Miller:
@Mila F. @Matt Devincenzo Matt is 100% right, they went online to some website to get a fake letter. Because there is no such thing as "Registering" an ESA animal! I also second Matt suggestion, you should signup for petscreening.com and let them sort this out.
I hate sites that won't give a price without going through Request A Demo. I've asked around and not only can I not get a price for petscreening.com I don't think we can "require" that tenants go through them?
"I don't think we can "require" that tenants go through them? " Really people?! You are operating a business and you don't know what you can legally do or not do? Either get a property manager to take over, hire a lawyer or get an education.
It literally took me less than 5 minutes to search the KS Attorney General website for any law saying you can't do this. Guess what? There is no law that say you can't. Just for good measure, I called the Kansas legal service, pretended to be a tenant that was being discriminated against. I had an ESA letter and the LL refused it and said I had to use petscreening.com. Guess what? The landlord can do this.I did contact our attorney yesterday and we can NOT require they go through petscreening.com in Kansas. We can ask them to do so but all they have to do is present the document to us, they do not have to use another service.
My understanding is that if you require ALL applicants to go through petscreening, regardless if they own any animals or not, then this becomes a part of your screening process like running a credit check. In this case ESA owners are not singled out and go through petscreening like all other applicants.
Interesting. I'll check with another attorney we use sometimes.
#5 General Landlording & Rental Properties Contributor
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#5 General Landlording & Rental Properties Contributor
- Investor
- Narragansett, RI
@Mila F. you can however require an non-internet letter. For petscreening.com I recently had several people on here comment they do not provide this service for no pet properties. I am not sure if that is true.
I would concentrate on adverting the property so you can get more applications. You may need to add an enticement to your ads for December, refresh the ad. Why people get pets and then expect a rental
Young couple..... young wild puppy breed..... want to breed and have even more young crazy puppies all over your unit.... sounds great....lets do that... the pet deposit is 15k. :)
Deny but dont cite a specific reason.... you have selected another candidate.
Quote from @Mila F.:
I have a young couple with a retriever puppy bombarding me with inquiries. I told them puppies and unfixed dogs would be a no-go for us. They said they don't plan on fixing the dog because they want to breed him (!!). Now they are saying they just registered the dog as ESA. Obviously, ESA letter (if legitimate) gets them around the dog age, but what about spaying/neutering? Is this legal of me to still require the ESA dog to be fixed?
Stop all communication with them, block their number, and move on. They have not proven it is an ESA and they are probably fraudulent because there is no such thing as a "registration" for an ESA. They are prescribed by a medical provider.
It would be wise to educate yourself on ESAs before you get taken advantage of. Here's the latest HUD guidance: https://www.hud.gov/sites/dfiles/PA/documents/HUDAsstAnimalN...
Quote from @Colleen F.:
@Mila F. you can however require an non-internet letter. For petscreening.com I recently had several people on here comment they do not provide this service for no pet properties. I am not sure if that is true.
I would concentrate on adverting the property so you can get more applications. You may need to add an enticement to your ads for December, refresh the ad. Why people get pets and then expect a rental
Regarding petscreening for no-pet properties - I can't comment, since all my rentals are animal-friendly (for extra fee and rent). In my case, as I described earlier, everyone has to register with petscreening, pet owners or not.