Tenant questions about service animal

Jacksonville, Florida
General Landlording & Rental Properties
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Tenant questions about service animal

Tyson Phung
Member since 2023 · 1 post · 0 votes

I have a complicated question about a tenant that has been renting with us for 2 year. They have been good tenants other than noise complaints.

They currently have 4 people living in a three bedroom home. However, recently they stated that they would like their daughter to live with them. The lease only states 4 people. She also mentioned that her daughter that is planning to move in with her received a dog as a gift for Christmas and was wondering if we could modify the lease to allow dogs and that they are willing to pay the fee and sign a new contract. The dog is supposedly fully trained. we responded "no", since our lease says no pets allowed. 

They reply, the dog is small (less than 10 pounds) and it will be traveling with the the mom most of the time, the dog helps the daughter with anxiety and it will be her service animal. This does not add up to me if its going to be a service animal for the daughter but travel with the mom most of the time. 

I did some research on the laws of service animals and I know we cannot deny them an actual ADA compliant service animal. It sounds if the pet is an actual service animal, we cannot charge extra for the pet as well. 

Would I be able to ask them for documentation that this is an actual service animal? I do not live in state. Would the tenants having more people living with them than stated on the lease create issues? 

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  • Susan ManganBusiness Member
    Property Manager · Rockville, MD · Member since 2021 · 11 posts · 5 votes
    2y

    The best thing to do would be to ask them to fill out a Petscreening.com profile, and ask them to send it to you. It won't cost you a thing - they'll have to pay for it. Petscreening will let you know if it is certified, or just a dog. Petscreening.com will also assign a score to the dog, if it's not a service dog, and this is helpful for setting the monthly pet fee. Sometimes it takes a couple of days to thoroughly check for the certification. If it does turn out to be a certified service dog, then yes, you have to accept the dog, and you cannot charge a pet fee. 
    However, if the daughter is moving in with them, she should fill out an application, and undergo application screening, especially if she is over the age of 18. You would need to have all her info on file anyway. Are the utilities covered in the rent? If so, consider bumping up the amount charged. 

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  • Calvin Baughman
    Member since 2023 · 78 posts · 37 votes
    2y

    Well, this is a tricky one. I think you should definitely get the documents proving that the dog really is a service animal. But this whole story sounds like they're lying. First the dog was a Christmas present (a common situation), and in the next interaction the whole tone of the conversation was changed, as if the dog was there because of special circumstances (being a service animal).

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