Comfort cat. Fair housing law question.

[Christopher Lawrence]

Hello,

I was wondering if any of you have had a situation like this arise. I own a college rental property with 6 students renting for a yearly lease. They came to us as a group of 6 and signed the lease without ever disclosing any information about a comfort cat. 

A few days ago we started receiving complaints from one of the tenants that another has a cat and will not listen to the complaints of the other roommates about having one in the house. Our lease states that the tenants are not allowed to have pets but we were made aware that she has a doctors note stating she needs this cat and that we do not have the ability to deny housing because of it. Additionally now one of the other tenants is complaining about a skin condition that she believes is developing from the cat (showed us a picture of a rash appearing on her face)

I guess my question is, do we have any course of action here in terms of removing the pet. They did not make us aware prior to signing the lease, however I understand she may need it for health reasons. The issue is that now it seems to be posing a health hazard to one of her fellow tenants and she does not have any consideration for this. Is it on the tenant who is developing the rash to get some sort of doctors opinion that the cat is to blame? Is it our job to resolve this or is it amongst the tenants at this point since the cat would be permitted under the fair housing law? Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Chris

[Linda Weygant]

You do not have to allow an Emotional Support Animal if it causes undue financial or administrative burden to you or if it is a health hazard to other occupants of the same dwelling.  (A duplex would be tough to work this through, but a roommate scenario is exactly what this was geared toward).  

An allergic reaction severe enough to cause a facial rash is the very definition of a health hazard.  I'm glad you don't have anybody there with pet dander triggered asthma!

The cat's owner is also in violation of the lease because, while you cannot deny housing to a person who needs an Emotional Support Animal, it is most definitely within your rights to know it is in the house and she was not forthcoming with this information.  You can also request the following:

1.  Verification that the owner is a patient under a doctor's care

2.  Verification from the doctor that the patient requires emotional support from an animal

3.  Verification must be dated within the last year and be a letter on a doctor's stationary.

You are not allowed to ask what the medical condition is, nor are you allowed to ask what service the animal provides.

Note that MANY people confuse the above, which is per HUD guidelines and specific to housing with the ADA where the guidelines are much looser. I've had tenants fight me on this because they like to quote the ADA which is all about bringing animals into the public sphere like businesses and restaurants. The ADA marginally governs housing, but it is the HUD guidelines that are specific to housing and what need to be followed in this situation.

Also note that if you have fewer than four rentals, you are not required to abide by the guidelines.

I would contact the offending tenant and let them know that if they wish to stay in the property, the cat needs to go.  If they are unwilling to go, then you should probably just let them out of their lease with a 30 day notice with no penalties and return their deposit if there is otherwise no damage.

Good luck!