Service Animals & Emotional support- Is animal restriction dead?

[Michael Ablan]

Hey guys,

Is anyone noticing a huge uptick in the amount of people applying for apartments who have service and emotional support animals?  In just the last 3 months, I swear 7/10 people have had one of the two.  I even had one applicant tell me they had 4 service dogs!  Literally a small gang of dogs surrounding them at all times.

I have no issues with people who have these, but it feels like it's getting to the point where EVERYONE has one.  We even have to disregard our insurance companies strict breed restrictions and risk being canceled if there's ever a claim.

What's everyone doing to offset the risks that are being forced upon us with this new phenomenon?  Obviously animal proofing during the rehab is one, but what else?

[Nathan Gesner]

@Jennifer J. you can't charge a deposit, no pet rent, nothing.

I've studied this issue for almost ten years and it's definitely getting worse and the government is doing nothing to help. Some states have instituted penalties for anyone falsely claiming an emotional support animal or service animal but they provide no guidance on how to file a complaint.

The easiest solution is to hand this over to www.PetScreening.com and let them deal with it. Their service is 100% free to the Landlord so why not let them do the work? They are experts in the law and will at least weed out most of the fraudsters, which takes care of about 60% of them. The remainder may make it past the screening but at least you'll have their animal information on file and can ensure it's kept current.

Virtually anyone can "prescribe" an emotional support animal. Psychologist, family doctor, family counselor, marriage counselor, and even a pastor. It needn't be a licensed medical practitioner and they're not required to have any medical training that qualifies them to identify the emotional "disability" that the individual suffers from. You feel sad? Get a dog! Things going poorly at work? Get a dog! You heard someone died in the war zone 27 miles from your location? Get a dog!

The most interesting part is that these people suffering from disabling emotional problems are usually not seeking any form of treatment. They see a doctor or counselor once, get a dog prescription, and then never go back. Why? Because they don't actually have a disability and they're not actually trying to heal anything. They just want their pet. 

Even though the animal is essentially considered a medical device in the eyes of the law, they still have to meet basic responsibilities like keeping it leashed, not allowing it to damage the property, cleaning up after it, keeping it quiet, not letting it threaten others, etc. I recently kicked someone out because their ESA lunged and snapped at two different people on two different occasions. If the animal does not abide by the rules, you can absolutely require them to remove it.