Emotional Support Dog

[David K.]

Hello BP community,

I own a 2-fam townhouse in PA. The upstairs tenant moved in about 2 years ago and since obtained a pitbull. The HOA has dog size restrictions and this pitbull does not qualify. A neighbor recently complained and the HOA told me to remove the dog or evict the tenant or I will have to face consequences.

I relayed the message to the tenant and he came back with official paper that claims his dog is "Emotional Support Dog". The document has ID, dog's picture and it also says that Fed requires landlords to allow emotional support animals onto the premises.

This seems to be a nasty loophole and I do not have a clue how to deal with it. I showed it to HOA and they are looking into it but I still want the tenant out. Now, I am looking to just have his lease run its course and then tell the tenant that I do not want to extend the lease to him.

I would appreciate your comments especially if you had this happen to you - how do I get rid of him?

thanks

David

[Rob B.]

Hi David, this is definitely a tough one, and I'm sorry to hear you're dealing with this situation. Emotional support animals, in regards to residential real estate, are service animals. The Fair Housing Act states that tenants with emotional support animals cannot be charged extra fees for having their support animals. Based on FHA, you must allow the dog, even if you have a no-pet policy, and you can't charge extra pet rent, pet fee, or pet deposit. That said I know a lot of landlords who have run into issues with the ESA process; there's a difference between extra fees and cost to cover destruction of property, and as far as breeds, some insurance companies are a bit more reluctant to insure the property if certain breeds are residing there. I'd definitely lean on legal counsel locally to get a better idea of what options you have; you want to make sure you're not violating law by evicting a tenant for an ESA but you also want to make sure them having an ESA doesn't violate their HOA rules (sounds like it gets a bit more complex now that the HOA has gotten involved). I'll defer to others who respond after this, but since you're ready to proceed with the eviction process, best to seek out legal counsel who is savvy in Landlord-Tenant law where your property is located. @David K.