Changing a pet to ESA in the middle of tenancy - California

[Janani Narayanan]

I have an applicant who has 3 dogs. They have an ESA letter for 2 of them and their ask is (before signing the lease), to not charge pet deposit and pet fee for the third dog because they will get ESA letter for 3rd dog (after signing the lease) too to waive off the pet deposit & fee. I declined to exclude pet fee for any pets if there is no ESA letter at the time of signing the agreement. Note: I'm a SFH owner in Bay Area who is exempt from allowing ESAs. If in the middle of the tenancy, can the tenant convert the pet to ESA by getting an online certification? This sounds like a scam to me and can I prevent that by including a clause in the lease to not convert (or dismiss request to convert) a declared pet to ESA?

This is more of a moral issue for me rather than the question of pet fee/deposit.

[Brian Garlington]

With all due respect....these potential tenants already sound like trouble. Believe me,....with how many people that need housing here in the Bay Area,...there are PLENTY of others that you can find.  

Generally speaking I always ask potential tenants if they have any animals or pets. This covers both angles. When I do have a rental available I make it clear in the advertisements and in the lease that there is only 1 animal or pet allowed and fully grown the animal can't be more than 20 lbs when fully grown. One person managed to get their garden snake that was in a cage "certified" as an ESA. Go figure.