Florida passes new law on Emotional Support Animals

[Kyle J.]

Florida recently passed a new law to crack down on all the tenants who were taking advantage of how easy it is to pay a small fee to an online company they never even have to meet with to get their pets registered as an ESA so they can have pets where they’re not allowed and/or get out of paying pet fees.

Now, you don’t have to accept those phony internet-only registration certificates they simply pay a fee for and print out.

Gov. DeSantis Signs Law to Address Emotional Support Animals in Housing

Finally! Florida Passes Emotional Support Animal Law

Hopefully more states will follow suit with similar laws. 

[Nathan Gesner]

Originally posted by @Kyle J.:

Florida recently passed a new law to crack down on all the tenants who were taking advantage of how easy it is to pay a small fee to an online company they never even have to meet with to get their pets registered as an ESA so they can have pets where they’re not allowed and/or get out of paying pet fees.

Now, you don’t have to accept those phony internet-only registration certificates they simply pay a fee for and print out.

Gov. DeSantis Signs Law to Address Emotional Support Animals in Housing

Finally! Florida Passes Emotional Support Animal Law

Hopefully more states will follow suit with similar laws. 

FYI: you were never obligated to accept phony certificates. It's just that Landlords and Property Managers failed to educate themselves and were accepting them because they didn't know better.

More and more states are passing laws that include a stiff fine for anyone falsifying a service animal claim. But here's the problem: who do you report them to, who investigates it, and how will they be punished? I network with thousands of property managers around the country and my state has had a law in place for two years. To my knowledge, there are still plenty of fakes and not one single person has been fined because it's too hard to prove. If you tried to report someone today, they would go find a counselor and get a legal letter before an investigation could even start. It's pointless.

Ten years ago, I would get 1-2 requests a year for emotional support animals. Now I probably get around 50 a year. It's one of the easiest frauds to commit and it's spreading like wildfire. They get a letter that has no expiration, requires no real evidence they have a problem that affects their ability to live, and they're not required to seek treatment (other than the animal), nor is there an expectation of improvement. That's why the vast majority of applicants with emotional support animals are coincidentally young with lower-income jobs. Word spreads and they have no problem taking advantage of the law.