ESA and Security Deposits

[Andrea Bergquist]

I just recently purchased a home in a college town that my son and a few roommates will live in. When we purchased the home we inherited renters. One renter moved out right before we took possession. There were apparently issues between him and his roommates. Now that all renters have vacated, I went back and assessed an "unauthorized pet" fee. The renter with the pet is now claiming the dog is an ESA and apparently has paperwork proving that, therefore there should be no fee. My question is, are renters required to request accomodations for an ESA prior to moving the animal in? I feel like they would have needed to disclose that long before vacating. According to the lease and other documents we inherited from the property management company that dealt with the property prior to us purchasing it, no disclosure of an ESA was ever made. Can I still deduct this fee from this security deposit?