Client/tenant with service dogs question

[Daniel Bryant]

I have a client that rents out a commercial suite from me here in NYC for over a year. Yesterday he came with a pet dog who’s about a month old into my building and into his room… when I told him that we cannot have pets in the building he said that it’s not a pet, it’s a service dog that he MUST have because of his anxiety issues and that I’m not legally allowed to question him about it nor deny him access..

I’ve asked him for documentations stating this and he said I’m not allowed to ask for it either…

What am I supposed to do here in this situation 

[Greg Scott]

You are being played.  The resident is wrong.

DoJ and DoT do not recognize emotional support animals as service animals, which is why emotional support peacocks cannot fly on planes. (btw, no such legal thing as a service "dog") HUD, however has allowed service animals and forced landlords to accept them.

Under pressure from the NAA, HUD recently released guidelines on how to deal with emotional support animals. I'd understand them, but NOT share them with your resident because, for the smart ones, it provides a nice map on how to cheat the system. https://www.hud.gov/sites/dfil...

When we have a resident provide us evidence for an emotional support animal that does not meet the HUD guidelines, we simply provide them a letter that the information they provided does not meet those guidelines and encourage them to talk to their healthcare professional for more information. We then charge them pet rent, or, if it is a restricted breed we provide them a lease violation notice and will evict, if necessary.