[RPPTL LandTen] Service/ESA animal issue

Wed Feb 15 12:09:16 PST 2017

Below is a handy chart on the three federal laws that apply to service and emotional support animals from the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law…
Fair Housing Act

Applies to virtually all forms of housing, whether for sale or rent. The exceptions include (a) buildings with four or fewer units where the landlord lives in one of the units, and (b) private owners who do not own more than three single family houses, do not use real estate brokers or agents, and do not use discriminatory advertisements.

Rehabilitation Act of 1973, § 504

Applies to any program that receives federal assistance, such as public or subsidized housing (although a landlord who only accepts Section 8 rental assistance is not subject to § 504).

ADA, Title II

Applies to any state or local government, or its instrumentalities, regardless of federal financial assistance. This would include local housing agencies, such as your public housing authority.

Tequisha Y. Myles, Esq.
Fair Housing and Elder Law Projects
Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach County, Inc.
423 Fern Street, Suite 200
West Palm Beach, FL 33401
(561) 655-8944 ext. 296
(561) 655-5269 Fax
tmyles at legalaidpbc.org<mailto:tmyles at legalaidpbc.org>

From: landten-bounces at lists.flabarrpptl.org [mailto:landten-bounces at lists.flabarrpptl.org] On Behalf Of Cary P. Sabol, Esq.
Sent: Wednesday, February 15, 2017 12:30 PM
To: RPPTL Landlord Tenant Committee <landten at lists.flabarrpptl.org>
Subject: Re: [RPPTL LandTen] Service/ESA animal issue

I was actually just about to send an email to the Listserve on this issue.  Yes, it's obvious you can go online and get all the so-called "service animal" documentation.  In fact, the one I'm dealing with even has it's website at the bottom of the letter and is so clearly a scam.

I'm wondering if anyone can provide any clarification as to when the tenant really is protected and authorized to have a service animal.  My understanding is a true service animal can only be a dog or a miniature horse that is actually trained and certified to provide physical/actual assistance to the individual.  With this documentation, I would never question the tenant's right.

However, the scam (in my humble opinion) comes from the "emotional support" animal issue.  These are where you can get any Dr. or even a letter online to state it is medically necessary.  But the situations are so absurd, for example my current situation involves a bird. My understanding is that the so-called "emotional support" issue is not protected under the ADA.

My knowledge and understanding of this issue is still a little hazy, so would love some clarification.  And please correct me if I am wrong.

Cary
Cary P. Sabol, Esq. J.D. (2001), LLM (2009)
Law Offices of Cary P. Sabol
P.O. Box 15981 | West Palm Beach | Florida | 33416
Office: (561) 413-4449
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-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [RPPTL LandTen] Service/ESA animal issue
From: "Harry Heist" <harry at evict.com<mailto:harry at evict.com>>
Date: Wed, February 15, 2017 12:16 pm
To: "'RPPTL Landlord Tenant Committee'" <landten at lists.flabarrpptl.org<mailto:landten at lists.flabarrpptl.org>>
$99 is all it takes to get one of these.

If FAR, every other state association, NAR, NAA, CAI, NARPM and  NMHC all got together, I feel this can be fixed.

This is absurd and should be a top priority.

On top of this, so many people are confusing the FHA with the ADA.

They fixed this somewhat with the ADA but not the FHA.

As long as no one does anything, nothing will change.

Harry

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