Do Emotional Support Animal Medical Verifications Last Forever?

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A legitimate question from leasing office professionals I get from time to time is: “We approved an emotional support animal for a resident two years ago. Does that approval continue indefinitely or can we seek a supplemental medical verification from time to time?” My answer is that there are any number of disabilities for which we grant a reasonable accommodation but for which medicine, treatment, surgery, or even the passage of time can have cured or helped cure such that the condition no longer qualifies as a disability. To that end, it appears reasonable for management to seek a supplemental medical verification for a disability that is not obvious. Do I think you should do this every three months? Certainly not. But there is a legitimate argument to seek a supplement every couple of years or perhaps even at lease renewal time. The point is not to improperly pry into any resident’s medical history, but as we are in an era of, shall we say, questionable medical verifications for certain emotional support animals (yes, I am talking about those simply purchased over the internet with a few computer clicks and a credit card without any legitimate medical evaluation or diagnosis), doing our best to comply with applicable law only makes sense. In addressing this specific issue, one federal judge wrote “[n]o provision in the [Fair Housing Act] purports to make a granted accommodation eternal.”

Might you get some pushback? Yes, but hopefully not from your residents with legitimate disabilities. Indeed, I suspect individuals with real disabilities are disheartened by those attempting to game the system as it does a disservice to those who actually need emotional support animals.

That being said, of course, there are certain obvious disabilities for which management most likely would never need a supplemental verification. Such as if a resident is blind or if a resident uses a wheelchair.

This is a challenging area and one for which management should continually attempt to get it right.

Just A Thought.

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DISCLAIMER: Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations.

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