Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and Kent State University (KSU) settled claims of discrimination under the Fair Housing Act (FHA) related to the use of emotional support animals in university housing. KSU and its employees were charged with disability discrimination for failing to allow a student who suffered from a psychological disability to keep an emotional support dog in her university apartment as a reasonable accommodation.

Although KSU’s “no pet” housing policy provided an exception for trained service dogs under the Americans with Disabilities Act, it violated the FHA’s broader reasonable accommodation rules which allow for the use of any kind of animal (including comfort animals) to treat the effects of a person’s disability. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio held that because the FHA’s definition of a dwelling applied to student and university-owned housing, KSU was also obligated to follow the FHA’s guidance to determine whether to approve the use of an emotional support animal as a reasonable accommodation.

As part of the settlement, KSU agreed to adopt a new housing policy and to pay $145,000 that will be apportioned among former students previously denied reasonable accommodations for emotional support animals, a fair housing organization, and the United States. For more information on the case and settlement, see the recent Legal Alert prepared by members of Ballard Spahr’s Housing and Higher Education groups.

With only very limited exceptions, the Fair Housing Act applies to nearly all rental units in the United States, regardless of whether they are privately or publicly funded. HUD-assisted housing must observe additional fair housing and accessibility requirements. Housing providers should consider reviewing their policies for emotional support animals and ensuring that they comply with all the fair housing requirmenets applicable to their properties.