Owners Survey, about 70% of U.S. households own pets, up from 67% in the 2019-20 survey. As pet ownership increases, apartment dwellers may face the challenges of finding pet-friendly housing. Apartment leases often come...more
We have received an increasing number of questions about service animals — and most recently — an inquiry about miniature horses. While the statutory definition of "service animal" under Title III of the Americans with...more
With the surge of return to work policies cropping up through out the US, we have received an uptick of landlord inquiries about pets and animals in leased spaces. While it is a landlord's prerogative to prohibit pets in...more
This is the second blog post in our new series on Assistance Animals, Service Animals, and Emotional Support Animals. See the first post here. Stay tuned in the coming weeks for blog posts addressing unique questions and...more
In the last few years, employers, education institutions, and places of public accommodation (e.g., airports, grocery stores, and hotels) have seen an increase in individuals who want to bring their Assistance Animal, Service...more
Laws regarding service and emotional support animals can be confusing to property owners—and guidance can vary depending upon the type of animal and its function. For example, recently, the Department of Housing and Urban...more
The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), on Jan. 28, issued new guidance on requests for reasonable accommodation under the Fair Housing Act (FHA) relative to “assistance animals” in various...more
Your humble Fair Housing Defense blog editor appreciated hearing from a number of you concerning the new HUD guidance addressing reasonable accommodation requests for animals under the Fair Housing Act (FHA). In response to...more
I was honored to join colleagues and clients at the 2020 Aviation Symposium the Firm sponsored in Tysons Corner from February 4 through February 6, 2020....more
When you get a request for a service animal in school, your mind may race with concerns. What if students or staff are allergic? Is the dog going to be a distraction for other students? Where will the dog relieve itself?...more
What rights do employees of tenants or other occupants of office buildings have to bring service animals and emotional support animals into New York City office buildings? What rules and restrictions can the owners of office...more
On Wednesday, August 21, 2019, the U.S. Department of Transportation published a “Final statement of enforcement priorities regarding service animals.” 84 FR 43480-01, 2019 WL 3934886 (F.R.). Unfortunately, as several...more
When I do fair housing training, I always say to my audience that if one of you has a question, I am willing to bet another person in the room has the same question....more
Dogs can bring us companionship, a sense of purpose and enhanced health. Fortunately, courts (and landlords) are increasingly recognizing that an emotional support dog may be a reasonable accommodation of a disability under...more
Recent news stories have highlighted situations where airline passengers and other users of public accommodations have insisted on bringing a veritable menagerie of animals with them, on the basis that they provide emotional...more
A couple of assistance animal related questions have hit my desk recently. At properties which have pools, can assistance animals accompany residents into the pool area? How about into the pool? No, I am not making that...more
There has been a lot of press lately on animals (and humans) behaving badly on airplanes. Some of the problems in the friendly skies relate to the huge increase in passengers bringing on animals they claim to be emotional...more
...Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), “Service Animals” are defined as dogs that are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities. This means the dog must be trained to take a...more
First, let me go off topic for a minute to wish everyone a happy and healthy Thanksgiving holiday. As I do once a year, I want to give a special shout out to my wife (Hi Sweetie!) to see if she actually reads these posts....more
School officials often receive requests from students with disabilities to bring “service animals” and “assistance animals” on campus as an accommodation. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 504 of the...more
As written in this space (and elsewhere) all too frequently, professional apartment owners and managers have seen a significant surge in the number of reasonable accommodation requests by residents with animals. Some of these...more
Readers will recall that we recently corralled the law on “Assistive Animals” in the workplace, here. Now, in part two of our mini-series, we pony up an explanation of the rules governing the use of service animals by...more
A recent article in The New Yorker (“PETS ALLOWED: Why are so many animals now in places where they shouldn’t be?” October 20, 2014) highlights the disconnect between perception and reality when businesses must deal with...more
Regulations proposed by California's Fair Employment and Housing Commission governing disability discrimination have been finalized after public comment and are now in effect. According to the Statement of Purpose, the...more