Can An HOA Deny Emotional Support Animals?

Can an HOA deny emotional support animals? Navigating the ins and outs of emotional support animals in HOAs can come as quite a challenge. More often than not, HOA boards don’t know how to handle requests for reasonable accommodation, especially when the rules aren’t clearly spelled out. This usually leads to some form of complaint, dispute, or even liability.

What Is an Emotional Support Animal?

To know whether or not an HOA can deny emotional support animals, it’s first important to understand how they differ from service animals.

As its name suggests, an emotional support animal (ESA) is an animal that provides therapeutic support or relief to a person with a disability. Other terms people use include a comfort animal or an assisted therapy animal.

What Is a Service Animal?

A service animal is any dog that has specific training to perform tasks for a person with a disability. The Americans With Disabilities Act only recognizes dogs as service animals. The work of a service animal should directly relate to the disability of its handler. For example, a service dog may have specific training to serve as a guide to a blind person.

The Difference

A service animal is specifically trained to perform tasks for a disabled person. Meanwhile, an emotional support animal is a type of assistance animal that provides emotional support to its handler.

Typically, ESAs alleviate the effects of a mental disability. However, unlike service dogs, ESAs are not necessarily specially trained. Additionally, ESAs can take the form of any domesticated animal, not just dogs.

Due to this distinction, ESAs don’t automatically receive the same treatments, exceptions, and protections as service animals. This is particularly apparent among homeowners associations and condo communities.

Can an HOA Deny Emotional Support Animals?

Homeowners associations that allow pets usually accept emotional support animals. The decision is a no-brainer since the community already permits pets anyway. However, some HOAs have strict no-pets policies, which is where the problem lies.

While emotional support animals provide much-needed companionship to some people, there is a lot of debate surrounding them when it comes to HOAs and condominiums. Homeowners associations and condominiums are known for having strict rules, some of which can include pet-related ones. In many communities, residents aren’t even allowed to keep pets at all.

So, can an HOA deny emotional support animals?

In general, HOAs and condominiums can’t refuse owners who have a legitimate request to keep emotional support animals. Under the Fair Housing Act, associations must make reasonable accommodations for homeowners who require ESAs. Of course, an HOA may ask for supporting documentation.

Such documentation includes:

• A formal request in writing to accommodate the emotional support animal
• Information on how the ESA will help the resident
• A letter, note, or certification from a doctor or health professional

Furthermore, emotional support animals must still follow the rules and regulations of the association. Examples include an HOA requiring owners to pick up after their pets or ESAs and an HOA requiring owners not to leave their pets or ESAs unattended.

Fair Housing Act on Emotional Support Animal

The Fair Housing Act offers protection to a number of protected classes, including people with disabilities. The federal law does not allow housing discrimination and extends this protection to service animals.

However, this protection does not automatically and unilaterally apply to emotional support animals. That said, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recommends allowing ESAs in HOAs. After all, it is within the HOA’s best interests to do so rather than deny an owner who actually needs an ESA and face potential liability.

It is worth noting that many states have their own fair housing laws, too. As such, there may be some additional protected classes beyond the ones under the federal FHA.

Are Emotional Support Animals Protected Under the FHA?

The federal FHA does not explicitly require housing providers to make exceptions for emotional support animals. However, housing providers may need to offer reasonable accommodations if an owner can supply documents that prove their need for an ESA. Typically, this comes in the form of a letter from a healthcare provider and other supporting documents.

How to Assess a Request for an Emotional Support Animal

In 2020, HUD released a guide for associations when it comes to assessing a person’s request for an emotional support animal. An HOA may begin the process through determining whether the resident’s disability is observable. Some examples of observable impairments include mobility limitations, blindness, and other impairments that offer observable symptoms (autism and Parkinson’s disease fall under this).

If the HOA knows of the disability and can observe it, the next step is to determine whether there is a relationship between the disability and the animal. However, if the disability can’t be observed or the HOA did not know of it previously, then the HOA can ask for information concerning the disability and the need for the animal in connection with the disability.

Associations can request information that “reasonably supports” the resident’s disability claim and need for the animal. This includes reliable verification such as an online certification or ESA letter. Of course, anyone can just get an ESA letter online and pass it off as a legitimate diagnosis. Such letters should set off a warning to the HOA, which can subsequently deny the request.

Keep in mind that HOAs can’t require a healthcare professional supporting the reasonable accommodation to use a specific form, offer notarized statements, or make any statements under penalty. Furthermore, HOAs can’t require healthcare professionals to give details of the resident’s diagnosis.

That said, if an HOA has a genuine cause to question the resident’s disability or need for an ESA, then the HOA may perform a meaningful review. This usually entails asking for more information.

State Laws on Emotional Support Animals

In addition to the federal FHA, state-level fair housing laws may also provide protection. For instance, Section 760.27 of the Florida Statutes states that housing providers can’t deny a person with a disability or disability-related need for ESAs.

However, housing providers may deny reasonable accommodation if the animal poses a threat to the health and safety of other residents or poses a direct threat of property damage that can’t be reduced or eliminated by another reasonable accommodation.

Can a Condo Association Deny an Emotional Support Animal?

Single-family communities typically have more freedom when it comes to accepting pets or ESAs. This is because these communities tend to have wide, open spaces, with owners having their own yards. The same can’t be said for condominiums, though.

Condo associations often have stricter rules against pets since there are many shared elements. Hallways, elevators, lobbies — these are all spaces that owners can access. Additionally, owners share walls with their neighbors in condo buildings. Thus, the noise problem that comes with pets tends to be more impactful.

Similar to HOAs, condo associations generally can’t refuse a legitimate request for reasonable accommodation to keep emotional support animals. However, they may ask for supporting documentation as listed in a previous section.

Asking for Proof of Disability

Association boards can generally ask residents to provide proof of disability to accommodate their request. However, boards should never ask for the specific disability of the resident, as this would violate their privacy.

When it comes to emotional support animals, an ESA letter usually suffices. An ESA letter is a written letter that indicates a person’s mental or emotional disability and their need for an emotional support animal. A licensed healthcare professional must write and sign this letter.

Most of the time, people will use their ESA letter to bring their pets to establishments that don’t allow animals. However, an ESA letter does not automatically guarantee the same exception when it comes to housing. An HOA or condo association, for instance, may still have the ability to deny a resident’s ESA even if they have an ESA letter.

However, HOA and condo boards should know that there are ways to fake an ESA letter or certificate. Therefore, it’s best to proceed with care. When in doubt, it’s always best to seek advice from a legal professional.

Do HOA Pet Rules Apply to Emotional Support Animals?

Homeowners associations are known to have all sorts of rules, including ones that pertain to pets. While emotional support animals don’t fall under the category of pets, the rules still apply to them. This means that ESA owners should thoroughly understand the HOA’s rules and adhere to them accordingly.

An HOA that has a no-pets policy may choose to enact rules surrounding ESAs. Examples of such rules include requiring owners to pick up after their ESAs, keeping their ESAs leashed in common areas, and keeping noise to a minimum.

An ESA owner should understand that HOA rules exist for a reason. They serve a purpose — to maintain order within the community and keep property values high. Community managers and HOA boards must balance residents’ right to keep ESAs with the rest of the neighborhood’s sentiments. Other residents may find it animals a disturbance or a nuisance, so enforcing pet rules on ESAs is a good way to maintain both sides.

Can an HOA Deny Emotional Support Animals? Answered!

Emotional support animals in HOAs have turned into a hotly debated topic in recent years. To protect itself from liability while simultaneously ensuring it provides a safe space for residents, an HOA should understand the intricacies of the subject. Of course, this is not always possible, especially if the HOA board lacks time or expertise.

This is where an HOA management company comes in. Start looking for a reliable one in your area using our online directory!

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