Commonly Asked Questions about Service Animals in Housing

The federal Fair Housing Act (the "Act") prohibits discrimination in housing on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, and disability.

One type of disability discrimination prohibited by the Act is the refusal to make reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, practices, or services when such accommodations may be necessary to afford a person with a disability the equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling.

The Fair Housing Council provides education, outreach and access to enforcement for the State of Oregon and SW Washington with regard to fair housing laws within the context of any housing-related transaction (IE: rental, sales, lending, appraisal, home insurance, etc.)

The Fair Housing Council frequently responds to complaints alleging that housing providers have violated the Act by refusing reasonable accommodations to persons with disabilities.

The following is offered as background on what you should know about your rights and responsibilities with regard to this part of the law. If you have further questions or a specific situation, please call the Fair Housing Hotline at (503) 223-8197 or 1-800-424-3247 (TTY) (Se habla español) or HUD 1-800-877-0246.

Unless otherwise referenced, the following information is taken from a Joint Statement by The Department of Justice ("DOJ") and the Department of Housing and Urban Development ("HUD") on Reasonable Accommodations Under the Fair Housing Act.

What is a service animal?

The ADA defines a service animal as any guide dog, signal dog, or other animal individually trained to provide assistance to an individual with a disability. If they meet this definition, animals are considered service animals under the ADA regardless of whether they have been licensed or certified by a state or local government.

Service animals perform some of the functions and tasks that the individual with a disability cannot perform for him or herself. "Seeing eye dogs" are one type of service animal, used by some individuals who are blind. This is the type of service animal with which most people are familiar. But there are service animals that assist persons with other kinds of disabilities in their day-to-day activities. Some examples include:

_ Alerting persons with hearing impairments to sounds.

_ Pulling wheelchairs or carrying and picking up things for persons with mobility impairments.

_ Assisting persons with mobility impairments with balance.

A service animal is not a pet.

Source: U.S. Department of Justice publication: Commonly Asked Questions About Service Animals in Places of Business, http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/qasrvc.htm)

What is a "reasonable accommodation" for purposes of the Act?

A “reasonable accommodation” is a change, exception, or adjustment to a rule, policy, practice, or service that may be necessary for a person with a disability to have an equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling, including public and common use spaces. Since rules, policies, practices, and services may have a different effect on persons with disabilities than on other persons, treating persons with disabilities exactly the same as others will sometimes deny them an equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling. The Act makes it unlawful to refuse to make reasonable accommodations to rules, policies, practices, or services when such accommodations may be necessary to afford persons with disabilities an equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling.

To show that a requested accommodation may be necessary, there must be an identifiable relationship, or nexus, between the requested accommodation and the individual’s disability.

Example: A housing provider has a "no pets" policy. A tenant who is deaf requests that the provider allow him to keep a dog in his unit as a reasonable accommodation. The tenant explains that the dog is an assistance animal that will alert him to several sounds, including knocks at the door, sounding of the smoke detector, the telephone ringing, and cars coming into the driveway. The housing provider must make an exception to its “no pets” policy to accommodate this tenant.

May a housing provider charge an extra fee or require an additional deposit from applicants or residents with disabilities as a condition of granting a reasonable accommodation?

 

No. Housing providers may not require persons with disabilities to pay extra fees or deposits as a condition of receiving a reasonable accommodation.

Example: Because of his disability, an applicant with a hearing impairment needs to keep an assistance animal in his unit as a reasonable accommodation. The housing provider may not require the applicant to pay a fee or a security deposit as a condition of allowing the applicant to keep the assistance animal. However, if a tenant's assistance animal causes damage to the applicant's unit or the common areas of the dwelling, the housing provider may charge the tenant for the cost of repairing the damage (or deduct it from the standard security deposit imposed on all tenants), if it is the provider's practice to assess tenants for any damage they cause to the premises.

What kinds of information, if any, may a housing provider request from a person with an obvious or known disability who is requesting a reasonable accommodation ?

A provider is entitled to obtain information that is necessary to evaluate if a requested reasonable accommodation may be necessary because of a disability. If a person’s disability is obvious, or otherwise known to the provider, and if the need for the requested accommodation is also readily apparent or known, then the provider may not request any additional information about the requester's disability or the disability-related need for the accommodation. If the requester's disability is known or readily apparent to the provider, but the need for the accommodation is not readily apparent or known, the provider may request only information that is necessary to evaluate the disability-related need for the accommodation.

Example: A rental applicant who uses a wheelchair advises a housing provider that he wishes to keep an assistance dog in his unit even though the provider has a "no pets" policy. The applicant’s disability is readily apparent but the need for an assistance animal is not obvious to the provider. The housing provider may ask the applicant to provide information about the disability-related need for the dog.

You should know that an animal may be considered a service animal, even in the absence of formal training and certification . For Fair Housing Law purposes, the terms “assistance animal,” “therapy animal,” “companion animal” are interchangeable and should never be considered a “pet” with applicable pet fees, etc.

If you have questions, please visit www.FHCO.org or call the Fair Housing Hotline at (503) 223-8197 or 1-800-424-3247 (TTY) (Se habla español) or HUD 1-800-877-0246

For information about service animals in places of business visit: http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/qasrvc.htm