The Trainer

Complying with HUD Rules on Pets, Service Animals

In this issue, we discussed how HUD is broadening its definition of “service animal” to allow more individuals with disabilities who rely on these animals to obtain assisted housing (see “HUD Clarifies Pet Regulations with Final Rule”). In light of HUD's new rule, now may be a good time to review—and update if necessary—your site's policies for granting reasonable accommodations to residents with service animals and for permitting or prohibiting pets.

Here are six basic questions to ask when reviewing your site's pet policy:

1. Does policy define “pet”? Your policy should define “pet” the same way HUD does. HUD defines a common household pet as “a domesticated animal, such as a dog or cat, rodent (including a rabbit), fish, or turtle that is traditionally kept in the home for pleasure rather than commercial purposes.”

2. Are you required to allow pet? If you operate a site for the elderly or for persons with disabilities, you cannot prohibit residents from having a common household pet, and you may not discriminate against applicants for units based on their ownership of such pets.

3. Does “pet-friendly” policy impose adequate restrictions? If your policy is to allow pets, HUD says you may refuse to allow a certain pet if:

• It is not a “common household pet” (for example, your policy might state that “no reptiles other than turtles are permitted”);

• Keeping such a pet would violate your site's house rules; and

• The pet's owner doesn't provide complete registration for the pet.

You may also place reasonable limitations on the size, weight, and type of common household pets you permit. But note that these restrictions do not apply to service animals that assist residents with disabilities, because service animals are not considered “pets.”

4. Do you collect refundable deposit? HUD says you may, but are not required to, charge residents who own a dog or cat (or who keep a dog or cat in their units on behalf of others) a refundable pet deposit. The deposit may not exceed the current HUD limit of $300 per unit (not per pet). However, as stated above, service animals are exempt from pet policies and from the refundable pet deposit.

An owner may apply funds from the pet deposit to pay reasonable expenses that are directly related to the pet, such as the cost of repair or replacement of unit furnishings (such as carpeting, paint, and plaster), of fumigating the unit, or of animal care facilities. The unused portion of a pet deposit must be returned to the resident within a reasonable time if the resident moves away, or no longer owns or keeps a pet in the unit.

5. Does policy address service animals? Even if your site prohibits pets, you must consider allowing a household to keep a service animal as a reasonable accommodation for a resident's disability. You may deny the household's request for a reasonable accommodation only if granting it would impose on your site “an undue financial or administrative burden,” would require a major change in its routine maintenance and management procedures, or might pose a threat to residents or site employees. For example, if a resident's service animal harms another resident, you would be able to prohibit that service animal from the site.

You may not apply your pet policy or house rules regarding pets to service animals. For example, a guide dog does not have to comply with your site's policy restricting the size of a resident's pet.

6. Does policy address companion animals? Sometimes residents get a pet whose function is to lend comfort or emotional support for psychological disabilities. For example, a small dog may be therapeutic for a resident who's coping with depression or other mental illness. Such a pet is known as a “companion” animal, which is similar to a service animal.

If your site's policy prohibits pets, the resident must provide evidence of his need for a companion animal, usually through a health care provider, in order to keep the animal in his unit. Although the provider does not have to be a doctor or other licensed medical professional, he or she must have expertise relating to the resident's request or access to records verifying the resident's need for a companion animal.

You may deny a resident's request for a companion animal if any one of the following conditions is met:

• The resident won't give you contact information for the health care provider;

• The health care provider won't give you the information you need to determine whether the accommodation being requested by the resident is reasonable;

• The health care provider says the resident is not disabled as defined by law;

• The health care provider says the resident is disabled but doesn't require a service or companion animal to obtain “full use and enjoyment of” the site; or

• The health care provider suggested an alternative reasonable accommodation you can make that would be at least as effective as allowing the resident to have a service or companion animal in the unit.

Even if your site allows pets, you should be willing to make exceptions to pet rules for residents who have service or companion animals. For example, certain rules, such as picking up after service animals, might be waived for blind residents who must use guide dogs to get around. If a rule requires a resident to do something that his or her disability prevents him from doing, it's wise to make an exception for that resident's service or companion animal.

However, if a resident with a disability keeps common, household pets in addition to a service animal, you can enforce your site's policy, including any deposit requirement, against those pets, even though you must make an exception for the same resident's service or companion animal.

TRAINER'S QUIZ

INSTRUCTIONS: Each of the questions below has only one correct answer. On a separate sheet of paper, write down the number of each question, followed by the answer you have chosen—for example, 1. b, 2. a, and so on. The correct answers (with explanations) follow the quiz. Good luck!

QUESTION #1

Management at ABC Gardens instituted a pet policy limiting the weight of dogs residents may keep in their units to 20 lbs. The doctor of a disabled resident recommended a dog as part of a program of emotional therapy. The disabled resident's dog must weigh less than 20 lbs., in accordance with the site's pet policy. True or false?

1. True.

2. False.

QUESTION #2

Mrs. White is an elderly, blind resident at a site that allows common household pets. She has a guide dog that serves as a service animal. The site has a rule requiring pet owners to clean up their dogs' waste. This rule applies equally to Mrs. White. True or false?

1. True.

2. False.

QUESTION #3

XYZ Apartments permits common household pets if the residents pay an annual pet deposit. Mr. Jones, who is deaf, keeps a service animal—a hearing-assistive dog—in his unit. He decides to buy a cat and doesn't claim he needs it for his disability. You can charge him an annual pet deposit for the cat. True or false?

1. True.

2. False.

QUESTION #4

Miss Green is elderly and has lived alone for some time at XYZ Apartments. Claiming she's lonely, she buys a small dog—a Spaniel weighing 15 lbs. and standing less than a foot tall—to keep her company. However, she refuses to provide contact information for any health care provider who could verify that she requires the dog as a companion animal. Site management does not have a sufficient basis to exempt her from the pet deposit requirement. True or false?

1. True.

2. False.

QUESTION #5

The Browns, who are raising a son with a disability, want to buy him a dog. The boy wants a pit bull. The site, Roseland Apartments, permits dogs, except for that breed. The site does not have to change its rule to accommodate the Browns' choice of breed. True or false?

1. True.

2. False.