What you might be thinking of is the exemption from ESA rules for single-family houses sold or rented by the owner without the use of an agent.

There is no HUD guidance directly on this point but the general understanding is that ESAs do not count towards the pet limit since they are not considered pets.

If your condo association is saying that your ESA is prohibited from being in common areas where other tenants are allowed, that is probably not allowed. The purpose of the Fair Housing Act’s rules regarding ESAs is to allow tenants with disabilities to enjoy the premises to the same degree as the non-disabled. It would be discriminatory to ban you from certain areas where other tenants are allowed just because you have an ESA.

1. Landlords cannot discriminate against specific breeds but they can make a determination of whether the ESA would pose a threat to the health and safety of others, or damage property. A large snake for instance may not be appropriate for health and safety reasons. 2. ESAs are not required to have vests or tags. The only way to qualify an animal companion as an ESA is to have a recommendation letter from a licensed mental health professional. ESAs are different from service animals which are protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Service animals can be in most public areas, whereas ESAs only have rights in homes and aboard flights. 3. The Fair Housing Act exempts owner-occupied buildings with no more than four units, single-family houses sold or rented by the owner without the use of an agent, and housing operated by religious organizations and private clubs that limit occupancy to members. That means you do not need to accommodate ESAs for these types of buildings. 4. A tenant must request approval for their ESA from the landlord prior to the ESA moving in. Landlords cannot unreasonably delay making a decision regarding such requests. It is very common for tenants to not need an ESA, or not receive a recommendation for an ESA until after they have signed their lease. 5. Deposits and fees cannot be charged in connection with ESAs, but ESAs are still always responsible for any damages their ESA may cause – as a landlord you would be entitled to recover from the owner if an ESA damaged your property. The idea behind ESAs is to allow the disabled to live their lives in the same way that the non-disabled do – it would be unfair to charge them fees for an ESA which allows them to cope with their disability. 6. The Fair Housing Act does not specifically give guidance on things like renter’s insurance or spaying/neutering. A landlord can take reasonable steps to ensure the ESA does not pose a threat to the health of others. However, landlords need to be careful to not impose conditions upon their accommodation of an ESA that the Department of Housing would find unreasonable. Forcing a tenant to purchase additional insurance for example because they have an ESA may be an unreasonable condition – that could amount to an additional fee for having an ESA.

You also mentioned that you do not need to have a vest for an Esa because they don’t have Public Access rights. Is that true? Could you explain public rights?

Is it true landlords do not need to rent a single-family home to someone with an Esa with proper paperwork?

And holy cow! It certainly seems unfair to me that full disclosure isn’t necessary before lease signing. Comments?

And a couple questions I’ve been wondering about for a long time and have discussed it with other landlords. It seems awful funny that landlords have to allow esa’s in our buildings with no compensation with a real possibility of damages – while the makers of food and veterinarians are not required to provide their services for free. Actually, it’s not funny at all… We have suffered quite a monetary loss renting do people with esa’s.

And last but not least – what is the policy about esa’s being properly vetted & insured. Can we require the owners to provide us with proof of current vetting, spaying and neutering? Can we require them to have renter’s insurance? Can we require them to have the animal named on their policy?

These are things that we all need to know. As landlords, we get so many conflicting answers from every agency we talked to. Help!