Emotional Support Animal - Landlord Forum thread 355269

Emotional Support Animal by Samantha (CA) on December 3, 2017 @23:51

If a person asks to have an EMS animal, isn't that like admitting that they are emotionally unstable?

I wouldn't mind renting to someone with a pet, but I'm concerned about an emotionally unstable tenant!

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Re: Emotional Support Animal by Anonymous on December 4, 2017 @02:19	[ Reply ]

NO, it means that they are a person with a disability. If you do not know how to address handling a request for a reasonable accommodation, then you need to learn real quick or have someone who's informed on what and what not to do as mistakes are expensive. The fact you believe it means a person is unstable is a very bad sign!

Re: Emotional Support Animal

animals, mental illness, it's all part of the job. by Anonymous on December 7, 2017 @07:11	[ Reply ]

Even if your applicant does not have an ESA, you can't tell if they're mentally stable or not. I had a tenant who seemed perfectly normal at first. Then he moved all of his furniture to the middle of the LR and covered it with a dome of tinfoil. He kept calling me that the other tenants were reading his mind. Finally, when I realized he was starving himself I had him taken to the hospital and he went willingly. Then, I had another tenant who the other tenants were complaining about because he was becoming aggressive. This tenant started stalking me and sitting in his car outside of my house for hours. Eventually he really lost it...long story. I have a friend who knowingly rented to a convicted sex offender. She figured he served his time, it was his chance to start over. Well, when one of the tenants found out about him she moved out and ALL of the other tenants moved out too. So you just can't ever tell what type of person someone is going to be. Disabled just means that they MIGHT need special consideration so that they can use the property as well as someone else. It does not mean trouble. I'm not crazy about any animals. My apartments are very large and mostly carpeted. Getting urine out of carpeting and padding is a nightmare. Once i had to rip out all the newish carpeting and padding and the hardwood floor was soaked in urine. I could NOT get it out. I had to PAINT the wood floors with numerous coats of paint to seal in the smell. Because more and more people have legit service animals, as my carpeting needs to be replaced, I'm installing something more durable and easy to clean like tile, vinyl or composite flooring. I let the tenants get area rugs and take them with them when they leave.