Re: CA: Emotional support service animals - Landlord Forum thread 358868

Re: CA: Emotional support service animals by AnonymousFL on December 31, 2018 @15:53

First, you may want to educate yourself on the difference between Service Animals and Emotional Support animals. They are similar, but are not interchangeable.

Here are some articles from NONO that may help you:
https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/california-landlords-tenants-service-dogs-emotional-support-animals.html
https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/california-laws-service-dogs-emotional-support-animals-workplace.html
https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/psychiatric-service-dogs-emotional-support-animals-access-public-places-settings.html

One thing to remember is that both service and support animals are there to serve a function for the owner. In may ways, they act as an extension of the owner, so if the animal acts in a way that is either dangerous or a nuisance, a landlord can make a case to have the animal removed or the tenant evicted. However, you should have pretty solid proof if it comes to that.

Whenever an applicant or tenant states they have a support or service animal, we do ask for documentation from a medical professional. We also have a discussion with them that as the owner of such an animal, they have a responsibility to manage the animal appropriately and if they do not, we will address it with them. We currently have a few tenants with support and service animals that we honestly feel are legitimate...and we are totally ok with that...but we have a few that we are not so sure of that we keep in mind.

It's a touchy subject, so educate yourself well before taking any action.

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