Service Animals: Reasonable Accommodations

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ASSISTANCE & SERVICE ANIMALS FOR TENANTS WHO ARE PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES This article was developed by the Fair Housing Partners of Washington to educate tenants who are persons with disabilities about requesting reasonable accommodations for assistance animals, commonly known as service animals. WHAT IS A REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION? The Federal Fair Housing Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, the Washington State Law Against Discrimination, and local fair housing laws require that housing owners and managers provide reasonable accommodations for applicants and residents who have disabilities. Reasonable accommodations are changes in rules, policies, practices, or services that are necessary for…show more content…
The state law definition includes disabilities that are temporary or permanent, common or uncommon, mitigated or unmitigated. Some people have a disability-related need for service animals to assist them with the functional limitations caused by their disabilities. WHAT IS THE DEFINITION OF AN ASSISTANCE ANIMAL? Assistance animals: HUD compliance guidelines define assistive animals as “animals that serve as a reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities by assisting those individuals in some identifiable way by making it possible for them to make more effective use of their housing.” Under fair housing laws, the term “assistance animal” includes animals who may also be known as service animals, ‘support animals, assistance animals, therapy animals, and companion animals. While most assistance service animals are dogs, they may be other species, such as cats, birds or other domestic animals. Assistance animals may be any breed, size or weight. Some, but not all, assistance animals wear special collars or…show more content…
Yes. A housing provider can require that your assistance animal be licensed, if required in your municipality. Can a housing provider charge pet rent or fees, or require additional deposits, for assistance animals? No. Owners of assistance animals should not be charged pet deposits or fees, and cannot require a tenant with an assistance animal to obtain extra insurance. General cleaning or damage deposits can be charged, if all residents are similarly charged. Please remember that a housing provider can hold a resident with an assistance animal liable for any damage the animal causes. Can a housing provider limit the number of assistance animals? In some cases, a tenant with a disability may need assistance animals for different purposes. In some cases, more than one household member may be a person with a disability who needs an assistance animal. However, a resident with a disability must demonstrate a connection between the disability and the function each assistance animal provides. If a resident with a disability demonstrates that she needs one assistance animal to limit the effects of a mental or emotional disability and another to pull her wheelchair, approving two assistance animals would constitute a reasonable accommodation. It is not necessary for a tenant with a disability to utilize more than one animal for the same function unless a new assistance animal is being trained to replace an older, retiring animal. What if my

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