Condo Media - May 2020 - 52

A

Assistance Animals
Although the Assistance Animals
Notice does not change HUD's interpretation of the FHA, it does elaborate
on what it perceives to be best practices
to comply with the requirement of the
FHA. Given the proliferation of websites that have removed many obstacles
for unit owners to obtain a doctor's note
or to "certify" their support animals,
and in light of the fact that in many
circumstances the need for a support
animal does not present with physical
conditions, it has often been a challenge
to assess when a request for reasonable
accommodation is legitimate, and thus
the reasonable accommodation is merited, and when a unit owner is simply
trying to avoid limitations on pets.
Before assessing the new Assistance
Animals Notice, which supersedes the
previous HUD guidance regarding assistance animals from 2013, some background information may be helpful:
Service animals and support animals
are not the same under the law. Under the Americans with Disabilities
Act (ADA), a service animal is a dog
that has been individually trained
to do work or perform tasks for an
individual with a disability. The
tasks performed by the dog must be
related to the individual's disability.
By contrast, a support animal need
not be a dog (cats and other types of
companion animals may be classified as comfort animals) and is not
trained to perform a particular task
or service. Support animals are typically tied to unseen disabilities, such
as post-traumatic stress disorder.
Despite these differences, both service animals and support animals are
not pets-and, thus, not subject to a
no-pet policy-and are both entitled
to reasonable accommodation.
A reasonable accommodation is a
change in the rules, policies, practices,
and procedures, or services, or a
physical modification of a building, for
a person with a disability so that the
person will have an equal opportunity
to use and enjoy the common area.

52

CONDOMEDIA May 2020

Although the Assistance Animals Notice does not change
HUD's interpretation of the FHA, it does elaborate on
what it perceives to be best practices to comply with
the requirement of the FHA.
Reasonable accommodations need
not be provided if the accommodation poses a direct threat to health
or safety of others, or if doing so
would present an undue financial
or administrative burden.
ASSESSMENT OF REQUESTS
As is particularly relevant to property
managers and condominium boards, the
first section of the notice recommends
best practices for "Assessing a Person's
Request to Have an Animal as a Reasonable Accommodation Under the Fair
Housing Act," and sets forth a series of
questions that housing providers may
use to guide their assessment of a request for
animal-related reasonable accommodations.
First, housing
providers should
ascertain whether the
animal is a service animal under the ADA.
This analysis involves
determining whether
the animal is a dog
(as noted above,
only dogs may be
service animals), and whether it is
readily apparent the dog is trained
to perform tasks for an individual
with a disability. If it is readily apparent (e.g., a dog assisting a blind
unit owner), then it is inappropriate
for the housing provider to ask any
additional questions, as the dog is
clearly a service animal. However, if
it is not readily apparent, then HUD
recommends that housing providers
limit their inquiry to the following questions: "(1) 'Is the animal
required because of a disability?'

and (2) 'What work or task has the
animal been trained to perform?'"
If the answer to either of these questions is no, the dog is not a service
dog, but may be a support animal.
Second, the notice provides guidance
for analyzing reasonable accommodation requests under the FHA
for support animals other than
service animals. The Assistance
Animals Notice indicates that, while
it is not necessary that a request for
a reasonable accommodation be in
writing, it is advisable for both the
requestor and housing providers to
maintain a list of any such requests.
It is likely self-evident that housing
providers are not required to grant
reasonable accommodations that
have not been requested. However, if
an individual has requested a reasonable accommodation-"that is,
asked to get or keep an animal
in connection with a physical
or mental impairment
or disability"-then the
housing providers must
assess whether the request should be granted.
Third, the notice provides a series
of questions for housing providers
to use in assessing requests for
reasonable accommodations. While
not mandatory, HUD describes
use of these questions as "best
practice." These questions concern
inquiry into the visibility of the
disability, the provision of information that reasonably supports that
the requestor has a disability, and
the provision of information that
reasonably supports that the animal
provides assistance with respect to



Condo Media - May 2020

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Contents
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Condo Media - May 2020 - Cover2
Condo Media - May 2020 - Contents
Condo Media - May 2020 - 2
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Condo Media - May 2020 - Cover3
Condo Media - May 2020 - Cover4
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