Hello multi-family friends... I have a client who is moving to the Seattle area, they have 4 cats & 1 dog - said that they are ESA pets - they provided me with the ESA approval letter - will that cover all 5 pets? I only had helped renters with 2 ESA pets max, so this is definitely new - will this be acceptable? Will they need to provide info for each pet? Appreciate any advice and suggestions you can share! Thank you
Get PetScreening and get all of this off your plate. It costs nothing to the property, ensures fair housing is met for all residents and they will research all documentation for you.
Exactly, the burden of proof is on the resident. We don't have to guess and validate medical letters. And it costs us nothing. And it's free for those with valid assistance or ES animals.
Depending on where you are- they are supposed to provide a letter (a) stating what one animal does that the other does not -ie one alerts to seizures, another is for anxiety, and so one as they are not considered pets
2 years 10 months ago#56488by Karin Gorospe Martin
Check state law, but basically an emotional support animal is prescribed, like medication, to handle a task or relieve a symptom. Our company won't accept a letter that doesn't name the specific pet and what service it provides or symptom it relieves. Not every animal is a support animal, even in a home where one is needed. And just like medication-- meds that have names-- a support animal also has a name. If the doctor doesn't know about Fluffy and hasn't mentioned Fluffy was prescribed for a reason, Fluffy is not a support animal simply because it lives with someone who needs one.
A doctor will put their license number and name on the letter with contact information. Reach out to the doctor and ask if they have an in-person relationship with them or if they have only seen their file. I've done this. They won't give you information about the patient, but they can tell you whether or not they've actively seen that patient. I once had someone give me a letter from another city. I called the doctor and she said she only saw their file. They did not have a relationship with the patient. We didn't count it as an ESA because the doctor didn't know the patient.
Letters must also be current, from the last year. But this depends on your company, in some cases.
There must be a nexus between the disability-related need and each animal. In other words, each support animal must uniquely address a disability-related need that’s different than the next support animal. A health care provider must affirm the nexus. PetScreening will review these reasonable accommodation requests for PMs at no cost (as long as a majority of your portfolio is pet friendly.) Based on PetScreening’s assistance animal review team data it has been determined that approximately 60% of the reasonable accommodation requests are insufficient and do not meet the HUD/FHAct guidelines. Additionally, the data shows assistance animal fraud is up 367% year-over-year. It’s noteworthy that there are many individuals that legitimately need service and support animals; they are not the problem. It’s the bad actors trying to circumvent a PM’s pet-related policies that are the problem.