by John Bradford

Some residents do it to escape financial obligations. Others do it for a more noble pursuit—they simply want to live with their pets. 

Whichever the case, the volume of fraudulent or otherwise insufficient accommodation requests for assistance animals continues to rise, and it can cause a significant disruption to multifamily operators. Approximately 60% of the reasonable accommodation requests reviewed and evaluated by PetScreening do not meet the guidelines set forth by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) or the Fair Housing Act.

When a pet is illegitimately admitted into an apartment community under the guise of being an assistance animal—such as an emotional support animal—it can create a multitude of issues for the property. Most notably, it creates a liability risk if that animal causes damage or injury, particularly if it is later determined that property teams failed to properly review and verify the accommodation request to ensure the request met the HUD guidelines.

Read John Bradford’s article in the Multifamily Executive.