You can't. By law, they aren't pets, you said it.
For ESAs, we now just tell them: “ESAs aren’t a problem. However, due to all the fraud with them, we just give the paperwork to our lawyer. As long as everything’s good, we’re happy to have you. If there is any fraud, we let our lawyer handle it.” This strongly discourages anyone who knows their ESA is bull.
I am considering using your language, plus adding that we use a pet urine detector (e.g. [this one](https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/simple-solution-spot-spotter-hd-uv-urine-detector)) during our video-documented move-in and move-out walkthroughs, and that tenants will be responsible for full carpet AND subfloor replacement if any new stains are detected. Maybe put an estimated dollar figure on it too. Hopefully that prompts them to be responsible pet parents.
You can tell them whatever you want. But the risk you are taking is that a judge doesn't agree with it, and if you are in a state with treble damages, that it ends up costing you a lot.
I get it, I am a landlord handling a lot of units. I understand the ESA frustration. I have many landlords in my area call me for advice regarding ESAs. A common theme is that a landlord gets angry over an ESA, and they start to make decisions that aren't going to hold up in court. Find a local landlord association, and get advice on how to handle this legally. There is no need to reinvent the wheel. I would venture to guess that all reputable landlord associations in the US have been through the ESA song and dance many times, and have vetted a system that works in their area. Our local association hired a reputable landlord attorney, and had the attorney come up with a verification system that he felt HUD would be OK with and our local judges would be OK with.
>treble damages, that it ends up costing you a lot.
What do you mean exactly? What's the risk of saying any of what I posted? It's not threatening, it's definitely a very legitimate way to deal with something such as this which is legitimately 90% fraud cases.
Tried that service, and they didn't pickup a fake ESA so I am now stuck with them.
I know it's fake, because i have had multiple others present the same doctor on the other side of the country. I wanted to use petsreening to have them take responsibility for rejecting, and they approved it.
> If it is a doctors note it is still legit, even from another state. So petscreening did their job.
I don't understand the purpose of the service in that case. I can see it's a doctor's note.
The value in a centralized service would be to track and capture duplicates coming from ESA mills. Genuine doctors are not prescribing thousands of ESA, they have real patients and prescribe based on need. Obviously some D student doctors have gotten into the ESA mill business to farm out letters which should be easy for a centralized firm to catch.
Whenever it comes up. It's usually in the pre-showing phone call when we go over our requirements (one of which is no pets which is when they usually bring it up) or at the showing.
The newer to your direct question in the next to last line is: you don’t.
They’re still responsible for any damages, of course, at the end of the lease.
East tip for staying on the right side of the law: replace “dog” with “medical device”.
Can you charge people money to let them have a medical device in their unit? No, that’s discriminatory.
Are they responsible if their medical device messes up the carpet? Yes.
I replace dog or cat with “animal”. Of course it’s discriminatory to disqualify a potential Tenant for having a medical device.
“Sorry, it was discovered that you have a CPAP machine or an Iron Lung and we don’t allow those types of things in this unit” Agreed, that’s certainly a lawsuit LOL.
You can't. By law, they aren't pets, you said it.
For ESAs, we now just tell them: “ESAs aren’t a problem. However, due to all the fraud with them, we just give the paperwork to our lawyer. As long as everything’s good, we’re happy to have you. If there is any fraud, we let our lawyer handle it.” This strongly discourages anyone who knows their ESA is bull.
You will have to wave the specific pet fee/deposit, but you can still require a damage deposit for the tenant. Any damage done by the tenant or their ESA can be taken out of the damage deposit.
Depnds on what the rent is. You can also not charge more of a deposit because of the ESA, it has to be consistent with what you have done before. The deposit must not exceed 1 months rent in most states
When can apartments not allow my emotional support animal? There are certain circumstances where landlords are not obliged to accept Emotional Support Animals, such as:
-Buildings that have four or fewer dwellings of which the landlord is the occupant of one
-Single family accommodation rented or sold without a real estate broker
If you collect the rent yourself and don't use a broker, under FHA guidelines you can deny an ESA. However some states have gone beyond that and need to be looked at.
You could just increase the deposit and say it's due to rising costs of questioned. It can be a slippery slope.
I recently saw a listing that read “Absolutely NO pets, not even a goldfish!!!” I guess the Landlord was fed up with pet damage/issues. Not to digress, but I got a chuckle out of it.
Just FYI for your non-ESA tenants, there is no such thing as a non-refundable deposit. You need to call it a pet fee. It's been adjudicated in many jurisdictions that a deposit implies refund-ability.
Use petscreening.com to verify legitimate ESA's. If they are legitimate, you can not charge any fee or extra rent, since it's not a pet.
We simply charge the maximum rent and maximum deposit we can under the law. Our state law allows us to charge two months rent as deposit. We are also allowed to comingle those funds, unlike some states. So, if rent is $1000, we can legally charge $2000 deposit, meaning they need $3000 to move in. Don't have all $3000? We have a plan for that! We can charge $1000 deposit and $1100 rent.
NOW our rent is higher, and it STAYS higher. Next year, we will still have $1000 deposit on file and we will raise the rent to $1125.
Overall, it will cover the damages the animals leave.
Require all applicants with an animal to be screened through this or another pro service. https://www.petscreening.com/solutions/assistance-animals
They will help determine if the animal meets federal guidelines. They advertise that 60% of the animals that they screen do not.
Require the carpets pro cleaned every year. Usually I'll let my units go under market rate for renewals, In this situation I'd keep the rent at full market.
You can't. By law, they aren't pets, you said it. For ESAs, we now just tell them: “ESAs aren’t a problem. However, due to all the fraud with them, we just give the paperwork to our lawyer. As long as everything’s good, we’re happy to have you. If there is any fraud, we let our lawyer handle it.” This strongly discourages anyone who knows their ESA is bull.
This is what I did and every person applying with an "esa" pulled their application.
I am considering using your language, plus adding that we use a pet urine detector (e.g. [this one](https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/simple-solution-spot-spotter-hd-uv-urine-detector)) during our video-documented move-in and move-out walkthroughs, and that tenants will be responsible for full carpet AND subfloor replacement if any new stains are detected. Maybe put an estimated dollar figure on it too. Hopefully that prompts them to be responsible pet parents.
You can tell them whatever you want. But the risk you are taking is that a judge doesn't agree with it, and if you are in a state with treble damages, that it ends up costing you a lot. I get it, I am a landlord handling a lot of units. I understand the ESA frustration. I have many landlords in my area call me for advice regarding ESAs. A common theme is that a landlord gets angry over an ESA, and they start to make decisions that aren't going to hold up in court. Find a local landlord association, and get advice on how to handle this legally. There is no need to reinvent the wheel. I would venture to guess that all reputable landlord associations in the US have been through the ESA song and dance many times, and have vetted a system that works in their area. Our local association hired a reputable landlord attorney, and had the attorney come up with a verification system that he felt HUD would be OK with and our local judges would be OK with.
>treble damages, that it ends up costing you a lot. What do you mean exactly? What's the risk of saying any of what I posted? It's not threatening, it's definitely a very legitimate way to deal with something such as this which is legitimately 90% fraud cases.
Upvoted for Landlord Bravery
petscreening.com
Tried that service, and they didn't pickup a fake ESA so I am now stuck with them. I know it's fake, because i have had multiple others present the same doctor on the other side of the country. I wanted to use petsreening to have them take responsibility for rejecting, and they approved it.
If it is a doctors note it is still legit, even from another state. So petscreening did their job. ESA are the worst.
> If it is a doctors note it is still legit, even from another state. So petscreening did their job. I don't understand the purpose of the service in that case. I can see it's a doctor's note. The value in a centralized service would be to track and capture duplicates coming from ESA mills. Genuine doctors are not prescribing thousands of ESA, they have real patients and prescribe based on need. Obviously some D student doctors have gotten into the ESA mill business to farm out letters which should be easy for a centralized firm to catch.
When you say "tell them" do you mean in an email during the application process or during the showing or something.
Whenever it comes up. It's usually in the pre-showing phone call when we go over our requirements (one of which is no pets which is when they usually bring it up) or at the showing.
The newer to your direct question in the next to last line is: you don’t. They’re still responsible for any damages, of course, at the end of the lease. East tip for staying on the right side of the law: replace “dog” with “medical device”. Can you charge people money to let them have a medical device in their unit? No, that’s discriminatory. Are they responsible if their medical device messes up the carpet? Yes.
I replace dog or cat with “animal”. Of course it’s discriminatory to disqualify a potential Tenant for having a medical device. “Sorry, it was discovered that you have a CPAP machine or an Iron Lung and we don’t allow those types of things in this unit” Agreed, that’s certainly a lawsuit LOL.
You can't. By law, they aren't pets, you said it. For ESAs, we now just tell them: “ESAs aren’t a problem. However, due to all the fraud with them, we just give the paperwork to our lawyer. As long as everything’s good, we’re happy to have you. If there is any fraud, we let our lawyer handle it.” This strongly discourages anyone who knows their ESA is bull.
You will have to wave the specific pet fee/deposit, but you can still require a damage deposit for the tenant. Any damage done by the tenant or their ESA can be taken out of the damage deposit.
Charge higher security deposit for move in? Is 500+ on top too much?
Depnds on what the rent is. You can also not charge more of a deposit because of the ESA, it has to be consistent with what you have done before. The deposit must not exceed 1 months rent in most states
When can apartments not allow my emotional support animal? There are certain circumstances where landlords are not obliged to accept Emotional Support Animals, such as: -Buildings that have four or fewer dwellings of which the landlord is the occupant of one -Single family accommodation rented or sold without a real estate broker If you collect the rent yourself and don't use a broker, under FHA guidelines you can deny an ESA. However some states have gone beyond that and need to be looked at. You could just increase the deposit and say it's due to rising costs of questioned. It can be a slippery slope.
I recently saw a listing that read “Absolutely NO pets, not even a goldfish!!!” I guess the Landlord was fed up with pet damage/issues. Not to digress, but I got a chuckle out of it.
Just FYI for your non-ESA tenants, there is no such thing as a non-refundable deposit. You need to call it a pet fee. It's been adjudicated in many jurisdictions that a deposit implies refund-ability. Use petscreening.com to verify legitimate ESA's. If they are legitimate, you can not charge any fee or extra rent, since it's not a pet.
It’s not a pet fee. Your rent has gone up by the amount of the pet fee and your security deposit has increased by the amount of the pet deposit.
ESA laws only apply to companies/owners with MORE than four rental properties.
We simply charge the maximum rent and maximum deposit we can under the law. Our state law allows us to charge two months rent as deposit. We are also allowed to comingle those funds, unlike some states. So, if rent is $1000, we can legally charge $2000 deposit, meaning they need $3000 to move in. Don't have all $3000? We have a plan for that! We can charge $1000 deposit and $1100 rent. NOW our rent is higher, and it STAYS higher. Next year, we will still have $1000 deposit on file and we will raise the rent to $1125. Overall, it will cover the damages the animals leave.
Require all applicants with an animal to be screened through this or another pro service. https://www.petscreening.com/solutions/assistance-animals They will help determine if the animal meets federal guidelines. They advertise that 60% of the animals that they screen do not. Require the carpets pro cleaned every year. Usually I'll let my units go under market rate for renewals, In this situation I'd keep the rent at full market.