Articles — pets

Fair Housing Testing: It's Happening Near You, Right Now

Posted by Stephen Marshall on

Fair Housing Testing: It's Happening Near You, Right Now

Those of you subscribe to my newsletter already know this, but there is a new group that is conducting Fair Housing testing on a fairly widespread basis in central Kentucky. Fair Housing Advocates, Inc., is an organization out of Arlington, Texas, who, according to their website, provides advocacy and education related to Fair Housing issues. Here is their website and their Facebook page.  Currently, their testers are calling apartment complexes throughout central Kentucky claiming to be interested in renting an apartment. Their current ruse is to claim to be a disabled person with an Assistance Animal (typically an emotional support...

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The Visiting Assistance Animal

Posted by Stephen Marshall on

The Visiting Assistance Animal

THE STORY Bailey is the property manager of The Colosseum, a 250-unit luxury complex. The Colosseum allows its residents to own pets, but has a list of restricted breeds that includes all the usual suspects: Pit Bills, Rottweilers, German Shepherds, Chows, etc. Recently, Bailey has received several complaints that a Pit Bull was on the property near the 300 Building. None of those who complained could associate the animal with any particular resident, and no one on Bailey’s staff had ever seen the dog when they investigated the complaints. One afternoon as she was walking the grounds with a member...

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Pit Bulls as Assistance Animals: A Manager's Perspective

Posted by Stephen Marshall on

Pit Bulls as Assistance Animals: A Manager's Perspective

  Philosopher John Stuart Mill famously said that landlords “grow rich in their sleep, without working, risking, or economizing”. While it’s debatable whether that was true in Mill’s day, the “without risking” portion of Mill’s quote is certainly false today. My blog posts on Kentucky’s strict liability standard for landlords in dog-bite cases alone should make that clear. However, when you combine broad liability for dog bites with the dramatic increase in tenants with Assistance Animals, landlords often feel like they’re darned if they do and darned if they don’t. When you add in the fact that many Assistance Animals...

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The 10 Commandments for Assistance Animals

Posted by Stephen Marshall on

The 10 Commandments for Assistance Animals

Stewart is the property manager at Collins Square Apartments, a small rental community with 31 units. Collins Square allows its residents to have up to two pets. Its lease agreement requires each resident with a pet to pay an extra deposit, to follow local leash laws, to pick up after the pet and dispose of its waste, and to keep the pet from disturbing other residents or causing damage. Quinn recently signed a one-year lease at the community. At the outset, he notified the management that he had an assistance dog and provided a letter from his therapist that verified his emotional...

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Disabilities For Sale? The Black Market of Assistance Animal Verification Letters

Posted by Stephen Marshall on

In our discussion of the Hidden Disability Conundrum, linked here, we noted that landlords do not have to take a tenant’s word for it that he or she is disabled and has a disability related need for an exception to the landlord’s rules and policies. Instead, the landlord may require that a tenant provide reliable verification if the disability or the need for the accommodation is not obvious or known to the landlord. Although I’ve repeatedly stressed that landlords shouldn’t try to play the role of a medical professional and question medical opinions, this doesn’t mean that you must accept...

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