Articles

Because 60% of all Housing Discrimination Complaints involve requests for a reasonable accommodation based on disability, and because many of them involve requests for an Assistance Animal, we’ve been waiting for a couple of years now for HUD to issue new guidance for housing providers on how to deal with those requests by disabled residents and applicants. On January 28, 2020, HUD granted our wish and issued some further clarifications, which you can read in their entirety here. Here are the highlights: Types of Assistance Animals HUD recognizes two types of Assistance Animals: (1) service animals and (2) other animals...

Partial payments can be a lifeboat for a landlord who needs the influx of cash or an obstacle that keeps them from getting rid of a problem tenant. I've written a fair amount on this topic before (see here and here), so check out those articles for the complete picture. My observations in court this morning prompted me to cover something that I usually only cover in my Landlord Education Conference on Evictions (usually held in February).  KRS 383.675, which is a part of the URTLA, which applies in 19 areas in Kentucky (see here for the list), prohibits landlords...

Anyone who has been paying attention in the rental industry over the past few years is aware of the explosion of requests for Assistance Animals by tenants and those seeking to live in rental housing. While such requests used to limited to those with physical disabilities seeking to have their service dog live with them to guide their path, pull their wheelchair, or alert them to an oncoming seizure, most requests today are for Emotional Support Animals.  Such animals are typically untrained, with the theory being that their very presence alleviates the symptoms of a mental or emotional disability. Due...

Most landlords and property managers who have been to eviction court know that, when the judge enters a judgment of eviction, the tenant has seven days to vacate the rental unit. However, the lesser-known fact is that the tenant has another option within that seven-day window: to file an appeal to the local Circuit Court. Step One: Notice of Appeal In order to file an appeal, a tenant needs only to file a written document with the court notifying the court that he wishes to appeal the eviction and pay an appeal fee. This appeal fee can be waived by...

“This can’t be happening!”, John said, as he opened the mail and read the letter inside. John and his wife, Becky, had just endured a rough few months with their last tenants. The tenants had gotten arrested a few months ago for Possession of Marijuana. John and Becky learned of the arrested when they received a letter one day from the local police department that was titled Public Nuisance Warning. The letter notified them of the arrest of their tenants and told them that if it happened more than twice in year that they could be fined and their property...