Americans love their animals. In fact, 47 percent of renters list allowing pets as an extremely or very important feature for their next home. Leasing to a pet owner can make good business sense because of this demand, and some property managers find animal lovers more responsible and willing to pay higher rent to accommodate their furry (or scaly) friends. But maybe you don’t share your residents’ enthusiasm, or you don’t want to deal with the potential damage a pet can do to your communities.

Multifamily property companies have some control over whether they allow animals in their communities, but there are some animals that are protected under fair housing laws.

The following is the two categories of animals you may (or may not) need to accommodate in your apartment properties:

• Pets: allow or not
• Assistance animals: reasonable accommodation

Before you make any final decisions about your animal policies, check with your company’s attorney or a local one who is well-versed in local laws and regulations regarding animals in your community.

Pets: a simple yes or no

If you decide to allow pets, you can still restrict certain types or sizes of animals. Be sure to specify in your lease — and in your listing — exactly which kinds of pets and how many are accepted at your properties. Something like “two cats,” “one dog” or “one dog under 50 pounds.”

You can also require that you or your leasing agents meet and approve the pet first. And, if your jurisdiction permits it, you can require a separate pet deposit if the animal causes damage to your apartment communities. You can create a separate pet agreement or spell out any other rules in the lease. For example, you can require that dogs and cats be licensed, spayed or neutered, and current on vaccinations.

One thing to keep in mind: Some insurance companies have breed restrictions or other pet rules, so check before making any changes to your company’s lease agreement.

You can also not allow pets — just be explicit about it in your listing and in your lease.

But, what about the animals who are not pets but assistance or support animals? As a property manager, what does your animal policy need to be legally?

Assistance animals: reasonable accommodation

Assistance animals are not pets — they’re assistants to people who have a disability. Assistance animals are usually dogs, but can be other types of animals, too. These animals are specially trained to perform disability-related tasks, such as guiding a person who is blind, pulling a wheelchair, alerting an owner to an impending seizure, performing complex household tasks and protecting their companions from oncoming traffic.

Emotional support animals are also considered assistance animals under fair housing guidelines. These animals are often used as part of a medical treatment plan to provide companionship; relieve loneliness; and sometimes help with depression, anxiety and certain phobias, but they do not have special training to perform tasks that assist people with disabilities.  

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the need for an emotional support animal is not grounds for reasonable accommodation.  But it is under fair housing laws. As a property manager, you must offer reasonable accommodation to residents with emotional support animals or those who develop a need for one while they live in your communities. This is the case even if you have a no-pets policy.  

Remember, to stay compliant with fair housing laws, you may not ask any question you wouldn’t ask every single resident or person who views your properties. To determine if an assistance animal request should be granted, you or your leasing agents can ask two questions if the need for the assistance animal is not obvious:

• Is the animal required because of a disability?
• What work or task has the animal been trained to perform?

You cannot ask for any documentation for the animal, require that it demonstrate its task or ask about the nature of the person’s disability. You also cannot ask for or collect an additional deposit or extra rent for an assistance animal. Additionally, you may not impose weight, breed or size restrictions on an assistance animal. You can charge residents a fee if the assistance animal causes damage to your rental community.

If you believe your resident or prospective renter does not have a disability or does not have a disability-related need for an assistance animal, the best thing to do is document the process so you have a record of your interactions, and then check with an experienced attorney before taking any action or refusing requests.

The bottom line? Before you make any final decisions about your animal policies, check with your company’s attorney or a local one who is well-versed in the subject. And know that emotional support animals are considered assistance animals for fair housing purposes.