If you have a disability and require the help of an emotional support animal, you have the right to have your animal with you in your home. Landlords and homeowners associations cannot refuse to let your emotional support animal live with you. However, some Florida HOAs and landlords violate the law and try to prohibit all animals, including emotional support animals, from living in their communities or rental homes. If you have received an emotional support animal refusal letter from your landlord or HOA, speak to an experienced Florida condo attorney at The Law Offices of Herb M. Milgrim, P.A.
Federal Housing Laws and Emotional Support Animals
People with disabilities are protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Fair Housing Act (FHA). These laws require HOAs and landlords to permit disabled people to have service animals that perform work for them even if they have a general no-pets policy. The homeowner’s association can ask for information about the homeowner’s or tenant’s disability to the extent necessary to confirm the individual’s condition meets the definition of disability under the law. This includes a condition that substantially impairs the person’s ability to perform one or more of the major activities of daily life. The landlord or HOA can also ask for information that describes the type of accommodation and the need for it and shows how the person’s disability requires them to use an emotional support animal.
The Fair Housing Act applies to all property types, including public and private housing, condominiums, apartments, mobile homes, and more. These requirements also extend to HUD housing.
How HOAs Verify Information Supporting an Emotional Support Animals Accommodation Request
When an HOA or condo association receives an emotional support animal request and has a no-pet policy, it will ask their legal counsel to verify the information about the individual’s disability and their need for an emotional support animal.
Depending on the person’s situation, they can typically prove they meet the legal definition of disability under the act by providing proof they receive Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), long-term disability benefits, workers’ compensation permanent disability benefits, or others. They can also obtain a statement from their doctor or other healthcare professional that they have a qualifying disability meeting the ADA’s definition of a disabling condition. Statements from others who are in a position to know about the person’s disabling condition can also be helpful, including statements from a social service agency or another third party who provides services to the individual.
You should not have to provide copies of your medical records to verify your condition meets the definition of a qualifying disability. Your medical records provide unnecessarily detailed information for this type of inquiry. Instead, providing proof you receive disability benefits, a statement from your doctor, or letters from others who can attest that your disability meets the definition should be enough.
When people receive an emotional support animals refusal letter, most do not understand the types of documentation they need to gather to support their accommodation request. When you work with an experienced Florida condo lawyer like Herb M. Milgrim, you can avoid this issue. Your reasonable accommodation request could be denied if you don’t submit the right documentation.
Consequences for Falsifying Information for an Emotional Support or Service Animal
If you submit falsified documentation to support your request for an emotional support animal or service dog, you could face the consequences found in § 817.265, Fla. Stat. (2023). Under this law, submitting false information or fraudulent documents to support a request for an emotional support or service animal animal is a second-degree misdemeanor. This includes providing a written or verbal notice in which you misrepresent yourself as being disabled and needing an emotional support or service animal.
This is a criminal offense with a potential penalty of up to 60 days of jail, a $500 fine, and 30 hours of community service that must be performed for an agency that serves disabled people or a different agency the court deems appropriate.
For example, if you downloaded a fraudulent certificate from the internet stating that your animal is a service animal or that you are disabled and need an emotional support animal, you could face criminal prosecution. It’s best to avoid taking these types of steps to try to prove your need for a service animal.
Healthcare professionals might also get into trouble if they provide deceptive or fraudulent information about the nature of an individual’s disability and their need for an emotional support or service animal under § 456.072, Fla. Stat. (2023). Under this law, providing deceptive or false representations can result in disciplinary actions against the healthcare professional’s medical license.
Consult Florida Condo Lawyer Herb M. Milgrim
If you have a disability that falls under the definition of disability in the ADA and FHA, you might require an emotional support animal as a reasonable accommodation in housing. Before you submit your request to your condo association, landlord, or HOA, you should speak to an experienced Florida condo lawyer at the Law Offices of Herb M. Milgrim, P.A. We have years of experience helping people with disabilities obtain approvals for their emotional support animals. We can review your information and help you obtain the right documentation to prove your need without running the risk of facing criminal prosecution. To learn more about your rights and legal options, call us today at 954-966-3909 and schedule a consultation.