In the last few years, employers, education institutions, and places of public accommodation (e.g., airports, grocery stores, and hotels) have seen an increase in individuals who want to bring their Assistance Animal, Service...more
Laws regarding service and emotional support animals can be confusing to property owners—and guidance can vary depending upon the type of animal and its function. For example, recently, the Department of Housing and Urban...more
Recently, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) filed a charge of discrimination claiming (Charge) claiming Missouri landlord Dahms Investments, L.L.C. (Dahms) violated the FHA by requiring a prospective...more
The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), on Jan. 28, issued new guidance on requests for reasonable accommodation under the Fair Housing Act (FHA) relative to “assistance animals” in various...more
Your humble Fair Housing Defense blog editor appreciated hearing from a number of you concerning the new HUD guidance addressing reasonable accommodation requests for animals under the Fair Housing Act (FHA). In response to...more
In another helpful development for the professional apartment management industry, last week the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) issued a long-awaited guidance document concerning use of an animal as a...more
Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued its new guidance, “Assessing a Person’s Request to Have an Animal as a Reasonable Accommodation under the Fair Housing Act.” In the...more
In a letter that is good news to those in the professional apartment ownership/management business, HUD Secretary Ben Carson wrote to the Chairman of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) earlier this month asking that the...more
In a statement issued at the end of last week, the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) announced it resolved a disability discrimination Fair Housing Act (FHA) case in California asserting that various...more
I do my level best to be evenhanded when I review emotional support animal (ESA) medical verification letters when I know they have been purchased over the internet after a short self-diagnosis questionnaire and perhaps use...more
In a press release issued last week, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) reported that a condominium association in New Jersey agreed to pay $30,000 to resolve allegations under the Fair Housing Act...more
When I do fair housing training, I always say to my audience that if one of you has a question, I am willing to bet another person in the room has the same question....more
In a press release dated yesterday, the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) stated that it charged a residential property owner (and an agent) in Maine with violating the Fair Housing Act (FHA) related to an...more
A Fair Housing Defense blog reader (thanks for stopping by) asked me to give an update with respect to potential guidance from the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) and/or the U.S. Department of Justice...more
Loyal Fair Housing Defense blog readers (thank you very much) know that I defend (and report on) what seems like a never ending stream of emotional support animal (ESA) housing discrimination cases these days. The typical run...more
On October 24, 2018, Governor Wolf signed HB 2049 into law as Act 118. The Assistance and Service Animal Integrity Act (“ASAIA”), is Pennsylvania’s initial legislative response to the growing concern among property managers,...more
Late last month, the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) charged a condominium association in New Jersey with disability discrimination in violation of the federal Fair Housing Act (FHA). According to HUD,...more
A little housing policy inside baseball today. Those of us in the multifamily housing space are waiting for our friends at HUD to act on two matters of interest: First, as previously noted, HUD issued an advance notice of...more
On October 11, 2018, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced that a disability discrimination claim from California settled for $8,500. The agreement resolved a complaint filed by a resident with...more
Last month the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) approved a settlement agreement concluding an assistance animal Fair Housing Act (FHA) discrimination case from Nevada. An applicant submitted a reasonable...more
A couple of assistance animal related questions have hit my desk recently. At properties which have pools, can assistance animals accompany residents into the pool area? How about into the pool? No, I am not making that...more
Contents: - Clery Act Amendments May Impact Title IX Best Practices - Student Speech and Liability in MOOCs – a Brave New World - Assistance and Emotional Support Animals Are Just the Tip of the...more