These days it has become popular and trending to have “service animals”, mainly dogs, accompany their human owners inside stores, restaurants, and community gathering places, such as common areas of community associations. I have to share that I was in a hardware store recently, and a lady had a parrot in a cage in her shopping cart. It was clear they were inseparable, and the parrot was her emotional support animal. I am sure she would have fitted an official emotional service animal harness on it, if they made them that small and delicate. People wonder if these animals are truly a medically necessary, trained disability service animal, a medically prescribed or recommended emotional support animal, or just a buddy they didn’t want to leave at home. Let’s be real, anyone can go online and by a vest that says something like they are a “service animal” of some kind, usually red, in a harness style vest. So lets get to this issue in community associations.
emotional support animal dog vest harness
In your community association, you may have rules that either allow dogs everywhere on the property or not. You may have restricted areas where they are not permitted, such as a clubhouse or pool area. Your rules may not differentiate between service animals or not service animals. But if you get a complaint that an owner or guest that does have an animal in an area not permitted, then there is a problem to be resolved. And if that animal is a service animal, well then , you do have a bigger problem. What do you do? Before you do anything, check it out in person, to make sure the animal is a nuisance, or is it interfering with the rights of the unit owners. It may just be that the person complaining doesn’t like dogs, or is a rule hound, and just likes to complain. However, if it appears that there may be a rule violation to contend with, here is some helpful information to help you decide how to manage this crisis.
Here’s what you need to know about service animals. First, there is a bit of a distinction between a service animal and an emotional support animal. A service animal is an animal that is trained to do work or perform tasks for the individual with a disability. An emotional support animal has no training and there’s no requirement that it perform any sort of task.
A housing provider such as a community association, condominium association, or homeowner association, is required to make a reasonable accommodation for any assistance animal – either a service animal or an emotional support animal. If the individual’s disability is readily apparent and it is clear what work the service animal is doing, such as a seeing-eye dog or a dog assisting someone in a wheelchair, there’s really nothing you should be asking regarding having the animal.
service animal dog with leash
If an owner’s disability is not readily apparent, the Association may ask the owner to submit reliable documentation of his disability and need for the animal. If the disability is readily apparent, but the need for the animal is not, you can ask for information about the owner’s need. Documentation from a physician, psychiatrist, social worker or some other mental health professional who is actually treating the individual is generally enough.
Chances are you do not have a rule prohibiting service animals from your common areas. There are federal laws which may or may not be enforceable in your community. Avoid going there without legal help, it may not go in your favor. If you do not have a rule against these animals being in certain areas in your condo or HOA docs, just use your best judgement to diffuse anything immediate that has escalated between owners and guests. Long term, if there is an owner that insists to have their animal with them in un-permitted areas of the association, request documentation from them, that establishes a need, whether that is disability/physical or emotional. Let the moment pass, and keep that in the file. As a manager, take it up with your board the next chance you get. If it is an issue that does need to be addressed, your board should consider adopting a rule if they feel this kind of thing actually meets with the disapproval of the majority of the membership. If a rule is adopted, make sure it is worded such that it actually can be enforced, otherwise do not have one. The worst thing you can do is adopt a rule which is too awkward to enforce, or would not pass the “reasonable” test if brought to court.
