It's hard to grasp that around 68% of households in America own at least one pet.
While landlords can adopt a no-pet policy, things get more confusing when support animals come into the picture. It's normal to not understand the distinctions between pets, emotional support animals, and service animals.
What do landlords need to know about these three categories? Read on to see how animals can impact your Coppell rental property business.
Service Animals
These animals get special training so they can perform tasks for people with disabilities. These tasks can include the following:
- Guiding people who are blind
- Alerting people who are deaf
- Protecting someone who's having a seizure
- Pulling a wheelchair
- Performing other tasks related to a person's disability
Since these animals have jobs, they can't be considered simple pets.
Emotional Support Animals (ESAs)
Anyone who struggles with mental wellness can get comfort and support from an ESA. Unlike service animals, ESAs don't have to go through special training to perform specific tasks.
Instead, their presence alone alleviates symptoms of the owner's disability. ESAs are recognized by a licensed mental health professional as part of a treatment plan.
Pets
Pets are animals kept for companionship and enjoyment, without any specific training to assist with disabilities or emotional support. Dogs and cats are the most common, but there are other kinds of pets, like birds and reptiles.
Federal Laws
When it comes to renting a property, there are laws in place to protect people with disabilities and their rights to have service animals or ESAs. Here are a couple:
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
The ADA keeps people with disabilities in various areas safe. This includes employment, public accommodations, and more. Under the ADA, service animals can go anywhere, including restaurants, hotels, and rental properties.
Fair Housing Act (FHA)
The FHA stops landlords from denying housing based on sex, race, disability, and other factors. This means that landlords can't refuse to rent to someone or evict them because they have a service animal or ESA. Landlords must take steps to accommodate them, even in properties with no-pet policies.
Texas Laws for Pets in a Rental Property
In Texas, there are extra regulations about emotional support animals and rental properties. Here are a couple:
Texas Emotional Support Animal Laws
Texas law recognizes emotional support animals and requires landlords to accommodate tenants with ESAs, even if their property has a no-pet policy. Landlords may ask for paperwork from a licensed wellness professional to verify the need for an ESA.
Rental Laws
Landlords in Texas are not allowed to charge additional pet deposits or pet fees for service animals or ESAs. They also can't impose breed or size restrictions on service animals or ESAs.
Do You Need Help Running Your Coppell Rental Business?
While there are distinctions between service animals, emotional support animals, and pets, all play important roles in the lives of their owners. In Coppell, landlords have to understand these differences to protect their rental property businesses.
Has handling your Coppell rental property business been tricky? Contact PMI Cowboys Realty to learn about our property management solutions. We've been helping landlords like you for over two decades.
