6/10/26 -  Landlords and housing providers, please read this carefully, and you will see that positive change is on the horizon.

New guidance from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development limits the types of Fair Housing Act complaints the agency will accept regarding assistance or service animals.  Those who have followed me for some time have seen my previous articles over the years about this, based on my experiences with legislation and litigation in Ohio. The litigation was the most telling because the analysis that the Court of Appeals followed is very similar to what is laid out below and what the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is doing. They are going back to a strict reading of the actual law. Let me give you a quick review.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protects people with disabilities. Disabilities are defined as something that interferes with an essential daily activity. Service or assistance animals must be able to address that disability. The two biggest examples I can quickly recall are guide dogs and dogs trained to prevent injury to a person experiencing a sudden seizure or a drop in blood sugar.

In recent years, this has become a wide-open, exploited area with multiple online cottage industries springing up to provide fake certifications for emotional support animals. This resulted in a stretch way beyond the bounds of what the ADA encompassed, and emotional issues are not frequently co ... Read More…