Effective January 1, 2020, the Illinois Assistance Animal integrity Act will take effect which will assist landlords and condominium associations fulfill their obligations when evaluating resident requests for emotional support animals. Under the longstanding Fair Housing Act (FHA), a landlord or condominium association is legally obligated to provide a “reasonable accommodation” to any resident who has a physical, mental or emotional disability and needs an emotional support animal to help cope with that disability. In the condominium setting, this accommodation must be provided even if the Association’s declaration contains a “no dogs” or “no pets” restriction.
The federal FHA has clearly provided much needed protection to residents that have mental or emotional disabilities who need an assistance animal to help cope with their disability. However, we have all seen the media reporting in recent years of individuals asserting questionable disability claims under the FHA and other federal laws so that they can live with assistance animals- as well as to take them onto planes, and into restaurants and stores. This abuse has been been aided by the proliferation of online businesses that for a nominal fee, and without an in-person consultation or meaningful assessment will issue a letter certifying a person’s disability or “register” the assistance animal. Out of fear of litigation, often the housing provider is compelled to allow the animal.
With the Illinois Assistance Animal Integrity Act, Illinois follows the lead of several other state legislatures that have attempted to provide clarity on how a resident must establish a disability, and guidance for housing providers on their obligation to provide a reasonable accommodation for the resident. The most important new requirement of the Act is that the person who submits documentation in support of an assistance animal request must have a “therapeutic relationship” with the resident. Specifically, the provider must first provide a meaningful assessment of the individual before certifying the disability or need for an emotional support animal. The expectation is that this legal requirement will curb these online businesses from issuing a letter based on single phone call or even a single visit.
Interestingly, the Act does not require the individual providing the disability opinion to be a doctor or even a licensed medical or mental health care provider. Rather, the law vaguely states that the individual can be a “non-medical service agency or reliable third party who is in a position to know about the individual’s disability.”
One of the challenges in providing a reasonable accommodation for an emotional support animal is the real impact that it may have on other residents and owners that have chosen to live in a building specifically because of the “no pet” restriction in place. For instance there may be other residents that have a serious fear or anxiety of dogs, or other serious pet allergies. The Act does attempt to balance these competing needs by stating the association board or housing provider “may consider” the documented disability-related needs of other residents when evaluating a request for an assistance animal. However, the Act specifically says that housing providers cannot deny an assistance animal solely due to the disability-related needs of another resident. As such, it is unclear how this balancing act can ultimately be resolved under these circumstances.