Applying for a new tenancy with an assistance animal
Housing situations
Timing is a judgement call. What a landlord may do with the answer is not.
What a landlord may not do
- Refuse your application because you have an assistance animal.
- Apply pet screening, pet fees or pet policies to it as a condition of applying.
- Steer you toward particular units or buildings because of it.
- Charge a higher deposit or require a guarantor because of the animal.
Pet screening services
Many landlords now use third-party pet screening platforms, and several charge a fee to review assistance animal documentation. Charging a disabled applicant a fee to have an accommodation request considered is difficult to defend, and some states have legislated against it. You can ask to submit documentation directly to the landlord instead.
When to raise it
There is no legal requirement to disclose at any particular point, and a genuine trade-off. Raising it with the application is cleaner, produces a written record, and means nobody is surprised at signing. Raising it after acceptance avoids the risk of an unlawful refusal dressed up as an ordinary rejection, which is hard to prove in a competitive market.
Most people are better served by raising it early, in writing, with the documentation attached. A landlord who was going to be difficult is better discovered before you have given notice somewhere else.
If you suspect you were rejected over it
Ask for the reason in writing. Keep the listing, your application, and anything showing the unit was relet afterwards. Rejections are rarely explained, so the pattern is usually the evidence.
Common questions
- Do I have to disclose on the application form?
- You do not have to volunteer it, and lying on an application is its own problem. Leaving a pet question blank and raising the accommodation separately is a common and defensible approach.