Refusing an assistance animal request

Grounds that hold up

• The documentation is unreliable. The most common real ground, and the most curable, which is why it should be raised first and specifically.
• This animal is a direct threat to health or safety that no other reasonable accommodation would reduce. About this animal and its conduct, not its breed.
• This animal would cause substantial physical damage to property, again on evidence about this animal.
• The accommodation would impose an undue financial and administrative burden, or fundamentally alter your operations. A real test with evidence behind it.
• The property is genuinely exempt from the Fair Housing Act. Check carefully; the exemptions are narrow and state law often reaches further.

Grounds that do not

• A no-pets policy. That is the policy the accommodation is an exception to.
• Breed, weight or size applied as a pet rule.
• Another tenant preferring no animals.
• A blanket rule that the building does not accept emotional support animals.
• The tenant would not disclose their diagnosis, which they are entitled to withhold.

How to write it

• In writing, promptly. Silence can be treated as a constructive denial and is the worst available option.
• State the specific ground and the specific facts. A letter that says the request is denied, with no reason, is evidence of nothing except that you refused.
• Where the ground is curable, say what would cure it.
• Offer the interactive step: invite them to supply what is missing, or to discuss an alternative that meets the same need.
• Keep everything, including the dates. Timing is evidence in a retaliation claim.