The reasonable accommodation standard

The elements

• A disability, within the statutory definition.
• A nexus: the accommodation must be connected to the disability. This is the half most requests are weakest on.
• Necessity: the accommodation must be necessary to afford equal opportunity to use and enjoy the dwelling. Helpful is not the test; necessary is.
• Reasonableness: it must not impose an undue financial and administrative burden or fundamentally alter the provider operations.

The nexus, which is where requests fail

Documentation that establishes a disability thoroughly and then says the animal provides comfort has not established a nexus. It has described a pet. What the provider is entitled to understand is that this animal alleviates a symptom or effect of this disability, and a letter that never says so is the single most common reason an otherwise good request is refused.

The interactive process

Where a request is difficult, both sides are expected to engage rather than issue verdicts. A provider should consider whether an alternative accommodation would meet the same need; a requester should engage with a reasonable alternative offered. A provider who refused without exploring anything, and a requester who refused to discuss, are both in weaker positions than they think.

No magic words

A request does not have to cite the statute, use the phrase reasonable accommodation, or arrive on a form. An email saying a therapist thinks a dog would help and asking whether the no-pets rule can be waived is a request, and the duty to respond starts there. Most provider failures in this area begin with a request nobody recognised as one.