This is Tanya with Envy Property Management, in today’s video we will be talking about fees and restrictions on assistance animals. This video is part 3 of our educational video series about assistance animals in property management.
Just to briefly review, in part 1 of our video series, we discussed laws regarding assistance animals in Utah rental homes, and in part 2 we talked about how to qualify an assistance animal for your rental home. Today we are going to go over the fees and restrictions on assistance animals in property management.
So, you’ve qualified an assistance animal to live in your rental property, now what? Can I charge the tenant any “animal” related fees associated with the assistance animal? The answer to this question is NO, once an animal has been qualified as an Assistance Animal a housing provider may NOT charge any pet fees, pet rent, pet deposits, or any other fees relating to the Assistance Animal.
Furthermore, a housing provider may not restrict Assistance Animals on the basis of size, weight, breed, or other criteria. (this excludes types that may be restricted by law)
Assistance Animals may accompany the Resident anywhere within the community. However, there may be exceptions in local law that would prohibit the animal from being in specific areas such as in the swimming pool, or hot tub, and in areas where food is being prepared.
Housing providers should have Animal Rules for their communities (even if they are a no pet community). These rules should be given to all persons with pets or assistance animals.
Persons with Assistance Animals that violate rules, cause damage or cause a nuisance are still subject to the same eviction processes and fines as any other resident. This wraps up our 3 part educational video series regarding assistance animals in property management. If you have any further questions regarding Assistance Animals in your rental property we would be happy to talk with you more about it. Give us a call at 801-337-4337, or you can also see our other videos on Assistance Animals on our website: www.envypm.com. Thanks for watching and we’ll see you next time.
