An owner may verify that a resident has a disability and a disability-related need for an assistance animal, must apply its inquiry policy consistently, and may not ask where the need is apparent

s8.reasonable_accommodation.assistance_animal_verification · v1.0.0

Where an applicant or resident requires an assistance animal as a reasonable accommodation for a disability, the owner may verify that the person has a disability and that there is a disability-related need for the requested accommodation. The owner may require documentation of the disability and the need for the animal from an appropriate third party such as a medical provider, mental health provider or other professional in a position to provide the verification; for an animal providing emotional support, documentation may be required from a physician, psychiatrist, social worker or other mental health professional that the animal provides support alleviating one or more identified symptoms or effects of an existing disability. The owner must implement its policy on such inquiries consistently for all applicants requesting permission to keep an assistance animal. A tenant or applicant should not be required to provide documentation of the disability or of the disability-related need where the disability or the need is readily apparent or already known to the provider.

Confidence

high

Effective from

2013-08-07

Last reviewed

2026-09-01