Employee Lease Addendum For Emotional Support Animal In Wake
Description
Form popularity
FAQ
Under the Fair Housing Act, tenants and homeowners with disabilities are allowed to have service animals and emotional support animals in their homes/apartments. They can also have them in common areas of a housing complex. You have this right regardless of whether your lease has a “no pets” policy.
To qualify for an emotional support animal, you must have a mental or emotional health disability. This includes (but is not limited to) conditions such as severe anxiety, PTSD, phobias, social anxieties, and depression if the condition substantially limits a major life activity like working or socializing.
For a person to legally have an emotional support animal (ESA), the owner must be considered to have a qualifying mental health or psychiatric disability by a licensed mental health professional (e.g., therapist, psychologist, psychiatrist, etc.), which is documented by a properly formatted prescription letter.
Emotional Support Animal Laws in North Carolina To qualify for an ESA letter in the state of North Carolina, an individual must be diagnosed with an emotional or mental health disorder by a licensed mental health professional (LMHP).
The FHA applies to nearly all housing situations and gives emotional support animal owners protection from pet restrictions and fees. The ACAA was changed at the beginning of 2021 to exclude emotional support animals and no longer offers protections for air travel.
Pursuant to this Emotional Support Animal Lease Addendum, the owner or manager of the property may permit a person with a disability to keep an assistance animal as a reasonable accommodation, upon the following terms and conditions which shall be deemed to be a part of the resident's lease: 1.
Housing providers, including shelters and other forms of temporary or supportive housing, must permit residents to keep emotional support animals as a reasonable accommodation for a disability, unless it would cause an undue hardship to the housing provider.
Wait until a landlord accepts your application and offers you the place, then tell them you have an ESA and ask if that should be reflected in the lease or not. If they withdraw the offer you have a pretty strong case of housing discrimination (assuming you can prove the animal has ESA bona fides).
Immediately write an email and request that all communication concerning the ESA be kept through email. Do not answer any phone calls from your landlords after this. You want a clear paper trail.
