Dave,
One thing I was taught in the military was that I was not to question a medical diagnosis unless I had a degree in medicine. I could think what ever I wanted to. However, I was not to question the medical diagnosis.
Per this
fact sheet on the subject:
Three Classes of Animals:
1. Pets are animals living with owners for purposes of love, affection, and company.
2. Emotional Support Animals provide some therapeutic benefit to person with mental or psychiatric disability, requiring no specific training. The mere presence of this animal mitigates the effects of the emotional or mental disability.
3. Service Animals are any animal individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit
of an individual with a physical, intellectual, and mental disability—IE guiding individuals with
impaired vision, providing protection or rescue work, pulling a wheel chair, or fetching dropped
items.
HUD, who administers the Fair Housing Act, issued a
FEHO Notice 2013-01 to address Service Animals and Assistance Animals for People with Disabilities. Per that notice:
The revised regulations specify that "the provision of emotional support, well-being, comfort, or companionship do not constitute work or tasks for the purposes of this definition." Thus, trained dogs are the only species of animal that may qualify as service animals under the ADA (there is a separate provision regarding trained miniature horses), and emotional support animals are expressly precluded from qualifying as service animals under the ADA.
Here is a
fact sheet on service animals from the U.S. Department of Justice. This fact sheet also provides information on miniature horses.
Please note that there are many many many
cases where it has been ruled that reasonable accommodation must be provided for emotional support animals. However, for emotional support animals (
not service animals) the HOA can request a letter from a Doctor. HUD even provides a
sample letter for that purpose (note: sample letter link goes to a word document).
So Dave, even though I agree with you to a certain extent, the bottom line is that failure to make reasonable accommodations for an emotional support animal after receiving a note from a Doctor, would open the Association up to possible fines and litigation from HUD if the individual denied the reasonable accommodation filed a complaint.
