Has anyone dealt with an ESA request from a resident in your HOA?

One of our residents recently handed in an ESA letter and asked to keep their dog despite our no-pet policy. I was not sure how to handle it, so I looked into the Fair Housing Act a bit and found that HOAs are generally required to accept valid ESA accommodation requests as long as the letter comes from a licensed mental health professional.
The letter they gave us was from RealESALetter, which seems to be a legit online service that connects people with licensed therapists for an evaluation before issuing anything.
Has anyone else had a similar situation? How did your board handle it, and what did you check for to make sure the letter was actually valid?

A year or two ago, I recall publishing a link to an article that spoke about this, explaining the differences between service animals (e.g. dogs that assist the visually impaired) and emotional support animals. It may still be somewhere on this website (try the new search mode), although I don’t know if the link still works. If not, there’s a lot of information out there that you can Google or you can contact a local mental health organization.

In fact, the mental health organization and/or local humane society may have useful information on how to accommodate the request. I agree with Tim that it’s best to only accept a letter from a local doctor as opposed to these “pay for letter” website editions (if it’s medically necessary, why didn’t you ask for one from him/her in the first place?)

Getting legal advice is also good – if you don’t already have a policy on pets in the community, this is a good chance to establish one because some requirements should be mandatory for all of them, such as (1) the animal must be leased and under the owner’s control when outside – tying it up against a tree or door doesn’t count (2) the animal must have all its shots, (3) owners are expected to clean up after their pets and they will be fined and billed (4) the animal shouldn’t be allowed to become a nuisance (e.g. excessive barking). These type of violations could be clues that this animal may not be the "emotional support" animal the owner claims it is.

As far as letter goes, your attorney should be able to give you guidelines on what you can and can’t ask for. Some things I saw in my basic research:
• the letter should list
o the homeowner/resident’s name
o confirm he or she is a patient under the doctor or counselor
o the professional’s name, office address and phone number and license number (all of this can be written on official letterhead)
o a clear statement that the animal helps ease symptoms of a diagnosis or emotional disability as recognized in the Diagnostic and Statical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition (the most recent version was released in March 2022)
o A reference to the law, such as the Fair Housing Act
o Although you can’t ask what the condition is or how long the person’s had it or has received treatment, you can ask for details about the animal and how it alleviates at least one symptom of the mental health condition or disability.

• Letters from online sources shouldn’t be accepted unless they come from a licensed mental health professional who’s actively treating the patient (in person or via telehealth). Talk to the attorney for suggestions on how these should be submitted to ensure patient privacy.

• Your policy should state that the association’s review process will include checking the letter for authenticity. That should consist of checking credentials against the state’s medical or licensing agency and calling the office to confirm the professional actually wrote the letter. This should help with concerns about potential violation of the Fair Housing Act or HIPAA – which is why you need help from your attorney in what to look for. Homeowners should be told if the letter is found to contain incomplete in inaccurate information, it will be denied.

• Other reasons the request can be denied – and yes you should be prepared to document this in your denial letter:
o the animal is a threat to the safety or health of others
o the animal would (or has) caused physical damage to the property
o accommodating the animal would cause undue financial burden. Check with your attorney on this because you usually can’t charge pet fees for an emotional support animal.
o the animal’s size or type isn’t safe for the size of the unit – this is useful for high rise condos or some townhouses, such as someone trying to move a miniature horse into a studio apartment). Otherwise, emotional support animals are exempt from size or breed restrictions – check with your attorney on this as well. The city or county code on pets may also be helpful

• Your attorney can assist with a template for the approval or denial letter.

• You will need an appeals process for all this. I believe the process should also include an option for legally binding arbitration before duking all of this out in court. The association and homeowner should split the costs, with the winner reimbursing the loser (unless there’s a compromise).

IMO you are kinda screwed. To qualify for an Emotional Support Animal (ESA), the person must be diagnosed mental or emotional disability and receive an official ESA prescription letter from a licensed mental health professional.

In today’s online world, you can get a diagnosis for about anything and never actually see a health provider in person or even talk to one. I could be 7 Ft tall and weigh 150# and get a prescription for an LP1 for obesity no problem.