Service animals

[Jenny1077]

I have a strick no animals policy. Person booked and did not tell me he has a service animal. What do I do?

[Kit45]

@Hi @Jenny1077 

Please find out what is the service animal for.

Here is the excerpt from AirBnB regarding assistance animals.

Assistance animals

We understand that assistance animals are not pets. As such, outside of a scenario that might jeopardize the health of a host in their living space (or the health of other people who live in that space), hosts are expected to accommodate assistance animals in accordance with our Nondiscrimnation policy.

Pet fees or one-time cleaning fee increases shouldn't be applied to a reservation as a result of an assistance animal.

Hope this help.

Kit

[Julie1391]

So does this only apply if I'm renting a room in the house that I live in full-time?  Me and my family have horrible allergies to dogs, cats, feathers, you name it--and although we don't live full time in our NC home, we visit there frequently in between rentals, once or twice a month.  So I just have to let "service and assistance" animals in and absorb the $500 deep cleaning fee my cleaning company charges?

[Lisa723]

@Jenny1077 @Kit45 please review:

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/1869/what-is-an-assistance-animal

[Christine615]

Note that the federal government does not consider a private home or an owner occupied building with four or less units to be a public accommodation and they are not covered by the fair housing act. I’m not convinced Airbnb can override federal law in their terms of service for real property they don’t own or control. This is a lawsuit waiting to happen.

[Lisa723]

@Christine615 They're not forcing anyone to host service animals.  (Obviously, they can't.) They're saying that if you don't (with specified exceptions) then they decline to list your home. So any lawsuit would have to claim that Airbnb must be forced  to list homes that decline to host service animals. Seems pretty unsupportable.

Don't get me wrong, I don't like the policy either. I just can't see it as any kind of legal violation.

[Christine615]

We have family who use the space and allergies are a big issue so we keep it animal free, but we also insist on keeping it that way for guests who need the same environment. If hosts were not listed when the ADA clearly exempts for health and safety they could sue Airbnb for reverse discrimination. 

the FBI is already reviewing them for their poor responses over illegal parties and dangerous guests who aren’t vetted.

Airbnb is going to have to evolve or someone will develop a more host friendly platform that respects them.

[Jenny1077]

Thanks for your input. I maintain a hypoallergenic environment for my guests. And feel blindsided by a guest who didn't bother telling me until a few days before his arrival that he had a service animal. I feel full transparency was in order. I understand I can't deny but feel as the owner I'm left with no options. Making arrangements to have the home deep cleaned before next guests arrive will be very challenging and costly on such short notice and I find it rather unfair.

[Ann489]

@Jenny1077   actually, you CAN deny,  under certain circumstances.   We will NOT host anyone with a service animal due to a family member's severe dog allergies, and we had Airbnb add a note to our account in case someone with an assistance animal were to book our guesthouse.

See the excerpt from Airbnb's help section: 

Are hosts required to accept assistance animals?

Generally, yes, unless there is a threat to health or safety (see below). At Airbnb, we acknowledge that assistance animals are not the same as pets and serve a crucial function for their owner. As stated in our Nondiscrimination Policy, hosts are expected to reasonably accommodate reservations where an assistance animal may be present, even if their listing/house rules state “no pets”.

[Christine615]

---

@Ann489 wrote:

@Jenny1077   actually, you CAN deny,  under certain circumstances.   We will NOT host anyone with a service animal due to a family member's severe dog allergies, and we had Airbnb add a note to our account in case someone with an assistance animal were to book our guesthouse.

See the excerpt from Airbnb's help section: 

Are hosts required to accept assistance animals?

Generally, yes, unless there is a threat to health or safety (see below). At Airbnb, we acknowledge that assistance animals are not the same as pets and serve a crucial function for their owner. As stated in our Nondiscrimination Policy, hosts are expected to reasonably accommodate reservations where an assistance animal may be present, even if their listing/house rules state “no pets”.

---

Exactly. ADA defines owner occupied as not falling under the guidelines requiring accommodation of service animals. And Emotional Support  Animals are not considered service animals under ADA or fair housing act.

i feel for guests who need them but anaphylaxis is not fun to deal with.

But also, Airbnb should work with hosts on the issue and cover damages for those who aren’t exempt. From what I hear they are horrible about allowing animal damage claims under the host guarantee.

[Julie1391]

So unless we live in the home full time we cannot decline service/assistance animals?  Me and my kids have severe allergies to dogs, cats, birds, but not horses.  So if our vacation rental is rented out as a whole house we cannot decline?  We use the house frequently in between guests and our house is big--$500 to deep clean if contaminated by animal dander.  Does anyone have any answers on this?

[Mike-And-Helen0]

@Jenny1077 there are three standard allowable questions to ask about the services provided by the animal.

If you have allergy concerns and you are a small business you can turn it down.

Airbnb requires a more lenient approach than law.

[City-Limits-Ranch0]

Service animal

1) handler/owner has a DISABILITY.  You can ask IF there is a disability but not what the disability is

2) animal is a DOG or a miniature horse (no other kind of animal)

3) the animal is trained to do a SPECIFIC TASK that mitigates the actual DISABILITY and you may ask what the task is (guiding, alerting, stabilizing, pulling, fetching etc) but may NOT require that it be demonstrated.

Emotional support animal

provides  COMFORT and emotional support to a person who has a DISABILITY.  No disability, no right to accommodation for the ESA. 

You should really try to accommodate a service dog since if it is a true service dog the owner CANNOT travel without the dog's help, but I personally  feel you should be free to decline an ESA.  ESAs do NOT have the right to PUBLIC accommodation only to certain types of PUBLIC housing and airline travel. 

Airbnb won't support you declining them. Only service dogs and the rare miniature horse have public ACCESS RIGHTS.

[Becca1264]

I have a similar question.  We also have a strict no pets policy,

As a host can I ask that if a service animal is going to be in the house, that the guest keep them off of the furniture and beds or if they can't do that, can I tell them that we will be putting coverings of some sort over everything?

I just had someone wanting to make a reservation and when I asked if their dog was long or short-haired and if it shed, and if they would be okay with us covering couches, chairs, beds with sheets - they were extremely hostile and told me I was in violation of ADA laws.

[Ann489]

@Becca1264  A true service animal is not a pet.  They are trained to perform certain tasks for their owners, therefore are trained not get onto couches, beds etc--unless the owner requires the animal's help while in bed or on the couch.  A friend of mine is a quadriplegic and her service dog will retrieve items for her and bring them to her while she is in bed--usually, Sunny(her dog) will place her front paws on the bed so that my friend can take the item from her.  I have never seen Sunny lounging either on the bed or couch; she is trained to always be by my friend's side.

That being said,  I don't think asking to cover couches, etc, is in violation of the ADA laws--at least I can't see anything that would suggest that.  I feel that it could be perceived as a little offensive though-especially when you are dealing with true service animal.  

We also have a strict, "no-pet policy", including service animals because of our disabled grand daughter' severe dog allergies, and I can definitely see both sides of the coin.

You can, however, ask potential guests with a service animal what tasks the animal is trained to perform if you are concerned whether you re dealing with a "real" service animal.  Unfortunately, there are a lot of people out there who falsely claim that their ill-trained dog is an assistance animal, making it all the harder for those who are legitimate.