We’ve had a few issues when guests sneak dog(s) into our No-Pet rental property & when damages/deep cleaning payment requests are made they claim “emotional support animals” and which airbnb sides with them (even saying they’re NOT required to notify us of a pet- when the law clearly states they DO).
Its cost us over $3k in the last yr! Thats not to mention the loss of a yearly high-season family who’s got members w/ severe allergies so they can no longer stay with us which is a considerable loss of return income.
We love fur babies & if it wasn’t for the impossibility of cleaning dander from bedroom carpets, HVAC system, behind appliances, rugs, bed skirts, upholstery, etc it wouldn’t be such an issue.
Emotional support animals (ESA) are so common now that after our last experience I decided to get some answers before it continued to cost us more than its worth to host. There seems to be A LOT of debate about the legality for VR owners so I researched & contacted an attorney to see if I could get something more concrete vs the grey area that seems to exist.
(helpful article links @ the end).
#1) “Place of Public Accommodation” laws dont apply to vr owners for a few reasons, but the strongest is that to qualify you must:
•Accept reservations without guaranteeing a particular room until check-in, with no requirement of a lease or deposit.
• Rooms available on a walk-in or call-in basis
• And: public accommodation” does not include a lodging with < 5 rooms that is occupied by the proprietor as a primary residence. (Owner occupied rentals).
#2) Things THAT EXCLUDE HOSTS from ADA & FHA laws:
~FHA does not apply to housing that is so temporary as to be “transient,”. We collect Transient Occupancy Tax for the city & are therefore classified as Transient accommodation.
~ADA only applies to “hotel-like” public accommodations.
The general stipulations that exclude hosts are:
• One is when the building has four or less units and the owner occupies one of them.
•Second is if a property is considered “transient” and not like a hotel (the guest does return often enough to call it a home, stay for a long period of time, and there’s no checkin area, common living space, etc).
•Third are private owners with three or less single family homes that do not use a service (broker, management company, etc) to manage them & doesn’t use discriminatory advertisements.
*Many would argue that booking sites ARE a broker. However, there’s been an onslaught of lawsuits against almost every major booking site the last few years calling for them to register, pay taxes, and be held liable as a Broker.
~Yet THEY’VE WON EVERY CASE saying they’re NOT A BROKER & only source a site that allows owners to list their properties. Example: If you purchase a car from someone on CL and it turns out to be a lemon you wouldn’t sue CL for serving as the middle man.
~In this case it would be almost impossible for a judge to find hosts liable for using a “broker” when there’s so many won cases saying their NOT A BROKER.
#3) There’s also the case of City mandated laws:
•The attorney I contacted mentioned that while the ADA & FHA don’t classify ‘emotional support animals’ as being protected under their laws it can go further if the City also de-classifies such animals.
•So its worth checking with a local attorney about your city law classifications.
•Example: the City of San Fransisco does not allow classified emotional support animals to receive any protection from discrimination when it comes to public places & for-profit housing.
#4) And the attorney said this is the strongest point in our favor as the VR serves in a business capacity (ie: not home-sharing or random renting when on vacation)
•When accommodating causes an "undue hardship", either financial or administrative, for the owner.
•Example: Making expensive modification such as certified air filtration would constitute an undue hardship. Likewise the cleaning required of an existing unit and the furnishings would also fall under this category.
•Requests can be declined when the animal poses a threat to others' health and safety....
•Example: Future guests who may have a severe allergy and would by the nature of the building construction be exposed (vs hotels which have multiple closed off units).
•The risk of guests having an allergic reaction not only poses health & safety issues but may also lead to financial hardship should medical care or a lawsuit ensue.
This may not apply for your situation so be sure to do your own research and contact an attorney in your area- this is just sharing what I found. I’m now confident in our ability to deny ESA’s & put up a fight against the security deposit claim denial should it happen again 😕
**NOTE- Service Animals & ESA’s are NOT the same thing.....THIS IS ONLY IN REGARDS TO EMOTIONAL SUPPORT ANIMALS.**
HELPFUL ARTICLES:
bit.ly/2IP0a84
bit.ly/2IRKKA1