Possible tenant stating no pet fee

[Mike Flora]

I have a possible tenant stating they do not have to pay a non refundable pet fee to have two small dogs live with them in our property because they are therapy dogs for her dad of which she is the caretaker for. To my understanding of this, which I will ask my lawyer about but wanted to see what you guys say, I cannot discriminate against my possible tenants and I'm not by charging a pet fee. I'm not denying them a chance to submit an application and rent out the property whatsoever, but since there are dogs they need to pay the fee. This is in Riverside county of California. Anyone else deal with this before?

[Tracy Streich]

Be very careful. You cannot charge a pet fee or deposit for a documented therapy animal. It is very easy to get the documentation. If they are documented they are not considered pets and you cannot charge a pet or animal fee. There are plenty of attorneys on her side of this that love to take on HUD lawsuits. You can deny them for something else but you cannot just make up something random. It has to be consistent across all your applicants.