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Updated 12 months ago on . Most recent reply

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Nina Zou
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Can I ask my applicants to disclose service dog if they have one?

Nina Zou
Posted

A friend who has a rental property just told me that his rental was ruined by a mom and a daughter tenant who never mentioned they have two giant dogs when they applied for the house. He did mention in his Ad “ no pet”. 

They informed him that they have two service dogs after they moved in. They rented for a year. He found out the carpet smelled so badly with the dog pee and wood floor was also damaged by the dogs after they moved out.  He is facing a big repairing cost right now.


My questions is can I ask all my applicants to disclose if they have pets including service pets when they apply? Or I actually can not ask them to disclose at all by law and regulations?

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Nathan Gesner
  • Real Estate Broker
  • Cody, WY
41,351
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Nathan Gesner
  • Real Estate Broker
  • Cody, WY
ModeratorReplied

All of you should consider getting away from the word "Pet" in your advertising and documents. Use the term "Animal" to ensure it captures both pets and service animals.

No animals allowed.

I also recommend you use petscreening.com which is completely free to the Landlord. You can make ALL your renters go there, even if they don't have an animal. Tenants with no animal have to read a statement that says they understand your animal policy and know they can't add an animal later on without your permission. Tenants that have a pet will fill out all the information, attach vet records and a picture, and cost $20 for the first animal and I think $10 for the second. Tenants with a service animal have to apply but can't be charged a fee. Petscreening.com knows the law and they weed out a ton of fraud. Best of all, they handle it for you so you don't have to spend the time or energy.

Tenants with animals have to renew each year. This prevents them from replacing the 10-pound Chihuahua with a 150-pound Rott. 

  • Nathan Gesner
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