ESA dog tenant verses a tenant with actually allergies

[Charley C.]

I am leasing some bedrooms one at a time in my little apartment complex (college kids). Got one person who can not live under the same roof as a dog and she has a real doctor's letter from a local MD. I also had this jerk that wants to impose a dog on everybody and said its an ESA dog. She went so far as to get one of those internet phony silly certifications. The ESA girl hands me a letter from maybe a "doctor"? the Dr's phone number is to the web site, the acronyms of this foreign off shore doctor behind the name were many. None of the acronyms I recognized. Certainly not MD or PHD for that matter

Now the problem is gone for now, I explained if its found out that she is faking the need of the service dog, we would retroactively bill her for breaking the pet policy $100 a day, so in a year, that's $36,200 plus legal fees as a debt on her parents. I told her (and her parents) that while the deposit at that point was still refundable during the application process. They quickly cancelled and she's long gone. 

I know this will happen again. Who would of won in that dispute? the person with Allergies or the Mental patient with the ESA dog? So really if that was not a faker, what would of happened?  

[Costin I.]

@Charley C. - if both are applying to move in, the one with the service animal wins. Otherwise, the one already in the house wins. 

Also, we believe the housing provider may insist that the documentation of need be based on an in-person examination by a qualified professional because there is general agreement among the healing profession that an appropriate diagnosis cannot be made without such an examination; therefore, in our opinion, housing providers are not required to accept a "certificate" obtained by a resident from a website where the resident simply pays a fee and fills out a questionnaire to obtain the certificate without being examined in person.