Housing

Sometimes tenants with physical or mental disabilities, find it hard to follow all of the landlord’s rules because of the disability. For example, a tenant may have a doctor prescribed service or companion dog due to a disability but live in an apartment complex that does not allow dogs. If the landlord asks the tenant to get rid of his or her dog, the tenant has the right to ask for a reasonable accommodation of the landlord’s rule that animals are not allowed.

A reasonable accommodation is when a tenant with a disability asks the landlord to make a change to the landlord’s rules, policies, or practices to allow the disabled tenant equal opportunity to use and enjoy the rental unit. Allowing a disabled tenant to keep a service or companion dog is just one example of a reasonable accommodation a landlord may be required to provide a tenant under state and federal law.