A prospect has German shepherd, I text "our insurance does not cover" She text back that they have rental insurance cover 80K and she has MS the dog help her stay active. We will ask for more information if they are interested to apply too.

Does the story make scence?

You have two issues going on and the tenant is speaking in a misinformed manner on both of them.

1) Why would a landlord care how much renter insurance is being covered? We don't care about how much their belongings are worth for the most part....we need to stay focused on liability. Basic renters insurance liability coverage is $100,000. For about $8/yr more they can increase it too $300,000. This is the number that is going to cover the LL.

2) Staying active isn't what a service animal does. They are trying to make the pet out to an assistance animal. Since they aren't sure what they are talking about, you as a LL are on thin ice.

Does the prospect have a letter from a health professional saying she needs this dog for therapy?

Is the dog a graduate of some kind of training as an assistance dog?

Go with Ken's advise. My Mom has MS. No therapy dog needed. If they (she) needs to exercise then all she needs to do is go for a walk.

I was thinking the same thing for myself. When I had a dog many, many years ago I use to walk MUCH more. It wasn't for "me" it was for the DOG to get exercise. Now I think "if I had a dog I'd be walking more". I just need to get my butt outside and walk - no more excuses. I did it when I had foot surgery. Walked around the block (slowly) until I had the energy to walk further (two blocks, three blocks, etc) until I was walking around the neighborhood for a good hour or so.

You didn't say that they mentioned that this dog was a therapy dog - you just stated they mentioned that she has it for exercise. There is a difference. I do get it and understand but - what happens when she has a bad day (there are good and bad days with MS) - who is going to take the dog for the walk?

Again - Take Ken's advice - have them fill out an application and either determine that you allow pets (if you do) OR find something else that you can deny them on. If they "push" the issue or you want to know if your insurance WILL cancel due to the breed of dog ... ask them about it being a "service animal".

They did not day the dog is service animal. They are in a 3 bedroom house now and want to move to 4 bedroom house.

You are sending mixed messages.

Send them the application. Invite them to apply.

If you don't want that breed of dog in your place, find another reason to deny them (rental history, not enough income, previous LL didn't respond etc).

I find that 90% of the time, they don't completely fill out every single blank of the application. That allows me to put their application into my pending file. :)

Plenty, they are not in our 3 bedroom property, but only 5 to 10 mile from the house.

So, last week you randomly ask about a possible service or emotional support animal and if you can deny due to it being on your insurance's restricted breed list. When asked, you clearly stated that you did NOT have anyone applying and you were just asking for future reference because you were curious.

Now, less than a week later, you have this actual situation come up??

Sometimes I'm not sure you're giving us the whole truth, CJ...

In any case, I answered in the other thread when you asked this last week for a situation that allegedly didn't exist yet. So, go re-read that thread.

- John...

John, That is the truth and I have no reason to tell lie.

I asked the insurance the pet list last time because there were discussion about insurance from other landlord here.

This prospect did not say it is service animal yet, I told her our insurance does not cover, she text back about her rental insurance and MS and keep active.

We rented to family with German shepherd before for 4 years when I did not know anything about dogs and the neighbor was very mad at me.

I am learning everyday, but still a lot to learn.

Well, my advice in that other thread still applies. Have them apply as normal. See what they put for the pet question. If they present the dog as an Emotional Support Animal, then you can ask for the letter from a healthcare provider.

I would not recommend denying based on your insurance carrier unless you can get a documented/written statement from your insurance provider that they will cancel your insurance (or take some other significant action) if you take an Emotional Support Animal that is on their breeds list. You need to be able to prove an undue burden if you don't accept them based on your insurance coverage. From what I've seen, insurance companies often back down once the animal is presented as an ESA. (i.e. landlords using the excuse that their insurance company won't take them are likely putting themselves at risk).

- John...

I have emailed insurance and get email attachment about list animal they may not cover. I asked if any difference for service animal, they said no difference.

This prospect did not mention service animal, but MS and keep active.

Remember denying a legit service animal or ESA under the Federal Fair Housing statute will not be litigated in your state LL/tenant court

what happens: the prospective tenant, makes a call to the HUD office, where an intake specialist takes the complaint and reviews the info, if the intake specialist finds merit, you will have 10 days to answer in writing, your reason for rejection

Then the intake specialist will make the decision to move forward with discovery

As John pointed out at that point will the intake specialist accept an email thread listing band dog breeds or do you need a official letter stating you will be dropped

To be clear, you need more than just a list of their dangerous breeds. You need a letter stating that they have received your request for a tenant with an Emotional Support Animal under the Fair Housing Act, but they still will not allow that animal and will cancel your insurance if you allow it.

If it comes to that, of course. Again, as you said, at this point -- she hasn't made an official request of you. (In which case, I don't know why you're even looking into it so much if they haven't even applied for anything yet!)

- John...

They answered my prescreen questions online while making appointment to view the house. That is how we know the German shepherd and text to each other.

According to CJ, the prospect never actually claimed that it was an ESA or a service animal.

So would there be any problem with just saying "no, I don't take that breed of dog" and not have to waste time meeting with this person and taking an application?

"It should be enough, she also her credit is bad, husband's score is about 640"

When a tenant just says "it's bad", that usually means its really bad.

CJ do you accept people with bad credit? If not, that was your way out out of this situation right there. I would have just told her it wasn't going to work out. No need to even bring up the dog issue.

We accepted people who had foreclosure because of medical problem or house under water, but has to be very cooperative and pay 2x deposit fee.

Did you ask her why her credit was bad? I would have, and if she didn't give a straight answer, or she did and it was not something I could "work with", I would have told her I couldn't help her and she would have moved on.

CJ,

As other people have recommended, you should really hire someone else to do your screening because it seems to be a constant issue for you.

Thanks, J. It is very hard to hair some that good to work for me.

One of my friends speaks with a thick accent and is one of the most successful landlords I have ever known in Berkeley, CA.

I would completely question the bad credit of one of the prospective tenants. One of my ex-tenants who rarely paid rent on time apparently applied to an apartment recently, and I received a screening call from the property manager. I asked if the tenant who applied had good credit, and the manager said that it was in the mid 700s. I am guessing that the tenant's boyfriend didn't apply for the apartment because his credit must be awful.

a properly documented service animal is not a pet. since i require ALL tenants to have renters insurance i simply advise them to have that dog be specifically named and add me as an additional insured. i require $300k liability and a $250 deductible.

my take on the issue is that very few of the folks i see with animals are really needing them. i get it that some PTSD veteran needs his hound but my experience is that the typical service dog type is a BS'er with a cock-a-poo, a lowerr back tattoo or some nutty middle aged gal with three dogs.

if you do not want animals in your unit you need to find another reason to deny the application. credit report, poor payment history, frequent moving, something besides the hound!

if you decide to allow it just take the MAXIMUM allowable deposit. ALL animals are vandals. all of them. DO NOT call the deposit a pet deposit...it is plain old damage deposit. Make it crustal clear to the dog's owner that ALL damage caused by the animal will be repaired within 7 days. if the dog destroys the same fence three times in three weeks then so be it...the owner of the dog has an expensive pal.

That all sound fine, but I'll remind people that you cannot increase the security deposit because of a legit Service or Emotional Support Animal.

Mike's post seems to imply that you'd take a larger security deposit when you take an animal. Again, this is a violation of the Fair Housing Act. So, don't do it.

It doesn't matter if you call it a "pet deposit" or not. If you charge one person a certain deposit and a different person with a Service Animal a larger deposit because you "decide to allow it", then you've violated the FHAA.

Beyond that, I agree with Mike on almost everything else. This is a growing problem that is likely to get worse. There is rampant abuse and the real victims are now the blind guys with Service Animals who get treated poorly due to all of the cheaters. :(

- John...