Text your tenant: "What's with the cats?"

Then judge your next response by her answer.

If it is in any way related to ESA, watch how she phrases it. Then tell her in order to make reasonable accommodation for her, you will need reliable proof (and the HUD website does say reliable now!) that she has a disability, and that the cats are necessary to assist her with her disability in order for her to live in the home.

Hud is covering all their bases by calling all allowed animals "assistance animals" it seems.

If she just says "OOPS!" or "I'm cat sitting" you can give her immediate notice to cure.

You are probably right that they will claim ESA.

You might be able to do something about it sense they did not claim any pets when applying. You would be able to prove this in court.

Good catch by the handyman.

Did you by chance do an in home visit when they applied?

Did you call previous LL's?

And more and more I am reading that the tenant has to REQUEST accommodation, preferably in writing. YOU have to allow it, if it meets the tests, but they do first have to request it.

The reason I *didn't* suggest that, Plenty, is because of this $X&*%)#*) ESA issue.

6X6, do you live in the building? The law WMH refered to only applies to owner occupied buildings with no more than 4 units. Here is the law copy and pasted from HUD’s Fair Housing Act..

“The Fair Housing Act protects people from discrimination when they are renting or buying a home, getting a mortgage, seeking housing assistance, or engaging in other housing-related activities. Additional protections apply to federally-assisted housing.

Learn about the History of the Fair Housing Act, and read Examples of the many forms of housing discrimination.

Who Is Protected?

The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing because of:

Race

Color

National Origin

Religion

Sex

Familial Status

Disability

What Types of Housing Are Covered?

The Fair Housing Act covers most housing. In very limited circumstances, the Act exempts owner-occupied buildings with no more than four units, single-family houses sold or rented by the owner without the use of an agent.

6X6: Also study your state's LL/Tenant laws carefully.

I'd be very cautious about claiming small landlord exemption for ESA. The exemption is for the protected classes and I would not be confident that it extends to service animals and ESA until there are plenty of court cases that affirm that.

Judges sometimes do what they personally think is right and don't necessarily follow the law exactly and I don't want to be the landlord who is the test case.

Here's something from NOLO:

When the Fair Housing Act Applies

The FHA applies to most—but not all—types of housing.

Types of housing excluded from the FHA include:

* Owner-occupied buildings with four or fewer units. The FHA generally isn't applicable when a building has two to four units, and the owner lives in one of them.

* Single-family homes rented without a broker. The FHA doesn't apply when a single-family house is sold or rented without a broker, so long as the owner doesn’t own more than three houses.

* Religious organizations. If you're a religious organization leasing apartments at a property that you're not operating for a commercial purpose, you may legally limit occupancy or give preferences to people of your organization's religion. However, the FHA points out that this exception is strictly limited to religion and cautions that a religious organization still can't discriminate based on race, color, or national origin (42 U.S. Code § 3607(a)).

* Private clubs. If you're leasing apartments on behalf of a private club and not for a commercial purpose, the FHA lets you limit occupancy to your club's members.

* Senior housing. The FHA includes "familial status" as one of its seven protected classes, which refers to the presence of at least one child under 18 living in a household. However, although the FHA bans discrimination against families with children, you may be exempt from this ban if your property qualifies as senior housing. Exempt properties include those that fit the rules of 55 and older or 62 and older communities, or those that participate in a federal, state or local senior housing program.

While WMH's information seems to indicate that those who offer for rent sfh's without the help of a broker are exempt, I feel as Oregonwoodsmoke does - I don't want to be the test case for my state. PA tends to have highly liberal judges, and I don't want to lose my shirt over something like this.

I agree - say, "What's with the cats?" and wait for the answer. We had a tenant who ignored our lease clause that animals were not even allowed temporarily. But when I drove into the neighborhood to check on the roof and siding after a storm and encountered her walking the dog (after I had seen the leash tether on the front porch post already), I simply stopped, greeted her and the dog, and asked what was up. "Oh, my mom was in the hospital and my sister was away, so I brought the dog here - he's going home today!" I reminded her of the lease clause, she said that she'd "forgotten", and that it wouldn't happen again.

I wasn't even thinking of RACE sheesh. Were you? Never mind.