Imagine you're a New Jersey landlord, and a prospective tenant arrives at your property with a Golden Retriever in tow. They claim it's a service animal, but you have a strict no-pets policy.
As you stand there, unsure of your rights and responsibilities, you realize it's time to bone up on the crucial differences between service animals, emotional support animals, and pets.
Let's go through what to know about service animals, pets, and emotional support animals.
Service Animals
Service animals are specifically animals, usually (but not always) dogs, that perform specific tasks to help out individuals with disabilities. These tasks can include guiding a person with visual impairments, alerting someone with hearing loss to important sounds, pulling a wheelchair, or even detecting the onset of seizures.
Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, service animals are not considered pets, and they are afforded broad access rights, including in housing.
For New Jersey landlords, this means that service animals must be allowed in rental properties, even if a "no pets" policy is in place.
Emotional Support Animals
Unlike service animals, ESAs don't undergo training to perform specific tasks. Instead, the main emotional support animal benefits are to offer emotional relief to their owners, which can be crucial for those suffering from anxiety, depression, PTSD, or other mental health challenges.
Under New Jersey pet laws, if your building has a no-pets policy, tenants can request reasonable accommodations for their emotional support animals. With the correct support animal registration from their healthcare provider, you are required to grant their request.
You cannot request pet fees or ask for extra insurance for emotional support animals, but if the emotional support animal does cause damage you can charge for repairs.
If all of that sounds too overwhelming, you can hire a property management company to help you take care of things.
Pets
Pets are animals kept primarily for companionship. Unlike service animals or emotional support animals, they do not have any special training or designations. For New Jersey landlords, pets are subject to the property's standard pet policies.
As a landlord, you have the discretion to set rules regarding pets in your rental properties. This might involve deciding whether to allow pets at all, limiting the number or type of pets a tenant can have, or requiring tenants to pay additional fees to cover potential damage caused by pets.
Many landlords choose to implement breed restrictions, weight limits, or additional lease clauses that outline tenant responsibilities for maintaining a pet-friendly environment, such as regular cleaning or damage repairs.
It's important to clearly outline your pet policies in the lease agreement to avoid any misunderstandings. For instance, you might require tenants to carry renter's insurance that includes coverage for pet-related incidents. That helps you protect your investment property ROI.
Support Animals and The Rest: Now You Know
Now that you know the differences between support animals, pets, and service animals, you can make sure you're following the laws correctly.
Are you looking to hire property managers in New Jersey? CMS Property Management is committed to providing excellent service no matter what your real estate situation is.
Contact us today.