What Kind of Documentation Can Prove the Need for an Assistance Animal?

If a tenant requests a reasonable accommodation for an assistance animal, but the disability or the disability-related need isn’t obvious, a landlord can ask for additional documentation verifying the disability or the disability-related need for the animal. But what is considered reliable documentation?

Chalisa Warren, housing investigations supervisor in the Texas Workforce Commission’s Civil Rights Division, said during a recent TAR property management webinar that reasonable documentation could be anything as long as it is from a reliable third party.

"It can be from a peer support group; it can be from a caseworker—someone who has knowledge of the disability and the need for the disability-related accommodation," she explained. "Usually it comes from a doctor, but it can be from a therapist or a marriage counselor."

Get more insights into how to handle requests for assistance animals from the recording of the webinar available under the Events section of texasrealestate.com.