A Florida condominium or homeowners association may adopt and enforce pet restrictions, including a complete ban on pets, but those rules yield when a resident with a disability requests an assistance animal as a reasonable accommodation under the federal Fair Housing Act and the Florida Fair Housing Act. Since 2020, section 760.27, Florida Statutes, has told associations exactly what they may ask for when the disability is not obvious, what they may never require, and what happens to a person who fakes the paperwork. Boards that follow it avoid most complaints; boards that improvise generate them.
Pet rules are enforceable, with one large exception
Nothing in Florida law prevents an association from limiting the number, size, breed or type of pets, requiring registration, or prohibiting pets altogether, so long as the restriction is in the declaration or in rules the board is authorized to adopt and it is enforced consistently. The exception is disability. Federal and Florida fair housing law require a housing provider, and a community association is one, to make reasonable accommodations in its rules when necessary to afford a person with a disability an equal opportunity to use and enjoy the dwelling. An assistance animal is the most common accommodation requested, and the most common source of fair housing complaints against associations.
Service animals versus emotional support animals
Two categories of assistance animals appear in requests, and they are treated differently:
- Service animals are dogs (and, in limited cases, miniature horses) individually trained to perform tasks for a person with a disability, such as guiding a person who is blind or alerting a person with diabetes. Their work is usually observable, and the association should not ask for documentation when the disability and the task are apparent. In places of public accommodation (a club restaurant, a sales office), the Americans with Disabilities Act and section 413.08 separately require access.
- Emotional support animals provide comfort or therapeutic benefit through companionship and need not be trained. Any species commonly kept in households may qualify, although the association may inquire further about unusual animals. Because the disability-related need for an emotional support animal is usually not apparent, this is where documentation questions arise.
What the association may ask for
Under section 760.27, if a person's disability is not readily apparent, the association may request reliable information that reasonably supports that the person has a disability. That information may include documentation from a health care practitioner, telehealth provider or other similarly licensed practitioner who has personal knowledge of the person's disability and is acting within the scope of his or her practice. If the disability-related need for the animal is not apparent, the association may also request information that reasonably supports the need for the particular animal. For more than one animal, the association may request information for each.
The statute is explicit that a registration, certificate, identification card or similar document obtained online is not, by itself, sufficient to establish a disability or a disability-related need. That does not make an online letter automatically invalid; a telehealth provider who actually evaluated the person and has personal knowledge may qualify. It means the association may ask for reliable information rather than accepting a purchased certificate.
What the association may not do
Florida law and HUD guidance prohibit an association from:
- Requiring the use of a specific form or a notarized statement
- Charging a fee, deposit or surcharge for the assistance animal (the owner remains liable for actual damage)
- Applying breed, weight or number limits from the pet rules to an assistance animal
- Delaying a decision indefinitely or refusing to engage with the request
Whether an association may ask anything about the diagnosis or the severity of the disability is a separate and unsettled question. There is little guidance as to what may be asked, assuming such an inquiry is lawful at all, and federal guidance discourages requests for medical records or detailed diagnostic information. Associations should proceed carefully, on a case-by-case basis, under the guidance and direction of legal counsel.
The association may still require the animal to be under the handler's control, vaccinated and licensed as local law requires, and it may enforce conduct rules (waste, noise, aggression) that apply to all animals.
When a request may be denied
An accommodation request may be refused only in narrow circumstances: the person does not have a disability or a disability-related need for the animal after a proper inquiry; the specific animal poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others that cannot be reduced by another reasonable accommodation; the specific animal would cause substantial physical damage to the property of others that cannot be reduced; or granting the request would impose an undue financial and administrative burden or fundamentally alter the nature of the association's operations. A denial based on a breed's reputation, a past incident with a different animal, or a neighbor's allergy is unlikely to survive a complaint. Every denial should be in writing, state the reason, and be reviewed by counsel first.
Responsibility for the animal
Section 760.27 provides that a person with an assistance animal is liable for any damage the animal causes to the premises or to another person. The association may also require that the animal be removed if it is out of control and the handler does not take effective action, or if it is not housebroken, consistent with the direct-threat and damage standards above.
Falsified documentation
A person who falsifies information or written documentation, or knowingly provides fraudulent documentation, in support of an assistance-animal request commits a misdemeanor of the second degree under section 817.265. The association's remedy is to deny or revoke the accommodation and to enforce its pet rules, not to prosecute; but the existence of the statute has cooled the market for purchased certificates.
A procedure that keeps the board out of trouble
- Adopt a written assistance-animal policy based on section 760.27 and HUD's guidance, and give it to owners and managers. Do not embed it in the pet rules as though it were a pet approval.
- Route every request to one person (usually the manager) who acknowledges it in writing within a few days.
- Ask only what the statute allows, in a standard letter, and only when the disability or need is not apparent.
- Decide promptly (weeks, not months), in writing, and grant the request when the information is reliable even if the board is skeptical.
- Keep the file confidential. Medical and accommodation records are protected from other owners' inspection and should be stored separately from the pet registry.
- Enforce conduct rules uniformly against all animals, assistance animals included.
For community association managers: see An owner requested an emotional support animal: what should the manager do? in the Manager Resource Center.
Frequently Asked Questions About Assistance Animals
Our declaration prohibits all pets. Can we still refuse an emotional support animal?
Not on that ground alone. If the resident has a disability and a disability-related need for the animal, the association must generally grant the accommodation regardless of the no-pet rule. It may request reliable supporting information when the disability or need is not apparent.
The resident sent us an online "ESA certificate." Do we have to accept it?
Florida law says an online registration or certificate is not, by itself, sufficient. You may request reliable information, such as documentation from a practitioner with personal knowledge of the disability. If that is provided, the request should be granted.
Can we ask what the disability is?
Proceed with care. You may request reliable information that the person has a disability and a disability-related need for the animal. There is little guidance as to what, if anything, may be asked about the diagnosis or its severity, assuming such an inquiry is lawful at all, and requests for medical records or detailed diagnostic information invite complaints. Handle each request on a case-by-case basis under the guidance and direction of legal counsel.
Can we charge a pet deposit for an assistance animal?
No fee, deposit or surcharge may be charged. The owner is liable for actual damage the animal causes.
The animal is a pit bull and our rules ban that breed. Can we deny it?
Breed restrictions may not be applied to an assistance animal. A denial must be based on the specific animal's conduct, such as a demonstrated direct threat that no other accommodation can address, not on breed.
What if the animal barks all day or bites someone?
Conduct rules apply to assistance animals. The association may require the handler to control the animal and may, after proper notice, revoke the accommodation for a specific animal that poses a direct threat or causes substantial damage. Document incidents carefully and involve counsel before acting.
Contact Hamilton Mikes
Hamilton Mikes prepares assistance-animal policies, reviews accommodation requests and denials, and defends associations in fair housing complaints throughout Southwest Florida. Call 239-594-7227 or visit our Fair Housing page.
Statutes and authorities referenced
- 42 U.S.C. § 3604(f)(3)(B) (Fair Housing Act reasonable accommodations)
- § 760.23 and § 760.27, Fla. Stat. (Florida Fair Housing Act; emotional support animals)
- § 817.265, Fla. Stat. (falsifying assistance-animal documentation)
- § 413.08, Fla. Stat. (service animals in public accommodations)
- HUD Notice FHEO-2020-01, Assessing a Person's Request to Have an Animal as a Reasonable Accommodation (Jan. 28, 2020)
- § 718.303 and § 720.305, Fla. Stat. (enforcement of pet rules)