The answer is yes. The Air Carrier Access Act requires that commercial airlines in the U.S. allow disabled passengers to be accompanied in the cabin by their Service Animal or Emotional Support Animal. Essentially, the requirements are different depending on whether your animal is a Service Animal or an Emotional Support Animal.

If a Service Animal, you state to the check-in agent that you are traveling with your service animal. No documentation is required. However, the airline staff may ask what service the animal performs for you.

With respect to Emotional Support Animals, airline personnel may require current documentation or doctor’s note specifying your need for your ESA that’s dated within 12 months of travel.

Are you an owner of an assistance animal?

The Service Animal Registry of California invites you to have your assistance animal registered in order to designate its status. We also encourage you to take our online classes so you can be fully aware of your rights and gain more knowledge about your support animal.

Finally, we present to you our book entitled, “ASSISTANCE ANIMAL LAWS: LEARN YOUR RIGHTS REGARDING SERVICE ANIMALS, EMOTIONAL SUPPORT ANIMALS, THERAPY PETS, AND OTHER DOGS, CATS, AND ASSISTANCE ANIMALS” to provide you with a complete education on assistance animals.

Purchase your copy of the book by clicking the text or image below.

ASSISTANCE ANIMAL LAWS: LEARN YOUR RIGHTS REGARDING SERVICE ANIMALS, EMOTIONAL SUPPORT ANIMALS, THERAPY PETS, AND OTHER DOGS, CATS, AND ASSISTANCE ANIMALS

Q: Can a landlord charge an extra pet deposit to a tenant with a service animal, guide dog, or emotional support companion animal?

A: If you have a rental property that has a “no pets” policy, yet a tenant  has made a reasonable accommodation request to have an assistance animal, you may not charge extra rent or get an additional deposit from the tenant, even if it was in order to protect the property from future expenses. Regardless of what kind of assistance animal the tenant has — a companion cat or dog, a therapy animal, or a service dog — under the fair housing laws, it is not considered a pet, but is a part of the disabled tenant’s medical or psychiatric treatment. You cannot change a disabled tenant additional rent or a higher security deposit because they have an assistance animal.

Charging an extra fee or deposit imposes an unreasonable burden for tenants with disabilities who need assistance animals, and it places a financial burden on something necessary for their full use and enjoyment of their apartment that non-disabled tenants do not have to bear.

You can still hold tenants with assistance animals liable for any damage the animal causes, however, just like you hold non-disabled tenants for any damages to the property that they might cause. If you are concerned that the security deposit will not be enough to cover the potential damage, consider charging a higher security deposit for all tenants, regardless of whether they have a service or assistance animal.

Question: I moved into a small fourplex a year ago with my service dog, a border collie named Harlan. I have a seizure disorder and Harlan alerts me when I am about to have a seizure. The apartment manager gave me no problems about my dog when I moved in, but she charged me an extra $50 a month in “pet rent.” I later found out that she was not supposed to charge pet rent for a service animal because it is not really a pet under the fair housing laws.

The LA Times has an article that addresses this question– visit their page: http://www.latimes.com/business/realestate/la-fi-rentwatch-20131208,0,7990954.story#axzz2nD8aUAHA

COMMONLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT
SERVICE ANIMALS IN PLACES OF BUSINESS

1. Q: What are the laws that apply to my business?

A: Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), privately owned businesses that serve the public, such as restaurants, hotels, retail stores, taxicabs, theaters, concert halls, and sports facilities, are prohibited from discriminating against individuals with disabilities. The ADA requires these businesses to allow people with disabilities to bring their service animals onto business premises in whatever areas customers are generally allowed.

2. Q: What is a service animal?

A: The ADA defines a service animal as any guide dog, signal dog, or other animal individually trained to provide assistance to an individual with a disability. If they meet this definition, animals are considered service animals under the ADA regardless of whether they have been licensed or certified by a state or local government.
Service animals perform some of the functions and tasks that the individual with a disability cannot perform for him or herself. Guide dogs are one type of service animal, used by some individuals who are blind. This is the type of service animal with which most people are familiar. But there are service animals that assist persons with other kinds of disabilities in their day-to-day activities.

Some examples include:

• Alerting persons with hearing impairments to sounds.
• Pulling wheelchairs or carrying and picking up things for persons with mobility impairments.
• Assisting persons with mobility impairments with balance.

A service animal is not a pet.

3. Q: How can I tell if an animal is really a service animal and not just a pet?

A: Some, but not all, service animals wear special collars and harnesses. Some, but not all, are licensed or certified and have identification papers. If you are not certain that an animal is a service animal, you may ask the person who has the animal if it is a service animal required because of a disability. However, an individual who is going to a restaurant or theater is not likely to be carrying documentation of his or her medical condition or disability. Therefore, such documentation generally may not be required as a condition for providing service to an individual accompanied by a service animal. Although a number of states have programs to certify service animals, you may not insist on proof of state certification before permitting the service animal to accompany the person with a disability.

4. Q: What must I do when an individual with a service animal comes to my business?

A: The service animal must be permitted to accompany the individual with a disability to all areas of the facility where customers are normally allowed to go. An individual with a service animal may not be segregated from other customers.

5. Q: I have always had a clearly posted “no pets” policy at my establishment. Do I still have to allow service animals in?

A: Yes. A service animal is not a pet. The ADA requires you to modify your “no pets” policy to allow the use of a service animal by a person with a disability. This does not mean you must abandon your “no pets” policy altogether but simply that you must make an exception to your general rule for service animals.

6. Q: My county health department has told me that only a guide dog has to be admitted. If I follow those regulations, am I violating the ADA?

A: Yes, if you refuse to admit any other type of service animal on the basis of local health department regulations or other state or local laws. The ADA provides greater protection for individuals with disabilities and so it takes priority over the local or state laws or regulations.

7. Q: Can I charge a maintenance or cleaning fee for customers who bring service animals into my business?

A: No. Neither a deposit nor a surcharge may be imposed on an individual with a disability as a condition to allowing a service animal to accompany the individual with a disability, even if deposits are routinely required for pets. However, a public accommodation may charge its customers with disabilities if a service animal causes damage so long as it is the regular practice of the entity to charge non-disabled customers for the same types of damages. For example, a hotel can charge a guest with a disability for the cost of repairing or cleaning furniture damaged by a service animal if it is the hotel’s policy to charge when non-disabled guests cause such damage.

8. Q: I operate a private taxicab and I don’t want animals in my taxi; they smell, shed hair and sometimes have “accidents.” Am I violating the ADA if I refuse to pick up someone with a service animal?

A: Yes. Taxicab companies may not refuse to provide services to individuals with disabilities. Private taxicab companies are also prohibited from charging higher fares or fees for transporting individuals with disabilities and their service animals than they charge to other persons for the same or equivalent service.

9. Q: Am I responsible for the animal while the person with a disability is in my business?

A: No. The care or supervision of a service animal is solely the responsibility of his or her owner. You are not required to provide care or food or a special location for the animal.

10. Q: What if a service animal barks or growls at other people, or otherwise acts out of control?

A: You may exclude any animal, including a service animal, from your facility when that animal’s behavior poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others. For example, any service animal that displays vicious behavior towards other guests or customers may be excluded. You may not make assumptions, however, about how a particular animal is likely to behave based on your past experience with other animals. Each situation must be considered individually.
Although a public accommodation may exclude any service animal that is out of control, it should give the individual with a disability who uses the service animal the option of continuing to enjoy its goods and services without having the service animal on the premises.

11. Q: Can I exclude an animal that doesn’t really seem dangerous but is disruptive to my business?

A: There may be a few circumstances when a public accommodation is not required to accommodate a service animal–that is, when doing so would result in a fundamental alteration to the nature of the business. Generally, this is not likely to occur in restaurants, hotels, retail stores, theaters, concert halls, and sports facilities. But when it does, for example, when a dog barks during a movie, the animal can be excluded.

If you have further questions about service animals or other requirements of the ADA, you may call the U.S. Department of Justice’s toll-free ADA Information Line at 800-514-0301 (voice) or 800-514-0383 (TDD).

Many people with Emotional Support Animals or Service Animals endure such behavior from neighbors and landlords.  Can they do anything about this other than finding a new place to live?

A: Absolutely. Harassment is a kind of discrimination, and fair housing laws protect people from discrimination even after they move in, whether the discrimination is from the landlord or other tenants.  In addition, landlords must provide disabled tenants with reasonable accommodations, and that includes allowing their Service Animals and Emotional Support Animals to live on the premises, even if the building is otherwise a no-pet environment. Remember, Service Animals and Emotional Support Animals are not “pets.”

The situations described are arguably discrimination based on disability.  When harassment creates an abusive environment, it is said to create a “hostile environment.” A hostile environment is established when a tenant is a member of a protected class (including: disability, race, religion, ethnicity, national origin, family status), the harassment is unwelcome and based on the tenant’s membership in the protected class, and the harassment is sufficiently severe or pervasive to alter the conditions of the living environment. The landlord is obligated to take action that is reasonably calculated to end the harassment.

What to do: It is important to inform the landlord in writing of both the harassment and its discriminatory basis, and to keep written notes of each discriminatory incident as it happens.  The landlord should remind other tenants of their obligations and others’ rights regarding fair housing laws.  If the landlord does nothing to correct the situation, the affected tenant can seek assistance from a dispute resolution or mediation clinic.  Another option would be to file a complaint with California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) or the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

To file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD), call (800) 669-9777, or click here: www.hud.gov/offices/fheo/online-complaint.cfm

To file a complaint with the California Department of Fair Employment & Housing (DFEH), call (800) 884-1684, or click here: http://www.dfeh.ca.gov/Complaints_FileComplaint.htm

A: The U.S. Department of Transportation’s rules allow animals that aid people with physical disabilities to board a plane freely, accompanied by their service animal. The only question airline personnel are allowed to ask is how the animal assists the person.

Acceptable confirmation of status can be accomplished by any one of the following:

• a service animal identification card,
• other written documentation,
• presence of harnesses or markings on harnesses,
• tags, or
• the credible verbal assurances of the qualified individual with a disability using the animal.

But note that passengers who want to board with psychiatric or emotional-support animals must contact the airline 48 hours before departure and submit a letter from a licensed mental-health professional that documents their mental or emotional illness.

Mental-health advocates are outraged and have petitioned the Transportation Department to get rid of the new regulation.

“We are forced to disclose we are mentally ill in order to fly. It’s un-American,” says Joan Esnayra, president of the Psychiatric Service Dog Society. “Everyone with a service dog should be treated the same.”

Generally, It’s risky for businesses to deny access to people accompanied by service dogs—even if they think they are pretending to be disabled—because if suspicions prove to be unfounded, a business could face civil penalties of up to $55,000 for violating a person’s civil rights. Therefore, airlines are very careful to ask only the allowable questions and to request only the documentation that the airline is permitted to ask to see.

The federal statute reads as follows with respect to service animals:

14 CFR Part 382
§ 382.55 Miscellaneous provisions.
(a) Carriers shall permit dogs and other service animals used by persons with a disability to accompany the persons on a flight.
(1) Carriers shall accept as evidence that an animal is a service animal identification cards, other written documentation, presence of harnesses or markings on harnesses, tags, or the credible verbal assurances of the qualified individual with a disability using the animal.
(2) Carriers shall permit a service animal to accompany a qualified individual with a disability in any seat in which the person sits, unless the animal obstructs an aisle or other area that must remain unobstructed in order to facilitate an emergency evacuation.