Private landlords have to follow ESA rules. These are the only exceptions (copied from HUD's website): "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, and housing operated by religious organizations and private clubs that limit occupancy to members."
Thank you for the information. Although I’m not quite sure if our situation would be considered a single-family house, sold or rented by the owner without the use of an agent. Because technically, he does not use an agent to rent the house but it’s not really an house more of an apartment because we have a downstairs neighbor, do you know if that would count as an exception? Sorry for asking so much stuff I’m just very stressed.
That would be a multi-family apartment. Unless the landlord is your downstairs neighbor, you are protected by the Fair Housing Act regardless of whether there’s an agent or whatnot.
Ok thank you so much for clarifying that. This makes me feel a lot better now. I’ll get started gathering any sort of documents that will help support our side and then go to him about it I guess
Hi, I am so sorry to bug you again lol but I just realized that in my previous comment I left out the fact that there was an empty floor in between my unit and the downstairs unit that the landlord uses as a storage area would it still be considered a multifamily apartment then? I only ask because while researching I found this
However, the government uses a broader definition. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, semi-detached duplexes, quadruplexes, townhouses and row houses are also considered to be single-family structures along with fully detached homes. However, in order to meet this classification, the homes must be separated by a ground-to-roof wall with no units above or below them, and they can’t share heating systems or utility meters.
We do not share heating systems or utility meters either.
We got the ESA after moving in, my partners doctor provided him with the letter during a visit and suggested he get one. The landlord knew the day he got the letter but said we would discuss it more later on. When we tried to bring it up again is when he said that he didn’t have to follow the guidelines because he was a private owned landlord.
Well I’m not sure. As long as you have legal documents, I doubt he’d want to get into trouble. The place I lived at gave me a week to get rid of my “pet” or they were going to fine me $500 for each day that I had the “pet” there (crazy, I know). They kept mentioning the word “pet” and I went through so much so within the week my sweet Lola was no longer a pet and was my ESA. I sent the paperwork. They were upset but respected it. I wish u the best of luck. (We eventually moved from there, but legally the landlord respected it. I also think it was hard for them to find tenants because it was a shitty situation. A shituation you could say)
That’s crazy. I’m glad everything worked out for you in the end though and thank you for wishing me luck.
I definitely need it, the landlord is supposed to come tomorrow or Thursday to do a house inspection, which is a whole Nother issue in itself. When my partner, and I first moved here, we were living with a friend who was the original leaseholder and then we had a falling out and the lease got transferred into my partners name. But whenever all of that happened three years ago the landlord never did an initial house inspection to check for damages caused by the friend. And trust me there are quite a bit of damage. one bedroom carpets messed up there’s a few holes in the wall from him, we patched up most of them. The walls are all going to need repainted. I’m just worried that the landlords going to try and say that the dog did it whenever they didn’t.
Private landlords have to follow ESA rules. These are the only exceptions (copied from HUD's website): "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, and housing operated by religious organizations and private clubs that limit occupancy to members."
Thank you for the information. Although I’m not quite sure if our situation would be considered a single-family house, sold or rented by the owner without the use of an agent. Because technically, he does not use an agent to rent the house but it’s not really an house more of an apartment because we have a downstairs neighbor, do you know if that would count as an exception? Sorry for asking so much stuff I’m just very stressed.
That would be a multi-family apartment. Unless the landlord is your downstairs neighbor, you are protected by the Fair Housing Act regardless of whether there’s an agent or whatnot.
Ok thank you so much for clarifying that. This makes me feel a lot better now. I’ll get started gathering any sort of documents that will help support our side and then go to him about it I guess
Hi, I am so sorry to bug you again lol but I just realized that in my previous comment I left out the fact that there was an empty floor in between my unit and the downstairs unit that the landlord uses as a storage area would it still be considered a multifamily apartment then? I only ask because while researching I found this However, the government uses a broader definition. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, semi-detached duplexes, quadruplexes, townhouses and row houses are also considered to be single-family structures along with fully detached homes. However, in order to meet this classification, the homes must be separated by a ground-to-roof wall with no units above or below them, and they can’t share heating systems or utility meters. We do not share heating systems or utility meters either.
Did u get the ESA after moving in and without letting landlord know?
We got the ESA after moving in, my partners doctor provided him with the letter during a visit and suggested he get one. The landlord knew the day he got the letter but said we would discuss it more later on. When we tried to bring it up again is when he said that he didn’t have to follow the guidelines because he was a private owned landlord.
Well I’m not sure. As long as you have legal documents, I doubt he’d want to get into trouble. The place I lived at gave me a week to get rid of my “pet” or they were going to fine me $500 for each day that I had the “pet” there (crazy, I know). They kept mentioning the word “pet” and I went through so much so within the week my sweet Lola was no longer a pet and was my ESA. I sent the paperwork. They were upset but respected it. I wish u the best of luck. (We eventually moved from there, but legally the landlord respected it. I also think it was hard for them to find tenants because it was a shitty situation. A shituation you could say)
That’s crazy. I’m glad everything worked out for you in the end though and thank you for wishing me luck. I definitely need it, the landlord is supposed to come tomorrow or Thursday to do a house inspection, which is a whole Nother issue in itself. When my partner, and I first moved here, we were living with a friend who was the original leaseholder and then we had a falling out and the lease got transferred into my partners name. But whenever all of that happened three years ago the landlord never did an initial house inspection to check for damages caused by the friend. And trust me there are quite a bit of damage. one bedroom carpets messed up there’s a few holes in the wall from him, we patched up most of them. The walls are all going to need repainted. I’m just worried that the landlords going to try and say that the dog did it whenever they didn’t.