INSIDER's Pop Quiz!

Q: Your site allows pets, except for pit bulls and certain other dog breeds that your site owner considers to be dangerous. Despite the policy, must you consider a reasonable accommodation request from an applicant who says she’s disabled and needs her pit bull as an assistance animal?

A: Yes. You must consider the applicant’s request for a reasonable accommodation to keep her pit bull as an assistance animal. Many sites have policies restricting certain dog breeds, most notably pit bulls, but HUD says that breed restrictions don’t apply to assistance animals. To comply with fair housing law, you must assess whether the particular animal in question poses a direct threat; otherwise, you may be accused of denying a reasonable accommodation by excluding an assistance animal based on its breed.

For more guidance on how to handle requests for assistance animals, please join us for a free webinar, Assistance Animals: What Housing Providers Need to Know, on Feb. 19, 2016. For more information and to register, click here.