47% of Charlotte's population is made up of renters.
If you're a Charlotte-based landlord, this is good news. Having more tenants gives you a better chance of finding someone who can preserve your property and keep rental income coming in. That said, every tenant has unique needs and a seemingly ideal tenant may cause you to rethink your boundaries.
One of the most common areas where this is true is with support animals. In today's post, we'll examine the difference between service, emotional support animals, and pets. If you've got pet policies for your Charlotte rental property, keep reading and we'll help you understand landlord regulations around pets.
Service Animals
Service animals help people with disabilities perform certain tasks. The most common example of service animals are dogs who help guide people who deal with compromised vision or full blindness.
Some service animals also help those with mobility issues get up and walk or alert those with hearing issues to important sounds. In rare cases, service animals can detect medical emergencies - ie. seizures - as they're happening and alert someone nearby to help.
Under the Fair Housing Act, there are service animal laws that require landlords to service animals for disabled tenants. Ignoring these laws can result in severe penalties.
Emotional Support Animals
Emotional support animals aren't highly trained like service animals, but they do provide an important service to their owners. People have emotional support animals to help manage symptoms of mental illness, such as depression, anxiety, and PTSD.
The idea behind emotional support animals is that they provide necessary companionship. If your tenant provides you with a letter from a medical professional asserting the need for an emotional support animal, as with service animals, you cannot deny them.
If an existing tenant brings an animal into your rental without your permission, they may try to claim it's an emotional support animal. They must fulfill the emotional support animal criteria.
Pets
Pets, unlike service and emotional support animals, have no other duties outside of being a tenant's companion. The most common pets are dogs and cats, but some tenants may have reptiles, fish, hamsters, or birds.
Allowing pets in your rentals will increase your pool of potential renters when you have a vacancy. At the same time, it's important to understand the toll a pet can have on your property.
You may want to consider putting restrictions on the size and type of pets you allow. It's also wise to ask tenants for a pet deposit to cover the cost of any damage their pet may cause during the tenancy.
Reconsider Your Pet Policies for Support Animals
Now that you understand more about the landlord regulations around service and emotional support animals, you can create a sensible policy for animals in your rental property. If you're having trouble dealing with tenants and their animals, it might be time to hire property management.
PMI Mecklenburg is Charlotte's top property manager. We can help you create the right pet policy to protect your rental while attracting tenants. Contact us today to get started.
