Apartment Complex Including ESA in Pet Limit
My partner and I are moving to a new apartment complex with our cats.
One is an ESA, which they are accommodating properly and not charging us for. However, I noticed their policy mentions “2 animal limit, including ESA’s.”
This seemed strange to me as the FHA says unless there are certain exceptions the landlord meets or the landlord/complex has reasonable grounds to deny an ESA (such as demonstrated aggression/danger/property damage and/or a risk to health and safety of other tenants), they cannot include ESA’s in their pet policy limit.
When I asked about this, and whether or not they are exempt from FHA laws, they said because their policy says “2 ANIMALS” and not “2 PETS” the ESA is included in the limit because it is an animal, even if it isn’t classified as a ‘pet’. So, for example if you had three dogs and one was an ESA, it wouldn’t matter because only 2 ANIMALS are allowed. So, you would only be allowed to bring two of the three dogs.
Is this legal or some kind of loophole? Can they change the wording of their policy like this and have it hold up, or are they in violation of the FHA?
Thanks!