BOISE, Idaho — When Tony Rogers is in the throes of a panic attack, it’s not a pill or any other kind of drug that calms him down.
It’s his cat.
Rogers, 28, has suffered from a post-traumatic stress disorder for years. Since 2014, he has owned an emotional support animal to help treat his condition. Although he has support from friends and his husband, Rogers said nothing calms him down during an anxiety episode like his cat, Freya, settling down on top of him.
This article originally appeared in the Idaho Press.
“When I have panic attacks, it is not uncommon for my cat to find me and lay on me,” he said. “She is really a godsend, which is interesting because she has no training, but she is just naturally calming. It’s crazy seeing that difference between when I didn’t have an emotional support animal, and then having one.”
Emotional support animals, or comfort animals, like Freya, are not service animals such as Seeing Eye dogs trained to perform special tasks or subject to rigorous training. They are simply any animal that helps a person with a disability function in their day-to-day life by bringing comfort to their owners just by being there.
And as the prevalence of emotional support animals has risen, so have discussions about their owners' rights as renters in tight markets like Boise's, where landlords can be choosy with renters.
Just like service animals, the rights of people to own comfort animals in rental housing is protected by the federal Fair Housing Act. These animals are not pets, and thus renters who have them are allowed to live in any rental unit, regardless if animals are allowed, without paying a deposit. However, the owner has to get the animal certified through a qualified medical professional.
This certification can't be done by just anyone, according to Rebecca Wisch with Michigan State University College of Law’s Animal Legal and Historical Center. An animal can only be qualified as an emotional support animal if the owner has a disability that is diagnosed by a doctor, psychiatrist or another provider, and that same provider finds having an animal will help treat the condition. Once that is determined, the provider gives the owner documents certifying the animal.
Although many people using comfort animals might not have an obvious disability, Wisch said the U.S. Department Housing and Urban Development, which oversees the issue, does not allow landlords to ask about the renter's intimate medical details.
“With regard to psychiatric and cognitive and emotional disabilities, the landlord takes the document from the doctors," Wisch said. "There’s been some case law where landlords attempted to dig into a patient's medical history and other private details, and courts definitely frowned on that.”
When Rogers set out to get his first emotional support animal, a cat named Annie, he had to go through multiple therapy sessions. He paid roughly $200 total out of pocket for these visits, because he was uninsured at the time. In order to get both his therapist and psychiatrist to approve him for a comfort animal, Roger said he had to discuss some of his most traumatic experiences to explain his PTSD. He understands the need for the process, but he also said it’s a lot to ask of people who are already suffering emotionally.
“I was sitting there a blob on the floor reliving the worst things in the world that have happened to me just so someone could say, ‘You can have a cat,'” he said. “Why do I have to relive my worst memories to say a cat brings me comfort? That’s insane.”
LANDLORDS' CONCERNS
The licensing process for these animals is complex, because while it might be difficult for someone with an emotional disability to work through the administrative process, it's meant to keep people from taking advantage of the system. There are illegitimate certificates for sale online, which renters could use to get their pet into non-pet-friendly housing in difficult housing markets with steep pet fees.
The issue spurred Utah lawmakers this year to stiffen penalties for emotional support animal fraud, according to the Associated Press.
There are no statistics on how many false emotional support animals there are, but the number of registered emotional support animals through these websites is climbing. According to reporting by The Guardian, by 2015, the National Service Animal Registry, one of several sites that sell ESA certificates, had registered more than 65,000 assistance animals. This figure increased 200% in the four years since.
Idaho is one of a number of states that have laws on the books punishing those who misrepresent an emotional support animal. If someone is caught with faulty paperwork, it is a misdemeanor that comes with a fine.
This issue of renters purchasing online certifications for their pets in order to get past no-pet policies and fees is troubling to landlords — who fear property damage — and comfort animal advocates alike.
Pat Beale, a Boise landlord who owns a house for tenants with disabilities, and he said he had an experience where a renter was pushing him to allow a dog in the home, at no charge, before it was registered as an emotional support animal or had gone through training.
Beale said he's not opposed to animals living in his properties, but the assumption that the animal should just be allowed without proper documentation was frustrating to him.
“I have to provide reasonable accommodations, and the accommodation means the dog can be here, but I don’t think it’s unreasonable I take on that extra liability of uncompensated damage if the dog tears stuff up,” he said. “A dog can do $500 worth of damage regularly in a day.”
Eventually the tenant decided to move out, instead of continuing to fight with Beale about either paying a pet deposit or getting proper paperwork. Beale kept researching the issue and hopes the government, either at the state or federal level, will issue more specific rules on the topic of these animals.
UNANSWERED QUESTIONS
Emotional support animals are covered under the Fair Housing Act, but most of the regulations surrounding them is governed by a 2013 guidance policy document issued by HUD. This is not a law, which means the rules governing emotional support animals are still fuzzy. Wisch said there are multiple unanswered questions around these animals, including how many one person can have.
“I do think some more specific regulations issued at the federal level would be very helpful," Wisch said. “There are questions right now only answered in (legal) cases, and those cases vary based on whatever federal circuit they were heard in. Something in the 9th Circuit might not be binding in the 5th Circuit, and so on, and it creates problems.”
Although the law is still in flux on certain issues, Intermountain Fair Housing Council Executive Director Zoe Ann Olson said landlords' responsibilities to allow those with emotional support animals to rent from them are clear. Her organization, which advocates for renters across Idaho who have had their Fair Housing Act rights violated, receives roughly 2,000 calls a year. Of those, around 900 are related to disability issues, and the majority of these claims are about animals owned by tenants.
If a client is being discriminated against, Olson’s staff can help them file a complaint with HUD free of charge. However, she said of the hundreds of calls the council gets every year, only 25 or so go this far. Instead, she prefers to work with landlords to educate them on the law and their responsibilities, and to help mediate between the landlord and the tenant so they can reach an agreement before the federal government is involved.
STIGMA, MISTRUST
Olson expressed frustration with those who claim pets are emotional support animals, because she said it creates mistrust for people who are truly in need and makes it even more difficult for them to find housing.
“You hear about these allegations being made of claiming pets are assistive animals, but the real harm, too, is drumming up these stereotypes of people who have animals and saying they are trying to mislead, and that is also hurting people,” Olson said.
“There’s a little bit both ways. I don’t know how often it happens, but I know the other way where people really need their emotional support animals are trying to get into housing and are repeatedly discriminated against because there is this stigma against people who have mental disabilities.”
Rogers said his experience looking for housing was difficult, especially in recent years as the Boise rental market has gotten increasingly competitive. He said many private landlords he talked with were dubious about his animal once he brought it up, but he had better luck with large property management companies that were well-versed in the law.
At one point, Rogers and his husband finally found a place within their budget and close to public transit, but right before they turned in the application and required fee, they were informed it was not a pet-friendly complex and were turned away. It took three more months for them to find a place that met their budget and accepted their application with the emotional support animal.
Rogers said before he got his emotional support animal certificate, his PTSD and other issues made it difficult for him to work. Once he got his first cat, Annie, he felt much more grounded and was able to reach back out into the community and get involved again. He works part-time at a cooking store in Meridian and volunteers, including as a speech and debate coach. He credits this change largely to the stability that comes from having his emotional support animal.
“I’ve never understood why it matters that keeping someone emotionally stable so they can work is different than a service animal that helps someone function day to day,” he said. “To me, they meet the same requirements. They help someone in society function or be able to carry on their day-to-day lives with ease. Why is there a difference? I don’t get it.”
This article originally appeared in the Idaho Press, read more on IdahoPress.com.
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