Saturday, October 29, 2016

NYC Landlord Faces Fair Housing Lawsuit For Allegedly Responding To Tenant's Request To Have An Emotional Support Animal By Requesting Extensive, Intrusive Medical Records, Reserving Right To Question Tenant, Doc, Therapist Under Oath, Despite Already Being Provided Medical Documentation

The U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development recently announced:
  • The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced [] it is charging a Manhattan property owner with violating the Fair Housing Act by discriminating against a resident with disabilities who required the use of an assistance animal. Read HUD's charge.
    ***
    The charge was filed on behalf of a man with a disability who sought a reasonable accommodation from 111 East 88th Partners, a business partnership that owns his Manhattan apartment. Specifically, HUD alleges that the partnership failed to grant his request to keep an emotional support animal, citing a prohibition against pets in his lease.

    HUD claims that in response to the man's request for the reasonable accommodation, the partnership requested extensive and intrusive medical records and data. The partnership also reserved the right to subject the man to a medical examination and to question him, his physician, and his therapist under oath.

    HUD's charge alleges that the request for such extensive medical information, after the resident had already provided medical documentation attesting to his disabilities and need for the support animal, interfered with his housing rights, a violation of the Fair Housing Act.