Let’s say you have two cats and you’d rather go homeless than them.
I’m not even sure it would open up my search to include anywhere I’d be able to afford.
My landlord said no pets
My pet said no landlords
Guess which one I put down
Depends how brushed up on the ADA the landleech in question is. Registered Service Animals have protections under federal law, but ESAs don’t.
Most people dont know the difference and it’s 100% legal to make a very Official Looking document stating your cats are Medically Nessicary ESAs and imply they really shouldn’t discriminate over such matters without a lawyer.
I’ve gotten my cat (and my ex-roomate her malamute) into a couple of different apartments run by large managment companies this way. The leasing agents at the desk arent paid enough to deal with it.
It seems like California gives ESAs more legal weight than national law https://calcivilrights.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/32/2022/12/Emotional-Support-Animals-and-Fair-Housing-Law-FAQ_ENG.pdf
So I guess it’s okay to try? I’m honestly terrified of doing anything what with my whole ‘hanging on by a thread’ deal lately. Do you keep it under your hat until you get a lease and then spring them on the landlord or do you bring it up while you’re applying? I imagine it doesn’t work so well when the ‘apartment’ is a bed+bath combo in some suburban house
Absolutely try, worst that can happen is they say no. Bring it up early, you have nothing to hide after all! Have an air of ‘I’m used to questions about my Very Legal animal, my apologies, let me clear this up’
The only problem I have with this is I gotta get into a new place =NOW=. I won’t dramapost here but I’m living in a hotel room that if I try to keep up with the rent for another month I’ll be homeless, and I’ve been working at an amazon for a month and the month of december is the only ‘proof of income’ paystubs I’ll get anywhere with it looks like… so I basically have a two week window to trick a landlord into taking me. And then I’ll get to live to fight another day to find a job that won’t cut my hours to nothing after they use me up for a rush.
Registered Service Animals have protections under federal law, but ESAs don’t.
ESAs are covered under the Fair Housing Act. They don’t have as many protections as registered service animals but they do have federal protections.
My lease requires 24 hours notice before inspections or etc, so I just ask a friend to watch my dog for a bit. If you have a room mate maybe you can crate them and give them a nice car ride until management is gone?
Would it be hard to keep the cats from prying eyes? I’ve usually just lied.
I know friends who have gotten away with this with a letter from a counselor or therapist.
