Hello and welcome to another Navigate

Tuesday tip. I'm Pam and today we're

going to be talking about pets and pet

roles.

When you're talking about pets in

affordable housing, the allowable rules

vary based on the type of housing that

you're in. If you're in standard section

multifamily housing, the policy is

up to the owners and agents to set. In

housing designed for the elderly and or

disabled, you must allow common

household pets. And remember, the ruling

is based on the housing program, not the

individual tenant. So, if I'm in a

standard section 8 multif family

facility and I have an 80-year-old
tenant, you do not have to specially

allow a pet for her. But if I'm in

housing designed for the elderly or

disabled, I have to allow pets. So, the

HUD programs that must allow pets, we're

talking about the HUD 2028,

202 packs, 202 and 811 PRA, uh section 8

new construction or state agency housing

with section 8 with occupancy limited to

seniors or the disabled.

In those cases, those properties are

going to be adding pet language. It's

the same pet language you're going to

find in the other leases using an

addendum that has to be approved by HUD

and/or the contract administrator.

So, what's a common household pet? HUD

defines a common household pet using the

definition in 24 CFR title A part five

subp part C. It's also in your lease.

So, it's a domesticated animal such as a

dog, cat, rodent, including rabbits,

fish, and turtle. um you're not talking

about reptiles or exotics. So no 30-foot

anacondas.

And if the state or local law conflicts

with that and has a definition, you can

use that definition.

You do have some discretion about what

to allow. So you can limit the size and

breed, but you want to check your state

and local laws to make sure that you can

limit breeds. Some states allow you to,

some don't. the number you can limit

the appropriate containment rules. For

instance, rabbits need to be in a cage.

Uh vaccinations and registration, the

maximum amount of time a pet is left

alone.

Noise rules, sanitation, you can require

that the pet be cleaned up after. You

can require that the pet be under

control and not biting people. And you

can set other reasonable rules. You just

want to make sure that they're related

to the safety of your residents and the

ability to peaceibly enjoy the property.
 Common Household Pets and Regulations

Be careful with breed bands. They may be

applied to pets, but be very, very

careful if you want to restrict the

breed of a service animal. That's

potentially going to put you in conflict

with fair housing law. uh anything that

that impacts service animals and

emotional support animals, you want to

be very careful with. If you're going to

look at a breed ban, it's safest to do

that if your state or local law has a

breed ban in place. Otherwise, really

the best thing to do is have a standard

for conduct for any pet. We don't accept

any pet that is aggressive or has a bite

history, for example.

Remember,

when you're developing your rules, you

do not want to

co-mingle pets and service animals in

the rules. Don't require service animals

to follow your pet rules. You can have a

separate standard for assistive animals

and emotional support animals and a

separate agreement for those. You're not

going to take a deposit for emotional

support animals or service animals.

Some other things to be aware of, you

want to be aware of your state or HUD

security deposit restrictions. You want

to make sure you're allowing for

reasonable accommodations. And again,

those rules should really be directly

related to the safety and the right to

peacefully enjoy the property for your

tenants.

Mandatory pet rules, you're going to

want to make sure you're requiring

vaccinations.

You have a standard for animals to be

cleaned up after. uh containment or

restraint rules, registration rules,

and one thing to bear in mind is that

you are not permitted to put in your pet

rules that owners are absolved from

responsibility for improperly removing a

pet. So, you cannot put that clause into

your agreement.

What do we do when the pet owners are

not following the rules? Well, just like

any other lease violation, you're going

to address that in accordance with the

lease clause and in this case also your

pet rules. It's a good idea to ask for

an alternate caregiver in the event that

your resident is either incapacitated or

is away. You can require removal of the

pet versus re going through the eviction
process if the state law allows you to

do that. And if the animal is in

distress, in a health situation, or an

imminent threat, call your animal

control officer for assistance. Remember

again, service animals, emotional

support animals are not pets. So, you're

going to be very careful if you have to

address a service or emotional support

animal that isn't following the rules.

Make sure you're consulting with your

attorney if you need to move forward.

So, here are some resources for you. The
 Service Animals vs. Pets: Key Differences

HUD 4350.3

addresses pets in paragraphs 6-5C

on page 6-10 and also in exhibits 6-4

and 6-5

The 24 CFR title A part 5 subp part B is

also going to cover pets and your state

municipal code will cover pets. So you

can typically look that up on the

government website. There should be a

place where you can look up the rules

and the statutes and the time

ordinances. So, that's going to do it

for this Tuesday tip. If you have

anything that you would like to see on

the next Tuesday tip, please feel free

to drop us a line. You can email Vicki

or me at our email addresses which are

up on the screen. And please feel free

to send us questions if you have those,

too. We'll see you on the next one.