ESA/Service Animal question

One of the issues is whether an Airbnb is a “public place”, which I would strongly maintain they are not.

Just because one advertises their place to rent doesn’t make it a public place, in fact, it is a private place, otherwise guests could not expect privacy in an Airbnb they booked, nor would Airbnb take reports of privacy violations so seriously that they suspend hosts’ listings when receiving such complaints.

A place cannot be both public and also private. It’s one or the other.

Airbnb can of course make any policies it chooses, but private homes are not public places, so really don’t have anything to do with those ADA laws.

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ESA law in the USA allow you to get documentation from the guest who wants to bring their esa along to your airbnb. Don’t be fooled by the online services that for a fee will have a pet owner fill out a form and then issue a letter. Here is a link to the June 2021 instructions one university gives to their student population who want to bring their esas to the dorm. oops, I can’t include a link in this post, so I will cut and paste the relevant portion here.

In support of an ESA request, a student must provide documentation sufficient to establish (1) that the provider is a reliable third party with knowledge of the circumstances of the specific student; (2) the student has a documented disability and (3) a nexus between the student’s disability and the need for an ESA. Supporting documentation may only be provided by a licensed healthcare or mental healthcare professional and be dated within 6 months of taking occupancy of University
managed housing.

  1. Reliable Third Party
    In order for the provider to establish themselves as a reliable third party, documentation should be provided on official letterhead, including their name, title, professional credentials, address, phone number, signature, and date of the report. As additional support to establish that they are appropriately informed of the circumstances of the specific student, providers often include information such as the nature and duration of the therapeutic relationship with the student, number of visits, and the diagnostic methodology used.
  2. Demonstration of Disability
    Submitted documentation should include sufficient evidence to establish a disability, not merely a diagnosis. Under the FHA, Section 504 and the ADA a disability means a functional limitation of one or more major life activities and that the limitation experienced is beyond that which the average person could expect to experience.
  3. Nexus
    Submitted documentation must also demonstrate that the animal has been individually prescribed to the student, show a nexus between the disability and the assistance or support the animal provides the student including demonstration that the ESA will alleviate one or more symptoms of an existing disability. Providers should also include any additional rationale or clarification the University may need to understand their professional opinion.
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Wrong. Airbnb has its own policy on this which says the guest does not have to provide any documentation. You agree to that policy when you use Airbnb.

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I found this at airbnb’s website " Emotional Support Animal: Airbnb defines assistance animals to include Emotional Support Animals. These are animals that are used as part of medical treatment and/or therapy to assist with an individual’s daily functional tasks, but are not limited to a specific type of animal and are not required to be trained to assist an individual in a particular task. These animals are sometimes referred to as comfort animals or therapy animals." According to that statement, an ESA must be part of medical treatment and or therapy to assist with a daily functional task. In US cases, a service dog must be accomodated and you can ask the two questions, but an emotional support animal does not have to be accommodated and you must prove that the esa is valid. Maybe this is another instance of airbnb not having the right verbage?

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The relevant section from that page is the one that states as follows:

You’ve received a booking request and now you are wondering if you are required to accept assistance animals. Generally, yes, unless there’s a threat to health or safety. As stated in our Nondiscrimination Policy, Hosts are expected to reasonably accommodate reservations where an assistance animal may be present, even if their listing/house rules state “no pets.”

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It’s not that airbnb doesn’t have the right verbiage, it’s that they have their own rules that are above and beyond the rules. Even though most hosts would not ever be put in the position of having to accept an ESA because of FHA rules, Airbnb says that hosts have to accept them anyway. Airbnb does allow hosts to ask these two questions but no documentation is required and no documentation can be required by a host. US laws have nothing to do with it, it is Airbnb rules.

  1. Whether the assistance animal is required because of a disability
  2. What work or task the animal has been trained to perform
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True, but I indicate it in my house rules. I provide a 50% discount on the animal fee when they provide it. In 5.5 years I have o it had 2 takers.

It’s all so complicated with Airbnb rules, house rules, HOA rules, city rules, state rules and so on.

But Airbnb says that hosts can’t charge a pet fee for service/ESA animals, I think?

Please be aware that under Airbnb’s Nondiscrimination Policy, Hosts can’t charge extra fees to guests with an assistance animal.

But they don’t say you can’t charge an animal fee. They do say you can charge for extra cleaning if needed from a service animal. That was before their new Aor Cover policy came out.

In the US, if you offer public accommodation, which renting rooms short or long term is, you are subject to Federal civil rights laws and disability rights laws, just like a hotel, even if it’s in your home. There is an owner occupied exemption to disability access (which includes trained assistance animals, not “support” animals), but other classes are protected.

Thank goodness Black drivers no longer have to carry a Green Book of places they can stay when driving through the South and many parts of the North.

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But what does your response have to do with ESA’s? In my state and many they do not test them like service animals.

actually the real service animal is a dog or a miniature horse. ESA stands for emotional support animal, and that can bed anything in the animal kingdom–that’s one of the reasons why airlines dropped the program a few months ago, a people were bringing turkeys, peacocks, and other creatures on the plane, with a self-righteous attitude to mask the outrage. I welcome dogs to my property, but not cats or other categories. I also have no problem hosting an ESA dog, as long as they produce the documentation, which, even if bogus, at least they went through the trouble to obtain. I am currently fighting with airbnb and the matter is being escalated, but as long as I am one of few hosts that voices the problem, I am likely to just be ignored. Or de-listed if I really push it, which is kind of where I am headed. I am considering taking all my business to VRBO and adding myself to Booking, Expedia and Google, because if airbnb keeps treating hosts like this it will weaken its brand

My service dog goes everywhere I go. People are NOT legally allowed to ask for “certification” and service animals are supposed to be permitted anywhere the owner goes. Emotional support animals are not given the same rights as a service animal.
I was declined booking an Airbnb because I have a service dog. No biggie, it was a home share listing and they may have a fear of dogs.
I was also declined booking a hotel. Again, no biggie, I found another place and decided it was best not to exacerbate my condition by reporting them.
They were kind and apologetic. If I felt the need to report them I would have.
Emotional support animals DO NOT have the same rights as a “Service” animal.
It’s just the law.

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Public accommodation laws do not transfer to private homes occupied by the hoster. Also, they do not cover housing in units up to four units. Maybe that’s where this disconnect is happening.
https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/fair_housing_equal_opp/assistance_animals

In the US rentals with 4 units or less and private homes occupied by the home owner are exempt from HUD and ADA rules. Not talking about airbnb’s rules, but so that we can educate each other and perhaps get some more sane airbnb rules. https://www.hud.gov/sites/dfiles/PA/documents/HUDAsstAnimalNC1-28-2020.pdf

We have dozens of threads on this topic here on this forum. People have been told the difference between the law and the Airbnb rules over and over and over. No one reads the old threads and some people here, like Nordling House, prefer that old threads be closed.

As for Airbnb changing their policy, people should always work towards the change that they seek. Good for you. I’m not optimistic given Airbnb’s record on this sort of thing though so I expect dozens more threads on ESA’s in the coming years.

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The ADA does not apply to residences (private homes). It only applies to public places/accommodations. Although some state’s public accommodation laws do apply to STR.

Although the federal laws have those fair housing exemptions, most states are more restrictive, so it will vary a lot by state. For instance, many states only extend those exemptions to 2 units or less.

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