Pet Rent Is Fine, Until the Animal Is an Assistance Animal: What a Shelby County Landlord Can and Cannot Charge

Two animals, two rulebooks

A pet is a lease term. An assistance animal is a disability accommodation. Landlords who treat the two as the same thing are the ones who get a fair housing complaint, and Shelby County, Tennessee has no shortage of leases that say “no pets” or “$35 a month per pet” and have no paragraph about what happens when a tenant asks for an exception.

The federal reference point is HUD Notice FHEO-2020-01, issued January 28, 2020. As summarized by the copy of the notice posted by an ADA Title III resource site, a housing provider cannot charge a deposit, fee or surcharge for a service animal or support animal, and cannot charge a fee for processing the accommodation request. Fees and deposits can still apply to ordinary pets, which the notice distinguishes from assistance animals. The National Low Income Housing Coalition’s summary says the same.

What you can ask for

When the disability or the need for the animal is not obvious, you may ask for reliable documentation. The notice points to a letter from a licensed health care professional who confirms the disability and explains the connection to the animal. You cannot require a specific form, a notarized statement, a diagnosis or medical records. A certificate or registration bought online after a short questionnaire is not, by itself, reliable proof, according to the same summary. HUD also expects a prompt answer, generally within 10 days of receiving the documentation.

Tennessee law points the same way. A summary of the state’s statutes lists Tenn. Code Ann. § 66-7-111 and a parallel section, § 66-28-406, that let a tenant with a disability request an exception to a policy limiting animals or requiring payment to keep one. It also allows a landlord to ask for reliable documentation, bars the landlord from obtaining confidential medical records, and excludes documents from websites that mainly sell animal certificates. Misrepresenting a disability or need, or submitting false documentation, is described there as a material default.

A pet policy is what you charge for an animal you chose to allow. An accommodation is what you owe a tenant whose disability needs one.

What you can charge

You cannot charge pet rent, a pet deposit or a pet fee on an assistance animal. You can still charge for damage. According to the HUD summary above, a provider may bill a tenant for damage the animal causes, but only if it is the provider’s usual practice to charge any tenant for damage or to deduct it from standard security deposits. That is the reason your ordinary security deposit language matters; our guide to Shelby and Fayette County deposit rules covers the 30-day return clock and the forwarding-address trigger.

A worked example, with made-up numbers: a Memphis, TN lease charges $300 per pet as a refundable deposit and $35 a month in pet rent. A tenant with a letter from a treating clinician asks to keep a cat. The landlord waives the $300 and the $35 for that animal, keeps the standard security deposit, and later deducts $180 for a scratched door because it deducts for tenant-caused damage on every lease. That is consistent with the notice. If the same landlord only billed the damage to tenants with an assistance animal, it would not be.

When you can say no

HUD lists limited grounds. You can deny if the animal poses a direct threat that cannot be eliminated or reduced, or if granting the request would impose an undue financial and administrative burden or fundamentally alter your operations. You can also deny when required documentation is missing, though not before the tenant had a reasonable chance to provide it. For an unusual animal, one not commonly kept in households, the tenant carries a substantial burden of showing a specific disability-related need. And if the tenant got the animal before submitting reliable documentation, the notice says you may take reasonable steps to enforce a no-pets policy. A “no pets” clause by itself is not a ground, which a Tennessee tenant-rights summary also notes.

Shelby County versus Fayette County

Do not describe this as “Tennessee landlord law” in a lease that also covers Fayette County. The Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act applies only in Tennessee counties over 75,000 population, which includes Shelby County, Tennessee, and excludes much of rural Fayette County. The state summary lists a parallel section outside the URLTA (§ 66-7-111), and the federal Fair Housing Act applies to most rental housing in both counties, so the practical answer is the same. If you are unsure which applies to a particular lease, ask a Tennessee attorney.

A policy to adopt before the next request

• Write the process down. One page: who receives requests, how fast you answer, and what you may verify.
• Separate the two fee schedules. Pet rent and deposits apply to pets. Nothing applies to an assistance animal except damage billed the way you bill every tenant.
• Do not ask for a diagnosis or records. Ask only for reliable documentation of the disability-related need.
• Decide each request on its facts. Document the reason for any denial against the HUD grounds above.
• Keep screening neutral. The same standards for every applicant, as we discuss in our tenant screening guide.

If you own in Memphis or Collierville, TN and a property manager handles tenant requests, ask in writing who answers an accommodation request and who keeps the record. Nothing here is legal advice; it is general information to help you ask better questions.

Sources & further reading: HUD Notice FHEO-2020-01 (Jan. 28, 2020), as posted by ADA Title III; NLIHC — HUD provides guidance on service and support animals; Animal Legal & Historical Center — Tennessee assistance animal laws; Tenant-Rights.com — Tennessee service and emotional support animals.