Having a Fake Support Animal is a Crime
By Jedidah McKeehan
During your life, you may have found yourself looking for a house or apartment to rent. Often, one of the things that will come up is whether the landlord will let the tenant possess pets in the property. Some landlords allow them, some landlords allow them with the payment of a pet deposit, but many landlords do not allow them.
However, there is a way around this. Under the Americans with Disability Act, landlords must allow service animals on the property, regardless of whether they allow pets or not. In addition, emotional support animals have become more commonplace and qualify as animals required to be allowed in properties that do not allow pets.
Unfortunately, there has become a market, so to speak, for people abusing the emotional support animal exception. Whether people actually need an emotional support animal or not, they will state that their pet is one, so they can find housing. Additionally, a quick internet search leads to several websites that claim they can get your pet qualified as an emotional support animal within 24 hours. Clearly, people are trying to use the emotional support animal exception to get around landlord policies preventing pets.
The Tennessee legislators have tried to address this by making it a crime to state that an animal is a service animal or support animal when they are not. Tennessee Code Annotated section 39-16-304 states it is a Class B misdemeanor to falsely state or provide documentation that an animal is a service or support animal when they are not.
The legislators have stated that if a person is convicted of this offense, not only do they have to do the usual punishments associated with a Class B misdemeanor, they must also perform 100 hours of community service for an organization that serves individuals with disabilities.
Jedidiah McKeehan is an attorney practicing in Knox County and surrounding counties. He works in many areas, including family law, criminal, and personal injury. Visit attorney-knoxville.com for more information about this legal issue and other legal issues.
