The bill amends the Rhode Island Fair Housing Practices Act to enhance protections for tenants with disabilities regarding emotional support animals. It allows tenants with a disability to request and be approved by a landlord to keep an emotional support animal as a reasonable accommodation in housing. The bill defines an emotional support animal as a dog or cat that provides emotional, cognitive, or similar support to an individual with a disability and clarifies that such animals do not need to be trained or certified.

Landlords may request supporting documentation to verify the tenant's need for the emotional support animal if the need is not readily apparent. This documentation must come from a Rhode Island licensed healthcare practitioner who has established a patient-practitioner relationship with the tenant for at least thirty days and has provided a clinical evaluation regarding the need for the emotional support animal.

The bill stipulates that landlords cannot deny reasonable accommodation requests for emotional support animals unless the animal poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others, poses a direct threat of physical damage to the property that cannot be mitigated by another reasonable accommodation, or if allowing the animal would result in the cancellation of property insurance or a substantial increase in insurance premiums.

Additionally, tenants with a disability-related need for an emotional support animal are liable for any damage caused by the animal to the premises or to other individuals on the premises. The act is set to take effect upon passage.

Statutes affected:
8215: 34-37-4