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Jerrica Spence had given the Brooks-Sloate Terrace Cooperative Association and its property management contractor a physician’s letter explaining that the dog, who was a gift, was critical to the daughter’s “ability to heal,” state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said Friday.
The girl suffered from “conduct disorder,” which Grewal said was “exacerbated by the death of her father.”
State authorities found the cooperative and its contractor “mistaken” in suggesting their eviction attempt was legal because the dog hadn’t received specialized training, the attorney general added.
The Brooks-Sloate Board of Directors cited Spence for violating a no-pets rule and ordered her to get rid of the dog, Grewal said.
When she refused, it began eviction proceedings, claiming the therapeutic value was being used as a “pretense," he said.
“This case should serve as a message to landlords -- as well as the governing boards of condominiums and co-ops across the state – that they need to know the law and proceed with deliberation when confronted with a request for such an accommodation,” said Grewal said.
“The New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD) and the federal Fair Housing Act were created, among other reasons, to protect the rights of people with disabilities – including those who legitimately need service dogs and emotional support animals,” he said. “We are committed to upholding the law, and to holding accountable those who fail to follow it.”
As part of the $20,000 settlement, the cooperative and contractor have agreed to develop and distribute a written anti-discrimination policy for the cooperative. Among other things, the policy must contain clear protocols for requesting an exception to the cooperative’s “no pets” policy for emotional support animals.
They also must release all claims they may have against Spence for rent arrears, pet fines, legal fees, property damage, etc., and reinstate her to the cooperative’s active waiting list for individuals and families who have applied to become a shareholder/owner of a housing unit at the development.
“There is no requirement under the LAD that emotional support animals receive specialized training,” said Wainer Apter, director of the state Division on Civil Rights.
What’s more, “a housing provider cannot second guess a treating physician’s determination that an emotional support animal is necessary to allow a resident with a disability an equal opportunity to enjoy her home.”
Brooks-Sloate is a cooperative development with 200 housing units owned by shareholders of the cooperative, and 40 rental units owned by the cooperative.
Colonial Mutual Housing Corporation is a property management company that administers the rental units.
Colonial Mutual employees entered the apartment in November 2015 during what it said was “routine pest control service” when one of them found the dog in a bedroom.
The next day, Spence was given five days to remove the dog.
Spence explained to board members and their attorney that the dog “was helping her then-13-year-old daughter, who had been suffering from depression over the death of her father,” Grewal said.
She then formally requested a full board meeting to discuss her situation.
In return, Grewal said, Spence got an eviction notice, along with fines of $75 a day “as long as the dog is on the premises.”
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has determined that “emotional support animals provide very private functions for persons with mental and emotional disabilities.
“Specifically, emotional support animals, by their very nature, and without training, may relieve depression and anxiety, and help reduce stress-induced pain in persons with certain medical conditions affected by stress,” HUD says.
Neither Brooks-Sloate nor Colonial Mutual “had ever provided evidence suggesting the dog’s continued presence in Spence’s apartment would create an undue burden on its operation,” Grewal said.
There also was no evidence Brooks-Sloate or Colonial Mutual had engaged in the required “reasonable accommodation analysis” or “fact-sensitive examination” of the mother's request for an accommodation from the “no pets” policy, he said.
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