Refused tenancy because of companion/therapy dog?
In Nov. I found an affordable place to live. I have a companion dog. Manager told me she would need to check with her boss because he didn't want dogs in the apt. unless I was blind. I asked her if I could fill out an app & give her my credit report, but she said no because she didn't want to waste time. 2 days later I returned with my dogs papers and info I got from Google to prove the legality's of a comp. dog. Once again refused to let me fill out app. & turn in credit report. She faxed the info to boss and after almost 3 wks of me calling and asking for the results she finally said I could mail her an app. & credit report. A few days later she told me my report was great but I couldn't move in because I owed a 5 year old long distance bill (from a different company than my regular phone service). She explained that not paying a necessity was the reason. Gas and electric are necessities, maybe even basic phone service, but long distance??? I am convinced that I was refused because of my dog. I read that a person was awarded 22K because comp. pet was not allowed to go into a restaurant. Do I have a case? Her fiddling about made me lose 3 weeks of apt. searching and I had to settle for another apt. that costs $125 more.
Re: Refused tenancy because of companion/therapy dog?
IF you and your dog are properly medically certified and legally documented under the laws and regulations regarding 'service' and/or 'companion' dogs, and IF you provided proper proof of documentation of that to the apt, then you may have a case. Just saying 'I need a dog to keep me company' does not count. Check the applicable rules on the web under the search term 'service dogs', you'll find several sites with info, so that you can comply with the rules for the next time.
