FHA Defense
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When it comes to ESAs, don’t ask a doctor for advice about the law
On July 1, 2026 the American Psychological Association published an article about using animals in therapy. You can find it here. I’m a lawyer, not a doctor, so I don’t have anything to say about most of the article, which deals with how animals can be used by psychologists when interacting with patients. I can… Continue reading
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HUD’s radical change of position on ESA’s
On May 23, 2026, HUD’s Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity announced a dramatic change in HUD’s view of accommodation requests for emotional support animals.² Stripped of the usual bureaucratic word swamp the point of the announcement is simple. HUD will not find reasonable cause to believe discrimination occurred for any case involving… Continue reading
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Emotional Support Dogs again?
The March 25, 2026 decision from the Connecticut Supreme Court in Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities v Mansions takes a small but significant step toward limiting misuse of the Fair Housing Act as a way to avoid pet deposits or “no pets” rules. For full disclosure purposes, I represented the winning landlord throughout… Continue reading
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What the ADA and FHA are all about.
On December 5 (2025) I argued a fair housing case before the Connecticut Supreme Court. The details are important, but not for this blog. I say that because during the argument it occurred to me that it is easy, while cataloging and describing all the trees in the forest to forget that it is a… Continue reading
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FHA tester standing – the beginning of the beginning of the end?
Even after the Supreme Court’s decision in Transunion¹ and the Fifth Circuit’s decision in Laufer v Mann Hospitality,² challenging the standing of a Fair Housing Act tester in Texas has been a hit or miss proposition depending very much on which District Judge decided the case. It has been quite possible to file almost identical motions to… Continue reading