This week’s news is a year old, but very important for apartment owners and managers confronted by the increasing flood of fake emotional support animal requests.* In March of 2017 the Virginia Fair Housing Board, which carries out Virginia’s mandate for disability rights in housing, issued a formal guidance on what constitutes reliable evidence of a disability and a disability related need for an emotional support animal. You can download the guidance here, but here are the highlights. They are based on the Board’s position that reliable evidence of a disability can only come from someone who has a therapeutic relationship with the tenant. More