Five Applicants, One Two-Bedroom Policy, and a Therapy Dog
You handle leasing for a 60-unit garden-style complex of identical 2-bedroom, 900-square-foot units. The owner's written policy reads: "Maximum 2 occupants per unit" and "NO PETS - no exceptions. Where pets are permitted, a $300 nonrefundable pet fee and $25/month pet rent apply." Three applications arrive the same week. (A) Two adults and three children, ages 9, 6, and 2; combined income 3.4× rent; strong landlord references. (B) A single woman who submits a letter from a licensed clinical social worker stating she has PTSD and needs an emotional support dog. (C) A couple whose rent would be partly paid by a housing choice voucher.
1. Application A: may you enforce the 2-occupant maximum against this family? Walk through the analysis.
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A blanket "maximum 2 occupants" applied to every 2-bedroom unit is a familial-status exposure, and enforcing it as written is not defensible. The policy also bars two adults plus one infant - a result no one would defend - which shows it is not tied to the unit's real capacity.
Framework: HUD treats two persons per bedroom as generally reasonable, but that is a safe harbor, not a rule that authorizes a flat cap. The provider must consider unit size (900 sq ft), configuration, the number and ages of children, and any other relevant factor, and must apply the same standard to all occupants - adults and children counted alike. Familial status discrimination includes rules that disproportionately exclude households with children without a legitimate, nondiscriminatory business justification.
Practical path: this household is 2.5 persons per bedroom, above the two-per-bedroom benchmark, so a denial may be defensible - but only after an individualized assessment documented in the file (square footage, bedroom sizes, egress, occupancy limits under local code), and only if the same review would be applied to three unrelated adults. If you deny, put the reason in writing, tie it to the unit, and keep the analysis.
Minimum fix: amend the policy to a reviewed, unit-specific standard, and stop accepting "max 2" as self-executing.
2. Application B: the support dog under a no-pet policy. What can you require, what can you charge, and what must you not do?
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An assistance animal is not a pet. A reasonable-accommodation request must be granted unless it would impose an undue burden or a direct threat; "no pets, no exceptions" does not apply.
May require: when the disability is not obvious, reliable documentation supporting both the disability and the disability-related need for the animal - the LCSW letter is exactly the right kind of source. You may not demand medical records, ask the applicant to describe the nature of her disability, require a specific form from a specific provider, or insist on certification, training, or a "service animal" designation. A support animal need not be trained or certified.
May not charge: the $300 pet fee or $25/month pet rent. Fees and surcharges on assistance animals are unlawful. The tenant remains responsible for actual damage the animal causes, and you may apply the same pet rules (leash, waste, noise) so long as they do not effectively exclude the animal.
Process: respond in writing, in a reasonable time, granting the accommodation and waiving the fees; document the request date, the documentation reviewed, and the decision. If you believe the specific animal is a direct threat, that determination must rest on individual, objective evidence - not breed or size assumptions. Keep the disability information in a separate confidential file, not in the general tenant folder.
3. Application C: the voucher household. What do you do, and how do you handle the owner if they object?
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Screen them exactly like every other applicant. Federal law does not protect source of income, but Illinois law and many local ordinances (including Chicago's) prohibit source-of-income discrimination in housing. "No vouchers" is not available, and neither is soft discouragement - steering them to another building, quoting a different rent, or adding extra documentation requirements are all violations.
Mechanics: apply the same credit, income, and background criteria. Where the standard is a rent-to-income ratio, apply it to the tenant's portion or follow the local ordinance's specific calculation; the voucher payment is income for these purposes. Quote the same rent and the same concessions offered to anyone else.
If the owner objects: state the legal position in writing, once, clearly - you cannot execute an instruction to exclude voucher holders, and doing so exposes both the owner and your license. Escalate to your managing broker. If the owner continues to insist, the brokerage should decline the instruction and, if necessary, end the leasing agreement; that is a business decision, not a permissible judgment call.
Documentation: keep the application, the criteria applied, and the approval or denial reason for every applicant on the same form. Consistent paper is your defense.