The Iowa Supreme Court sided with a woman who sued her landlord over another tenant’s emotional support animal…
(Via KCRG) – Iowa’s Supreme Court this week sided with the rights of a tenant with severe pet allergies over those of a tenant with an emotional support animal.
The ruling said an Iowa City landlord should not have exempted a tenant with an emotional support animal from the apartment complex’s no pet policy. However, the justices were careful to say the ruling was specific to the circumstances of this situation and likely would not apply to service animals.
View Original Article On KCRG!
From The Courts
“Our balancing in this case is not a one-size-fits-all test that will create the same result under different circumstances, such as when the animal at issue is a service animal for a visually disabled person,” the ruling reads.
“We are not holding that a visually disabled person with a service dog should be denied access to a “no pets” apartment building whenever a tenant with dog allergies is already living in that building and would suffer allergy attacks from the presence of the dog,” it continues.
The Ruling
The Supreme Court said because Cohen had moved in first, her allergy concerns should have taken priority over the need for an emotional support animal and the landlord should have moved the tenant with the support animal into one of its units that did allow pets.