Sen. Ram Villivalam

Filed: 5/13/2019

 

 


 

 


 
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1
AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 3671

2    AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend House Bill 3671 by replacing
3everything after the enacting clause with the following:
 
4    "Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
5Assistance Animal Integrity Act.
 
6    Section 5. Definitions. In this Act:
7    "Assistance animal" means an emotional support or service
8animal that qualifies as a reasonable accommodation under the
9federal Fair Housing Act or the Illinois Human Rights Act.
10    "Disability" means, with respect to a person, any physical
11or mental impairment, or record of such impairment, that
12satisfies the definition of handicap under the Fair Housing Act
13or the definition of disability under the Illinois Human Rights
14Act.
15    "Housing provider" means any owner, housing provider,
16property management company, property manager, government

 

 

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1entity, condominium board, condominium association,
2cooperative, or related entity, and any agent or employee
3thereof, engaged in the selling, leasing, management, control,
4or governance of residential housing.
5    "Reasonable accommodation" has the meaning provided under
6the federal Fair Housing Act or the Illinois Human Rights Act.
7    "Therapeutic relationship" means the provision of medical
8care, program care, or personal care services, in good faith,
9for and with actual knowledge of, an individual's disability
10and that individual's disability-related need for an
11assistance animal by: (1) a physician or other medical
12professional; (2) a mental health service provider; or (3) a
13non-medical service agency or reliable third party who is in a
14position to know about the individual's disability.
15"Therapeutic relationship" does not include an entity that
16issues a certificate, license, or similar document that
17purports to confirm, without conducting a meaningful
18assessment of a person's disability or a person's
19disability-related need for an assistance animal, that a
20person: (a) has a disability; or (b) needs an assistance
21animal.
 
22    Section 10. Documentation of disability and
23disability-related need.
24    (a) A housing provider who receives a request from a person
25to make an exception to the housing provider's policy

 

 

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1prohibiting or restricting animals on the housing provider's
2property because the person requires the use of an assistance
3animal may require the person to produce reliable documentation
4of the disability and disability-related need for the animal
5only if the disability or disability-related need is not
6readily apparent or known to the housing provider. A housing
7provider may ask a person to make the request on a standardized
8form, but cannot deny the request because the person did not
9use the form to submit documentation that meets the
10requirements of subsection (b). A housing provider receiving a
11request for more than one assistance animal may request
12documentation under subsection (b) that establishes the
13disability-related need for each animal, unless the need for an
14animal is apparent.
15    (b) Any documentation that a person has a disability and
16requires the use of an assistance animal as a reasonable
17accommodation in housing under the federal Fair Housing Act or
18the Illinois Human Rights Act shall:
19        (1) be in writing;
20        (2) be made by a person with whom the individual
21    requesting an accommodation has a therapeutic
22    relationship; and
23        (3) describe the individual's disability-related need
24    for the assistance animal.
25    (c) A housing provider may deny a documented request for an
26accommodation or rescind a granted request under this Act if:

 

 

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1        (1) the accommodation imposes either: (i) an undue
2    financial and administrative burden; or (ii) a fundamental
3    alteration to the nature of the operations of the housing
4    provider; or
5        (2) after conducting an individualized assessment,
6    there is reliable objective evidence that the specific
7    assistance animal: (i) poses a direct threat to the health
8    or safety of others that cannot be reduced or eliminated by
9    another reasonable accommodation; (ii) causes substantial
10    physical damage to the property of others that cannot be
11    reduced or eliminated by another reasonable accommodation;
12    or (iii) has engaged in a pattern of uncontrolled behavior
13    that its handler has not taken effective action to correct.
14    (d) A housing provider may require additional supporting
15documentation of a person's disability or need for the
16assistance animal only if the initial documentation provided
17does not satisfy subsection (b). If the initial documentation
18is insufficient to show the existence of the therapeutic
19relationship required under subsection (b), a housing provider
20may request additional information describing the professional
21relationship between the person and the individual with a
22disability.
23    (e) A housing provider may consider the documented
24disability-related needs of other residents on the property
25when evaluating the reasonableness of the request for the
26assistance animal. However, a housing provider may not deny an

 

 

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1assistance animal solely due to the disability-related needs of
2another resident; rather, a housing provider must attempt to
3balance the disability-related needs of all residents.
4    (f) A housing provider may require a resident to cover the
5costs of repairs for damage the animal causes to the resident's
6dwelling unit or the common areas, reasonable wear and tear
7excepted, in the same manner it would for damage caused by any
8other resident; however, a housing provider may not require a
9resident to pay a pet-related deposit, pet fee, or related pet
10assessment, even if the housing provider allows pets and
11requires pet owners to pay such costs. A housing provider also
12may not require a resident with an assistance animal to procure
13special liability insurance or coverage for the assistance
14animal.
15    (g) Nothing in this Act shall be construed as requiring
16documentation of a specific diagnosis regarding a disability or
17disability-related need.
18    (h) Nothing in this Act prohibits a housing provider from
19verifying the authenticity the documentation submitted under
20subsection (b).
 
21    Section 15. Immunity. Notwithstanding any other provision
22of law to the contrary, a housing provider shall not be liable
23for injuries caused by a person's assistance animal permitted
24on the housing provider's property as a reasonable
25accommodation to assist the person with a disability under the

 

 

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1Fair Housing Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of
21973, the Illinois Human Rights Act, or any other federal,
3State, or local law.
 
4    Section 20. Rights under other Acts. Nothing in this Act
5shall be construed to: (1) limit individuals' rights under the
6Fair Housing Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of
71973, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Illinois Human
8Rights Act, or any other federal, State, or local civil rights
9law; or (2) limit the liability of housing providers under such
10laws.".