HB3671enr 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY

  
  
  

 


 
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1    AN ACT concerning animals.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
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
17entity, condominium board, condominium association,
18cooperative, or related entity, and any agent or employee
19thereof, engaged in the selling, leasing, management, control,
20or governance of residential housing.
21    "Reasonable accommodation" has the meaning provided under
22the federal Fair Housing Act or the Illinois Human Rights Act.
23    "Therapeutic relationship" means the provision of medical

 

 

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1care, program care, or personal care services, in good faith,
2for and with actual knowledge of, an individual's disability
3and that individual's disability-related need for an
4assistance animal by: (1) a physician or other medical
5professional; (2) a mental health service provider; or (3) a
6non-medical service agency or reliable third party who is in a
7position to know about the individual's disability.
8"Therapeutic relationship" does not include an entity that
9issues a certificate, license, or similar document that
10purports to confirm, without conducting a meaningful
11assessment of a person's disability or a person's
12disability-related need for an assistance animal, that a
13person: (a) has a disability; or (b) needs an assistance
14animal.
 
15    Section 10. Documentation of disability and
16disability-related need.
17    (a) A housing provider who receives a request from a person
18to make an exception to the housing provider's policy
19prohibiting or restricting animals on the housing provider's
20property because the person requires the use of an assistance
21animal may require the person to produce reliable documentation
22of the disability and disability-related need for the animal
23only if the disability or disability-related need is not
24readily apparent or known to the housing provider. A housing
25provider may ask a person to make the request on a standardized

 

 

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1form, but cannot deny the request because the person did not
2use the form to submit documentation that meets the
3requirements of subsection (b). A housing provider receiving a
4request for more than one assistance animal may request
5documentation under subsection (b) that establishes the
6disability-related need for each animal, unless the need for an
7animal is apparent.
8    (b) Any documentation that a person has a disability and
9requires the use of an assistance animal as a reasonable
10accommodation in housing under the federal Fair Housing Act or
11the Illinois Human Rights Act shall:
12        (1) be in writing;
13        (2) be made by a person with whom the individual
14    requesting an accommodation has a therapeutic
15    relationship; and
16        (3) describe the individual's disability-related need
17    for the assistance animal.
18    (c) A housing provider may deny a documented request for an
19accommodation or rescind a granted request under this Act if:
20        (1) the accommodation imposes either: (i) an undue
21    financial and administrative burden; or (ii) a fundamental
22    alteration to the nature of the operations of the housing
23    provider; or
24        (2) after conducting an individualized assessment,
25    there is reliable objective evidence that the specific
26    assistance animal: (i) poses a direct threat to the health

 

 

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1    or safety of others that cannot be reduced or eliminated by
2    another reasonable accommodation; (ii) causes substantial
3    physical damage to the property of others that cannot be
4    reduced or eliminated by another reasonable accommodation;
5    or (iii) has engaged in a pattern of uncontrolled behavior
6    that its handler has not taken effective action to correct.
7    (d) A housing provider may require additional supporting
8documentation of a person's disability or need for the
9assistance animal only if the initial documentation provided
10does not satisfy subsection (b). If the initial documentation
11is insufficient to show the existence of the therapeutic
12relationship required under subsection (b), a housing provider
13may request additional information describing the professional
14relationship between the person and the individual with a
15disability.
16    (e) A housing provider may consider the documented
17disability-related needs of other residents on the property
18when evaluating the reasonableness of the request for the
19assistance animal. However, a housing provider may not deny an
20assistance animal solely due to the disability-related needs of
21another resident; rather, a housing provider must attempt to
22balance the disability-related needs of all residents.
23    (f) A housing provider may require a resident to cover the
24costs of repairs for damage the animal causes to the resident's
25dwelling unit or the common areas, reasonable wear and tear
26excepted, in the same manner it would for damage caused by any

 

 

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1other resident; however, a housing provider may not require a
2resident to pay a pet-related deposit, pet fee, or related pet
3assessment, even if the housing provider allows pets and
4requires pet owners to pay such costs. A housing provider also
5may not require a resident with an assistance animal to procure
6special liability insurance or coverage for the assistance
7animal.
8    (g) Nothing in this Act shall be construed as requiring
9documentation of a specific diagnosis regarding a disability or
10disability-related need.
11    (h) Nothing in this Act prohibits a housing provider from
12verifying the authenticity the documentation submitted under
13subsection (b).
 
14    Section 15. Immunity. Notwithstanding any other provision
15of law to the contrary, a housing provider shall not be liable
16for injuries caused by a person's assistance animal permitted
17on the housing provider's property as a reasonable
18accommodation to assist the person with a disability under the
19Fair Housing Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of
201973, the Illinois Human Rights Act, or any other federal,
21State, or local law.
 
22    Section 20. Rights under other Acts. Nothing in this Act
23shall be construed to: (1) limit individuals' rights under the
24Fair Housing Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of

 

 

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11973, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Illinois Human
2Rights Act, or any other federal, State, or local civil rights
3law; or (2) limit the liability of housing providers under such
4laws.