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Landlords may be liable for discrimination if they harass or allow their leasing staff, managers, and other agents to harass tenants on the basis of race, etc. Recent cases pose the controversial question of whether landlords can also be liable for the harassment committed by their tenants. The two federal courts that had specifically addressed this issue until now have reached conflicting results. In 2023, another federal court weighed in on the question of tenant-on-tenant liability.

Continuing previous patterns, most of the 2023 cases alleged discrimination on the basis of disability; most of the disability discrimination claims alleged failure to make reasonable accommodations, specifically with regard to assistance animals. Explanation: The FHA requires landlords to make reasonable accommodations “necessary to afford a person with a disability the equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling.” Waiving a no-pets rule so that a disabled rental applicant or tenant can keep an assistance animal is the classic example of a reasonable accommodation.

But allowing a tenant to keep an assistance animal is only one issue; it’s also important to understand the rules that apply after that. Landlords have the right to hold tenants responsible for ensuring that their assistance animals obey safety, sanitation, noise, property, and other community rules. However, they may not impose unreasonable restrictions.

Situation: A Philadelphia apartment community makes allowances to its longstanding no-pets policy for assistance animals, as long as tenants meet certain strict rules:

• Assistance animals are allowed only in freight and not passenger elevators;
• Assistance animals must wear a bark-suppressing collar at all times;
• Tenants must pay deposits on their assistance animals and maintain $1 million in insurance naming the landlord as a beneficiary; and
• Tenants guilty of more than three violations forfeit their rights to keep their assistance animal.

A tenant who owns an assistance animal sued the landlord, seeking punitive damages for disability discrimination.

Question: As a park owner we pass through the sewer and water charges to our residents. Currently, they are on 5-year leases, all expiring at various times. The leases address our right to pass through utilities. However, fire and police fees have been attached to the water/sewer bills we receive from the city. May we pass those additional fees through, and if so, how much notice must we give to the residents?

Question: Which form do I use to recover unpaid late fees after issuing a 72-hour notice for non-payment of rent?  Form 43 is for continuing violations. 

Question: Landlord sent a 10-day nonpayment of rent notice to a resident.  The night before filing the FED the landlord called the resident to remind them to pay - hoping to resolve it before filing and paying the filing fee.  Landlord did not hear back from the resident, so he filed the FED and paid the filing fee of $143.00.  Several days later the resident shows up at the park office and offers to pay the rent.  Landlord refused to accept the rent tender since the resident would not also pay the filing fee.  Can the landlord decline the rent tender after filing the FED if the resident refuses to pay the filing fee? What happens in court?