ASK THE LAWYER
MARK TSCHETTER | TSCHETTER HAMRICK SULZER PC
Colorado's Newly Passed Service Animal Law
What is House Bill 16-1426 that
is now law?
House Bill 16-1426 passed and became Colorado law when the Governor signed the bill on
June 10, 2016; it becomes effective on January 1,
2017.
The new law makes it a crime for any person
to intentionally misrepresent the entitlement to an
assistance animal, and to intentionally misrepresent
that an animal in the person’s possession is a “service animal” or a “service animal in training”.
Why was the bill enacted?
If you have been in the apartment industry for
any length of time, you know that assistive animal
fraud is rampant. Tenants’ desire to avoid pet related charges, i.e. deposits, fees, and rent, is on some
level driving the fraud.
The goal of Colorado House Bill 16-1426 is
to crack down on the problems associated with
fraudulent service animal representations by making it a crime to intentionally misrepresent that an
animal is a service animal, or that a person is disabled. The new law was not specifically enacted
to address multifamily concerns regarding assistance animal fraud, but it certainly applies to the
rental industry. As discussed below, enacting the
new law was well intentioned, but there are serious
issues with the new law.
32 | TRENDS • AUGUST 2016
What does the law require?
A key thrust of the law is to impose requirements for “assistance animal” documentation from
a licensee, but only if a licensee is approached by
a tenant seeking assistance animal related documentation. Licensees are doctors, nurses, and
mental health professionals. If approached by a
patient (tenant), the law places the burden of meeting the documentation requirements on “licensees”.
In three nearly identical sections, the new law
amended Colorado statutes governing the license
requirements for doctors, nurses, and mental health
professionals (all licensees) since each group currently falls under separate statutory sections.
Specifically, if approached by a patient (tenant),
licensees are required to make a written finding
that a patient has a disability and then a separate
written finding that the tenant’s (patient’s) need
for an assistance animal is related to the tenant’s
disability, or make a written finding that there is
insufficient information available to make a finding regarding disability or disability related need.
Under this new law what
are the consequences for
misrepresenting disability
or entitlements to service
animals?
The criminal offenses are petty offenses with
a $25 fine for the first offense, and maximum $500
fine for third and subsequent offenses.
Will the laws serve as a
deterrent against service animal
fraud?
Probably not. The penalties are so low they
won’t be much of a deterrent and proving someone’s
intent is difficult. Additionally, to be guilty of a
crime under the new law, the tenant has to be
www.aamdhq.org