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Service Animals in Las Vegas: Everything Landlords Need to Know

Service Animals in Las Vegas: Everything Landlords Need to Know

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Las Vegas has always been known for its entertainment and nightlife, but in recent years, it’s earned another title: one of the fastest-growing cities in the country. From 2010 to 2023, its population grew by 20%, with experts predicting it will reach three million people by the end of 2025. With such impressive numbers, it’s no surprise that the city has become one of the top markets for landlords looking to invest in rental properties. 

As more people relocate to the area, landlords are starting to see an increase in accommodation requisitions, including for service animals. In this article, we’ll go over everything you need to know about service animals in Las Vegas, from how they’re defined to what your responsibilities are as a housing provider. Whether you’ve just received a request or simply want to be prepared, understanding service animal law will help you stay compliant while protecting your investment. 

Understanding Animal Service Law in Las Vegas

Service animals in Las Vegas play an important role in the lives of many residents, allowing them to live more safely and independently. As a landlord, understanding how service animal law treats these animals isn’t just helpful, but required, especially because the hospitality and tourism industry often influences local housing policies. These rules affect everything from deposits to leasing language, and even small errors on your part can lead to bigger issues down the road. 

Three main sets of rules determine how you should handle service animals in Las Vegas, including federal law, state law, and in some cases, county regulations. The main guidelines include:

  1. Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

The ADA covers public areas and shared spaces like leasing offices, hallways, and pools. Under the ADA:

  • Only dogs (and in some cases, miniature horses) qualify as service animals in Las Vegas. 
  • The animal must be trained to perform a task related to a disability 
  • Landlords may only ask two questions to determine whether an animal is a service animal
  1. Fair Housing Act (FHA)

The FHA applies to nearly all types of rental properties in Nevada and:

  • Prohibits fees, deposits, or pet rent for service animals
  • Requires landlords to make reasonable accommodations for tenants with disabilities, including allowing service
  1. Nevada State Law

The Nevada state law follows the ADA’s guidance on service animals but goes a bit further by:

  • Including service animals in training as protected
  • Extending protections to miniature horses
  • Prohibiting public accommodations from denying entry based on breed

Understanding the overlap between these laws is essential. In housing settings, the FHA will be your primary guide, while the ADA applies when tenants or guests are in public or shared spaces on your property. 

What Makes an Animal a “Service Animal”?

Not every animal a tenant brings into a rental will be protected by service animal law. To qualify as a service animal, it must meet a very specific definition by being:

  • A dog (or a miniature horse, in some cases)
  • Individually trained to perform a task that directly related to the tenant’s disability

That task can vary based on the tenant’s needs. Some common examples include: 

  • Holding someone up as they’re having a seizure
  • Guiding someone with anxiety out of a room during a panic attack
  • Detecting low blood sugar in a person with diabetes
  • Reminding a person to take medication by retrieving the bottle for them
  • Alerting someone who is deaf to the doorbell ringing
  • Guiding a person who is blind away from obstacles in the road
  • Pulling a wheelchair 

What separates service animals in Las Vegas from pets is the purpose they serve. A service animal has a job to do and supports a person’s health and daily functioning in a specific, often visible way. Pets provide comfort, joy, and usually entertainment, but they are not needed to help someone with their disability. 

Emotional support animals (ESAs) are also often confused with service animals in Las Vegas. ESAs provide comfort just by being present. They are not trained to perform a task, and they don’t have any protections under the ADA. However, they are covered by the FHA. 

ESAs can be any type of animal, whether that’s a rabbit, cat, bird, or even a snake. While landlords aren’t permitted to ask for documentation to validate a service animal, they can request verification for an ESA. Although ESAs don’t have as many protections as service animals, you are still legally responsible for accommodating them, as long as tenants submit all required documents from a licensed medical or mental health professional. 

Understanding the difference between these three types of animals matters. Treating an ESA like a pet or denying a legitimate service animal can put you at risk of violating service animal law. At the same time, knowing the limits of each category of animal can help you respond fairly and confidently to tenant requests. 

Accommodating Service Animals in Las Vegas

When a tenant requests to live with their service animal, remember not to approach the situation like you would if the animal were a pet. Both the FHA and Nevada law do not allow you to charge any additional pet fees, ask for a pet deposit, or place breed or size restrictions on the animal. If the animal isn’t wearing a vest or the tenant’s disability isn’t obvious, service animal law allows you to ask two very specific questions to verify the request is legitimate:

  1. Is the animal required because of a disability?
  2. What job has the animal been trained to do? 

You cannot ask for medical records or training certificates. The animal isn’t required to wear anything showing that they’re a service animal and there is no standardized system for registering them, so you also are not allowed to ask for registration paperwork. That said, if the tenant is requesting to live with an ESA, you are within your rights under the FHA to ask for a letter from a professional confirming their need for the animal. 

What Documentation Is Needed for a Service Animal?

Tenants are not legally required to let you know about their service animal, but it’s common courtesy to tell you to avoid surprises. Whether it’s an email or a written request, it’s smart to keep any communication on file in case questions come up later. If you discover an animal on property and weren’t told about it, you’re still allowed to verify that it qualifies under service animal law.

One way you can make this process smoother for both you and the tenant is by creating a specific process for handling these types of requests. That might include:

  • Having a designated point-of-contact (like your property manager) who handles all accommodation requests 
  • Creating a short intake form that includes the two questions you’re allowed to ask under the ADA

This can be especially helpful if you manage more than one property and want to stay organized. 

For ESAs, tenants will need to provide documentation from a professional to show their need for the animal. There’s no need to ask for a diagnosis or dig into the details of their medical records, and doing so is a violation of service animal law. Respecting the privacy of all your tenants will go a long way in building trust and creating a welcoming community. 

Can a Landlord Deny Service Animals in Las Vegas?

In the majority of cases, you cannot deny a tenant’s service animal, even if your property has a no-pet policy in place. Under both federal and state law, service animals aren’t considered pets, and they’re protected under the FHA. That means you have a legal obligation to make reasonable accommodations, regardless of your usual rules on breed, size, weight, or the number of animals allowed per unit. 

However, service animal law does state a few rare situations in which you can deny a service animal:

  • The animal poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others that can’t be reduced or eliminated through reasonable steps
  • If the animal causes significant property damage or displays repeated disruptive behavior despite the tenant’s efforts to correct it
  • If accommodating the animal would place an undue financial or administrative burden on the housing provider 
  • The request would fundamentally change the nature of the rental property’s operations

Note that “threat” doesn’t mean a breed you’re uncomfortable with, or a dog that occasionally barks. Your decision must be backed by evidence, not assumptions or past experiences. If you believe you’re justified to deny an animal, do everything you can to resolve the issue before making a final call. Document everything with written records, including attempts at contacting and working with the tenant. Know that if the animal does damage anything in the unit, you’re allowed to hold the tenant responsible. 

When Can a Service Animal be Added to a Lease?

Unlike pet addendums, which require disclosure before the lease starts, there’s no fixed timeline or designated “approval period” for adding service animals to a lease. Under service animal law, tenants can request to live with their service animal at any time, whether they just signed the lease or have lived in your property for years. Once they’ve made the request and you’ve verified the animal’s role, the accommodation must be quickly granted.

Make sure to document the change by creating a lease addendum. This will clarify that the animal is living in the property, outline the tenant’s responsibilities (like cleaning up after the animal), and list your rights in the event of damage or disruption. If problems ever come up, both parties have the addendum to look back on for clarification. 

Final Thoughts: Service Animals in Las Vegas

Service animal law may take some time to understand, but in a fast-growing city like Las Vegas, knowing how to handle these requests is part of being a prepared and responsible landlord. Understanding what defines a service animal, recognizing the rights of your tenants, and creating an easy process for documentation and communication can keep everyone on the same page. 

The last thing you want is to guess your way through something like animal service law. If you’d rather not leave things to chance, consider working with a local property management company like Evernest. Our Las-Vegas-based team understands the ins and outs of housing law and can help you stay compliant while ensuring your rental business continues running smoothly. Reach out to Evernest today to see how we can start supporting you!

Spencer Sutton
Director of Marketing
Spencer wakes up with marketing and lead generation on his mind. Early in his real estate career, he bought and sold over 150 houses in Birmingham, which has helped him craft Evernest marketing campaigns from a landlord’s perspective. He enjoys creating content that helps guide new and veteran investors through the complexities of the real estate market, helping them avoid some of the pitfalls he encountered. Spencer is also passionate about leadership development and co-hosts The Evernest Property Management Show with Matthew Whitaker. Spencer has traveled to some of the most remote parts of the world with a non-profit he founded, Neverthirst (India, Sudan, South Sudan, Nepal, Central African Republic, etc..), but mostly loves to hang out with his wife, kids, and the world’s best black lab, Jett. Hometown: Mtn. Brook, Alabama