On August 1st, a new Louisiana law went into effect, which is anticipated to have far-reaching impacts on access to housing for disabled people and their assistance animals.

This discriminatory legislation creates dangerous delays, unlawful and burdensome documentation requirements, and penalties for people engaged in the reasonable accommodation process. Specifically, it requires vulnerable populations to wait weeks for a housing provider’s approval of their reasonable accommodation request and to spend untold amounts of money on multiple healthcare visits before having the opportunity to benefit from a service animal in the home. These obstacles are not only unfair, but they also violate federal law.

Representatives from Louisiana Fair Housing and Disability Rights Louisiana testified against the bill in the House and Senate Health and Welfare Committees, identifying how the bill violated both the Fair Housing Act and Americans with Disabilities Act. However, both committees unanimously moved the bill favorably, and Act 558 by Representative Joe Stagni of Kenner was signed into effect by Governor Jeff Landry in May.

Under the Fair Housing Act and American with Disabilities Act, housing providers cannot create undue delays or penalties for individuals seeking a reasonable accommodation, and this legislation includes both delays and penalties. Legislators were warned not only about the bill’s federal rights’ violations, but also of the high rates of discrimination that disabled people face when seeking reasonable accommodations from housing providers. Discrimination on the basis of disability is the number one Fair Housing complaint reported by Louisiana residents. Here at Louisiana Fair Housing Action Center, we see similar patterns of discrimination.

By requiring that disabled individuals jump through expensive and lengthy medical hoops to “prove” their disability, this legislation ultimately punishes disabled people with assistance animals. Under the FHA and ADA, a housing provider may not insist on specific types of evidence of a disability and cannot require a medical examination by a state-certified medical professional to document the need for an assistance animal.

Disabled people face routine discrimination when it comes to housing, and this law will make it even more difficult for people to exercise their federal rights to reasonable accommodations.

If your housing provider has denied your request for an accommodation due to a disability, such as not allowing you to live with an emotional support animal, call the Louisiana Fair Housing Action Center at (504) 596-2100. Help is free and confidential.