Covid-19 Expected to Create a Spike in Emotional Support Animal Requests & Other Resident Pet Trends

Innovation and creativity are taking over the consequential apartment pet policy landscape for owners and managers– and we’re not just talking about pet parks.
Property management professionals and a pet screening service partner for the apartment industry discussed the latest and greatest in guidelines and marketing as part of the Joshua Tree Group’s Apartment Internet Marketing (AIM) Webinar series this week.
Among the more interesting points in bulleted fashion:
Emotional Support Animals

Emotional support animal (ESA) resident accommodation requests are expected to spike in the next few months because pet adoptions have been booming during Covid-19 shelter-in-place periods and grieving and emotionally victimized people will take comfort in their pets.
If you haven’t reviewed the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) long-awaited guidance on ESAs (issued in January), realize that it falls into the categories “Service” and “Emotional Support.”
Panelist Angie Lombardi, Vice President of Marketing, The Franklin Johnston Group, Norfolk, further explains that in Virginia, for example, the state has said ESA authentication licenses from medical professionals must be written by personnel who are licensed in Virginia, and they must have seen the pet in-person.

Pet Amenities

Lombardi and Jamin Harkness, EVP, The Management Group, Atlanta, were enthusiastic about the idea of being able to rent 30-minute blocks to residents for a small fee that would give them exclusivity to the park during certain times of the day.
Another amenity home run might be Skipper, a dog-walking app amenity that now is working with apartment communities to build onsite kennels fo……