Bill Summaries: H796 (2019-2020 Session)

Tracking:
  • Summary date: May 7 2019 - View summary

    House amendment #1 makes the following changes to the 1st edition. Amends the definition of health service provider under GS 42-47 to also include a nurse practitioner and physician assistant, in addition to a physician or psychiatrist.


  • Summary date: Apr 16 2019 - View summary

    Enacts new GS 42-47 prohibiting a landlord from terminating a tenancy, failing to renew a tenancy, or refusing to enter into a rental agreement, or otherwise retaliate in the rental of a dwelling based substantially on the tenant, applicant, or household member's status as a person with a disability or use of an emotional support animal (as defined in the statute). Allows a landlord to require a person with a disability that is not readily apparent to provide written verification from a health service provider of specified issues related to the disability and the need for an emotional support animal. Makes it a Class 2 misdemeanor to: (1) misrepresent to a landlord that the person is a person with a disability or that the person has a disability-related need for the use of an emotional support animal; (2) make a materially false statement to a health service provider for the purpose of obtaining documentation or verification that the person has a disability-related need for the use of an emotional support animal; (3) provide a document or verification to a landlord that misrepresents that an animal is an emotional support animal; (4) fit an animal that is not an emotional support animal with an item that would cause a reasonable person to believe that the animal is an emotional support animal; or (5) as a health service provider, verify a person's disability status and need for an emotional support animal without professional knowledge of the person's condition adequate to provide a reliable verification, or charge a fee for providing a written verification for a person's disability status and need for an emotional support animal and providing no additional service to the person. Specifies that a landlord is not prohibited from requiring the person to (1) comply with the terms of the rental agreement and other rules or regulations applicable to the dwelling unit on the same terms as other tenants, (2) pay for the cost of repairs that result from any damages to the dwelling unit that are caused by an emotional support animal in the same manner as a tenant who possesses an animal that is not an emotional support animal, (3) sign an addendum or other agreement that sets forth the responsibilities of the owner of the emotional support animal. Specifies that a landlord allowing a person with a disability to use an emotional support animal in a dwelling unit is not liable for any injury to another person caused by that animal. 

    Amends GS 42-53 to prohibit a landlord from charging a pet fee for an emotional support animal.

    Applies to rental agreements or leases entered into on or after January 1, 2020.