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CENSHARE
University of Minnesota
717 Delaware St SE, Rm 130
Minneapolis, MN 55455-2040

phone (612) 626-1975
fax (612) 624-3370
e-mail: censhare@umn.edu

Housing and Urban/Rural Recovery Act of 1983

1. PET OWNERSHIP IN FEDERALLY ASSISTED HOUSING FOR THE ELDERLY OR HANDICAPPED

   Sec.227. (a) No owner or manager of any federally assisted rental housing for the elderly or handicapped may:

   1. as a condition of tenancy or otherwise, prohibit or prevent any tenant in such housing from owning common household pets living in the dwelling accommodations of such tenant in such housing, or
      
   2. restrict or discriminate against any person in connection with admission to, or continued occupancy of, such housing by reason of ownership of such pets by, or the presence of such pets in the dwelling accommodations of such person.

   (b) (1) Not later than the expiration of the 12-month period following the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and the Secretary of Agriculture shall each issue such regulations as may be necessary to insure:

   1. compliance with the provisions of subsection (a) with respect to any program of assistance referred to in subsection (d) that is administered by such Secretary, and
      
   2. attaining the goal of providing decent, safe , and sanitary housing for the elderly or handicapped.

   (2) Such regulations shall establish guidelines under which the owner or manager of any federally assisted rental housing for the elderly or handicapped:

   1. may prescribe reasonable rules for the keeping of pets by tenants in such housing; and
      
   2. shall consult with tenants of such housing in prescribing such rules. Such rules may consider factors such as density of tenants, pet size, types of pets, potential financial obligations of tenants, and standards of pet care.

   (c) Nothing in this section may be construed to prohibit any owner or manager of federally assisted rental housing for the elderly of handicapped, or any local housing authority or other appropriate authority of the community where such housing is located, from requiring the removal from any such housing of any pet whose conduct or condition is duly determined to constitute a nuisance or a threat to the health or safety of the other occupants of such housing or of other persons in the community where such housing is located.

   (d) For purposes of this section, the term “federally assisted rental housing for the elderly or handicapped” means any rental housing project that:

   1. is assisted under section 202 of the Housing Act of 1959; or
      
   2. is assisted under the United States Housing Act of 1937, the National Housing Act, or title V of the Housing Act of 1949, and is designated for the occupancy by the elderly or handicapped families, as such term is defined in section 202(d) (4) of the Housing Act of 1959.

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