Definitions

Definitions. In this Act: "Assistance animal" means an emotional support or service animal that qualifies as a reasonable accommodation under the federal Fair Housing Act or the Illinois Human Rights Act. "Disability" means, with respect to a person, any physical or mental impairment, or record of such impairment, that satisfies the definition of handicap under the Fair Housing Act or the definition of disability under the Illinois Human Rights Act. "Housing provider" means any owner, housing provider, property management company, property manager, government entity, condominium board, condominium association, cooperative, or related entity, and any agent or employee thereof, engaged in the selling, leasing, management, control, or governance of residential housing. "Reasonable accommodation" has the meaning provided under the federal Fair Housing Act or the Illinois Human Rights Act. "Therapeutic relationship" means the provision of medical care, program care, or personal care services, in good faith, for and with actual knowledge of, an individual's disability and that individual's disability-related need for an assistance animal by: (1) a physician or other medical professional; (2) a mental health service provider; or (3) a non-medical service agency or reliable third party who is in a position to know about the individual's disability. "Therapeutic relationship" does not include an entity that issues a certificate, license, or similar document that purports to confirm, without conducting a meaningful assessment of a person's disability or a person's disability-related need for an assistance animal, that a person: (a) has a disability; or (b) needs an assistance animal. (Source: P.A. 101-518, eff. 1-1-20.)