Brooke Adams Sues Landlord Over "Emotional Support Dog" Eviction
The Houston Chronicle is reporting former Impact Knockouts Champion Brooke Adams is suing her former landlord, claiming she was wrongfully evicted because of her emotional support dog, Waffles. Adams testified that she suffered from postpartum depression and the loss of her father, as the reasons the dog was added to the family.
Adams and her fiancé, Weston Wayne Piper, initially paid a pet deposit fee for a small dog, named Noodles, back in February of 2017. The couple would bring the emotional support dog, Waffles, in on December of 2017.
Fan Chen, who owns the property, and Rutkun Tao, the property manager, noticed the below Instagram post by Adams and realized the dog was not the same as the original on the agreement. Adams was then told they had violated the terms of the lease and were asked to pay an additional pet deposit fee.
Adams testified they offered to pay the fee, but the owner refused and gave two eviction notices over a couple weeks. Adams and her fiancé would vacate the house on New Year's Eve of 2017.
In the report, "Under federal housing laws, landlords are required to provide reasonable accommodations to tenants with service and assistance animals, such as an emotional support dog. Guidelines from HUD say that tenants must make requests to their landlords for accommodations. Assistance and service animals are not considered pets under federal law, however." Adams said she believed it was her "right" to have the dog.
A month after the couple left the property, the former landlord demanded close to $14,000 for lost rent, lost attorney fees, and other charges connected to the couple leaving the house. Adams and Piper initially sued Chen in state court, but that was moved to federal court in November of 2018. The trial was scheduled to continue today.