Lawsuit says landlord tried to evict family over autistic son's support dog

Mar. 2—A lawsuit filed last week claims a local landlord tried to evict a Dayton family because their autistic son had an emotional support animal at the property.

Dayton's Human Relations Council and the Miami Valley Fair Housing Center have filed a legal complaint in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court accusing a company called Bizzell Enterprises LTD of housing discrimination.

Alexandria Lark last summer moved into a rental home owned by Bizzell Enterprises on the 1000 block of Shakespeare Avenue in West Dayton.

The complaint says that one of the company's owners entered the property without proper notification shortly after the family moved in and saw a dog in the unit that belongs to Lark's son, who has autism.

The owners put a three-day notice to vacate the property in Lark's mailbox that stated she violated the lease by keeping a pet, the complaint says.

Miami Valley Fair Housing Center says it sent the company a letter on behalf of Lark asking for a "reasonable accommodation" to allow the emotional support animal to be kept in the rental home.

The center says the letter included verification from a healthcare provider about the son's disability-related need for an emotional support dog.

Lark and the fair housing center filed complaints of housing discrimination with the Human Relations Council, the complaint says, and the eviction proceedings were dismissed for unrelated reasons.

The lawsuit seeks a $10,000 civil penalty against the defendants, as well as damages and an order meant to prevent any other housing discrimination.

Attempts to reach Bizzell Enterprises for comment were unsuccessful.