Ronit and Voyl "Tom" Mecham, owners of a two-unit rental property, said they would agree to allow the tenant to break her lease and move out early but that they would make no exception to their "no pet" policy.

The tenant went ahead and got a cat anyway in May 2022. In August, when the tenant wanted to move out, an inspection revealed her violation. The landlord did nothing but comment that the tenant should have revealed her mental issue before moving in and lived somewhere else if she wanted a cat.

That should have been the end of it. But that's when HUD stepped in.

Reason.com:

The HUD complaint says the tenant suffered emotional and physical distress as a result of the Mecham's "discriminatory conduct"—but doesn't list any other penalty they suffered.

For HUD, that's nevertheless enough to qualify as illegal disability discrimination under the Fair Housing Act.

"Assistance animals provide people with disabilities the support they need to enjoy the benefits of their housing," said Demetria L. McCain, HUD's principal assistant deputy secretary for fair housing and equal opportunity, in a press release. "HUD is committed to zealously enforcing the Act to protect the rights of individuals with disabilities."

"Zealously enforcing"? How about "fanatically enforcing"? The landlord would have been well within his rights to withhold any security deposit as well as bill the tenant for any damage caused by the cat. But HUD wasn't through sticking it to the landlords.