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What to Do if Your Landlord Does Not Accept Your Emotional Support Animal

When seeking housing, it is not uncommon to find that landlords or housing providers have a “no-pets” policy. While this does, indeed, apply to the majority of renters, there are some situations where individuals are allowed to keep animals in buildings that ban pets.

The law: The Fair Housing Act allows for individuals with qualifying health conditions to have assistance animals, even where pets are not allowed. This is because assistance animals such as service dogs and emotional support animals are needed to support physical and mental health disabilities.

Emotional support animals (ESA) are used by people with psychiatric conditions such as depression, anxiety, and PTSD. Landlords have to accommodate emotional support animals as long as the tenant has a valid ESA letter from their licensed healthcare professional.

However, landlords sometimes reject a tenant’s request to live with an ESA. So what can you do if your landlord does not accept your emotional support animal?

Reasons a landlord can reject an Emotional Support Animal

The exception to the rule: Landlords do not always have to accept emotional support animals, even when the tenant has a signed ESA letter from their doctor or therapist. Fair Housing rules permit landlords to reject an emotional support animal under certain circumstances.

For example, these landlords are exempt from Fair Housing Laws:

  1. Owner-occupied buildings with no more than four units
  2. Single-family houses sold or rented by the owner without the use of an agent

These small landlords do not have to accept ESA letters. Landlords can also rely on a few other exemptions for emotional support animals. The main exemptions are if the landlord has evidence the emotional support animal would pose a direct threat to the health or safety of others.

An ESA that has caused significant property damage can also be turned away. Sometimes landlords reject emotional support animals because the tenant’s ESA letter is flawed. It’s essential that your doctor or therapist includes the correct information in their ESA letter.

If you’re looking for a healthcare provider to help with your ESA request, it can be helpful to find one with experience when it comes to ESA matters.

How Can I Get an ESA Letter Online?

How to get an ESA letter - Infographic - ServiceDogCertifications

What to do if my landlord says “NO” to my emotional support animal?

If your landlord says no to your emotional support animal, that should not be the end of the story. Under HUD guidelines, housing providers are expected to work with tenants to resolve any issues that may impede accommodating an ESA.

For example, if the landlord points out a valid deficiency in your ESA letter, you should work together with your healthcare provider to update your letter. If your landlord has concerns about the health or safety of your ESA, you can take steps to demonstrate your animal is properly vaccinated and trained.

Here are a few steps to follow if your landlord rejects your ESA:

  1. Get the specific reasons why your landlord rejected your ESA.

    If your landlord says no to your ESA, you’re entitled to know why.

  2. Work with the landlord to address their concerns.

    Once you know why your landlord is rejecting your ESA, you should work towards finding a solution together.

  3. Understand your Fair Housing Rights.

    Ensure that your landlord is not giving you a bogus reason for rejecting your ESA. Remember, your right to have an ESA is protected by federal law.

  4. Get an updated ESA letter.

    If your landlord points out that your ESA letter contains defects, work with your provider to fix the letter. Remember that landlords have to stick with HUD guidelines – they can’t make up their rules about ESA letters.

  5. Contact HUD if your rights are being violated.

    If you feel your landlord violates your Fair Housing rights, you can consider filing a complaint with HUD. This step should be taken when all other options have been exhausted.

Give your landlord every reason to say “YES” to your Emotional Support Animal

Before informing your landlord about your emotional support animal, make sure you have your ducks in a row.

  • You should be prepared with a signed ESA letter from a licensed healthcare professional.
  • Be knowledgeable about ESA rules so you can engage with your landlord thoughtfully.

Unscrupulous landlords will try to take advantage of tenants who do not understand their legal rights when it comes to ESAs.

If you’re looking to qualify for an ESA letter, you can be connected to a licensed ESA professional at the link below.

See if you qualify for an emotional support animal.

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| Emotional Support Animal

About the Author: The writing team at Service Dog Certifications is made up of folks who really know their stuff when it comes to disability laws and assistance animals. Many of our writers and editors have service dogs themselves and share insights from their own experiences. All of us have a passion for disability rights and animals.

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  1. Valery says: January 28, 2021

    I recently received an ESA letter from my therapist and presented it to my parents “manager” from the apartments we live in since the other tenants and I do not have any contact with the landlord. When I presented my ESA letter to the “manager” he immediately said “no, no pets are allowed that’s what was signed in your contract” and refused to listen to anything I had to say. I then told him to at least to forward my ESA letter to the person above him, in this case the land lord, and to please get back to me. He then went on to say ok. I presented this Tuesday morning of 01.19. 2021 and he still hasn’t gotten back to me. I currently have my ESA with me but I am concerned the “manager” won’t deliver my ESA letter to the landlord and will try to evict my parents and I for “other reasons” that are probably indirectly blaming my ESA.

    Reply
  2. Valery says: January 28, 2021

    I recently received an ESA letter from my therapist and presented this form to the “manager” of my apartment since the other tenants and I do not have any contact with the landlords. When I presented my ESA letter to the “manager” he immediately said “no, no pets are allowed that’s what was signed in your contract” and refused to listen to anything I had to say. I then told him to at least take and give my ESA letter to the person above him, in this case the land lord, and to please get back to me. He then went on to say ok. I presented this to him on 01.19.2020 Tuesday morning and he still hasn’t gotten back to me. I currently have my ESA with me but I am concerned that the “manager” won’t deliver my ESA letter to the landlord and will try to get me in trouble by claiming I never told him about my ESA. Please I am in need of help since this is all so new to me. Will I get in any trouble if he never forwarded my ESA letter to the landlord? Also, will they try to find reasons to try to kick me out or raise my rent by indirectly blaming my ESA by using “different reasons”?
    My ESA will not hurt a fly and is nothing but a big sweet heart and behaves extremely well. I cannot lose her and risk a decline in mental health or have to worry about finding another place to stay when everything in California is expensive as it is.

    Reply
  3. Tim Cronebach says: January 3, 2021

    If a landlord ask you to get rid of your service dog, how long do you have to file a complaint against them. My mother had a service animal, and the landlord told myself if we wanted the apt we had to get rid of him. What can I do cause the landlord during Covid period asked us to find another place. We have paid our rent on time every month, and I need to know what can a renter do

    Reply
    • Jacob Eli Alicea says: February 27, 2021

      I believe I read somewhere that you have up to a year from the day the issue happened.

      Reply
    • Peter says: April 13, 2021

      Sorry to hear about the trouble. Make sure to get the landlord’s rejection in writing and file a complaint with HUD as soon as possible. Unless there are very specific conditions for the landlord to reject the service dog (like the dog is misbehaving or endangering other tenants) they are not allowed to ask such a thing. You may find this article on if landlords can deny service dogs interesting https://www.servicedogcertifications.org/landlords-service-dog/

      Reply
  4. Gigi says: November 28, 2020

    I have a potential landlord demanding to know what disability i have and exactly what services my dog performs, I know that he is not allowed to ask these questions, but what can I do about it?

    Reply
  5. chris says: November 20, 2020

    Hi there I’m about to be getting a Low Income Housing quadplex unit. They say that I can have a pet up to 20 lbs. If I get a ESA, will I still be limited to only having a 20 lb dog?

    Reply
    • Peter says: December 18, 2020

      Emotional support animals are not subject to normal pet restrictions, including limitations on weight. If you have a valid ESA letter from a licensed healthcare professional, your housing provider can’t limit the size of your ESA. You may find this article on what to do if your landlord denies your ESA interesting https://www.servicedogcertifications.org/landlord-does-not-accept-emotional-support-animal/

      Reply
    • Kenedee says: January 14, 2021

      Hello,

      I have a more interesting situation. My grandparents and my mom live in a 55+ mobile home park in which the lot is rented but they bought their home. In July my mom and I fostered a small terrier mix named Sadie and decided to keep her. When we asked management for permission to keep her, all was well. They approved right away after meeting her. Well 7 months later they are now trying to revoke permission because she got lose a few times from her tie out. Due to an excess of feral cats in the neighborhood Sadie likes to chase them and that’s the only reason why she gets lose. They say we have 10 days to get rid of her. I’m going to try to do the reasonable accommodation request for her as an esa. But does anyone have any additional advice. We really don’t want to get rid of her and this is just a messed up situation. I don’t think its right for them to do this.

      Reply
      • John W Holmes says: January 27, 2021

        Yeah, getting an ESA because you simply want to keep your dog is a good idea and is def going to help everybody respect the ESA. (Irony).

        Reply
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