Emotional support animal letter to a landlord
Humans are inherently social. Loneliness and disdain can sometimes hurt a person more than sticks and stones. And the reverse is true too. There are few things in life that can help us more than love and care. And there are creatures that give their love unconditionally, be it a jovial dog or an adorable kitten. That’s why many mental health professionals prescribe emotional support animals (often abbreviated to ESA) to their patients. It can be any breed or species, it doesn’t require any training or certification, and there is no hard limit on how many you can have.
An animal with an ESA status enjoys some protections under the law. It can travel in a plane cabin free of charge. But the main advantage is housing. A property owner or manager can’t deny you renting a place because of your animal regardless of his pet policy. Also, you don’t have to pay a deposit or a fee for a pet. ESA is not just a pet, legally speaking. By the way, though ESA status does not require certification or training, you can’t just claim that your dog is an ESA. You need to provide an emotional support dog letter to landlord before you ask for accommodation.
US fair housing laws, namely the Fair Housing Act (FHAct) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act both grant protection to people requiring ESA’s. In both documents, ESAs fall under reasonable accommodations that landlords have to provide to the disabled people. But the question often arises: Can a landlord refuse an emotional support animal? Yes. Let’s discuss specifics.
When can a landlord legally reject an ESA?
There are two main categories of cases where a legitimate ESA request can be denied. One comes into play when a property in question is not subject to fair housing laws. Another when the request for ESA is considered unreasonable or becomes such. Let’s get types of housing out of the way first.
Types of housing that allow ESAs
Sec. 504 is only applied to federally owned housing or housing with federal funding. Like social projects, or housing for poor and destitute. It comes in use when you need an ESA in a house for the elderly or veterans. As these types of dwellings are exempt from FHAct as inherently discriminatory, against non-elderly and non-veterans, that is.
For the rest of the situations, FHAct is used. However, there are exemptions from it. A property divided in less than five separate dwellings where landlord occupies one of them is exempt. And so is a separate single-family housing unit, if it is not rented out through a broker and an owner doesn’t have more than four of them. Club housing and church housing is also exempt. By the way, these exemptions may differ from state to state.
Lastly, hotels, hostels, and shelters are not subject to FHAct. They are, what is called transitional dwelling. College campuses should be mentioned separately, as most of them allow emotional support animals.
Unreasonable accommodation
A housing provider is mandated by law to give your ESA reasonable accommodation. Well keeping a hamster cage in your room seems pretty reasonable, while having a tiger frolic through the backyard is probably not. But what is in between, what are the criteria and the limits of reasonableness in accommodation. Let’s discuss this.
Whether your request is reasonable or not, it will essentially come down to the decision of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. It is a body tasked with reviewing housing disputes. They generally exercise fair and common-sense judgment. And they have the following guidelines.
The definite no-no is when an animal poses danger or can cause harm to a landlord or other tenants. It must not be based on breed or species though. They can’t just claim that Pitbulls are dangerous. However, it’s different if your particular animal has a history or exhibits aggressive behavior. Or god forbid, mauls someone than you can be denied or even get evicted. Also, if someone in a dwelling has an allergic reaction on your animal it might be the case too.
And then we go to the murky territory. An assistance animal can’t pose a significant added cost to a landlord. It can be the case that an insurance agency considers a certain type of animal, let’s say a snake, a serious liability. And the agency would raise a rate on the property because of your ESA snake. It’s considered to be an undue expense on a part of the owner, so he can deny your request.
Also, if your animal requires a massive modification to the property or modification that would change the function of a property. For example, making a small hatch in a door, so your cat can come and go as it pleases, is totally reasonable. But, keeping a cow in a garage of a suburban house and grazing it in the yard, is likely not.
In general, don’t ask for anything ridiculous, and a landlord will have no grounds to deny you.
Apart from these guidelines, there is also an issue of neglect. There were cases where tenants were evicted for neglecting their ESAs. Remember an animal is not a toy, it needs to be looked after and properly taken care of. It should be well-behaved and not cause much distress to other tenants. Also, remember to vaccinate it, as an unvaccinated animal can be considered a health hazard and thus be a cause for eviction.
And lastly, you obviously need to provide a valid emotional support animal housing letter. It’s generally valid for one year since signed by a mental health professional. What is also important this professional should be licensed in your state.
What’s an emotional support animal housing letter?
It’s a document signed by your doctor or a licensed counselor that proves that you have an unspecified DSM-5 mental disorder, that you are in care for it, and require an ESA as a part of your therapy. With it, you can enjoy the friendship and support of your four-legged buddy in any in almost any apartment. Take care!