Emotional support animals are a type of support animals that provide therapeutic assistance to individuals with a psychiatric disability. These animals might not seem like they do a whole lot because they don’t have any training requirements, but they play a key role in easing their owners’ symptoms and reducing loneliness.
Given that these support animals help individuals with a psychiatric disability, they have housing rights that enable them to live with their owners, even if the owner’s lease or rental agreement has a no-pet policy. Naturally, this begs the question: can a landlord deny an emotional support animal?
In this article, we will cover everything you need to know about the housing rights of emotional support animals and whether or not landlords can deny them accommodation.
Housing Rights of Emotional Support Animals
Before we dive deep into whether or not a landlord can deny an emotional support animal, let’s first look at what housing rights these support animals have.
The Fair Housing Act is a federal law that prohibits housing discrimination based on protected classes, including psychiatric disabilities. Since emotional support animal owners need their animals because of a disability, the Fair Housing Act grants them protections to ensure the owners aren’t discriminated against in housing.
Therefore, a tenant with a valid ESA letter from a mental health professional licensed in their state has the right to keep their emotional support animals in housing. This is true even if there’s a no-pet policy, whether through a rental agreement, lease, or HOA decision to restrict pets. This also applies to any pet weight or breed restrictions in housing that otherwise allow pets.
Furthermore, landlords cannot charge pet rents, pet deposits, or additional fees for emotional support animals. Given that they aren’t considered pets, emotional support animals are exempt from such expenses in housing. However, the tenant with the emotional support animal is responsible for any damages caused by the animal, if any.
While this summarizes the housing rights of emotional support animals, it is also important to note that landlords are also protected under the Fair Housing Act. Therefore, a landlord can have the right to deny an emotional support animal, even if the tenant holds a valid ESA letter written by a mental health professional, which we discuss in more detail below.
Can a Landlord Deny an Emotional Support Animal With a Valid ESA Letter?
Below are instances where a landlord can legally deny an emotional support animal. Understanding these is critical, as a landlord unlawfully denying an ESA can face legal consequences. We will be as thorough as possible so that both tenants and landlords get a full understanding of the law.
Undue Hardship on the Landlord
If the emotional support animal’s presence would create undue hardship for the landlord, they can legally deny an emotional support animal. For example, if a tenant requested that a landlord build a new set of stairs because their small emotional support dog cannot climb the existing ones, it would likely be considered an undue financial burden.
The Fair Housing Act requires reasonable accommodations for the tenant’s disability, and since this isn’t directly for the tenant’s disability, such a request would be beyond what is considered reasonable.
Direct Threat to Safety/Health
Another instance where a landlord can deny an emotional support animal is when the animal poses a direct safety or health risk. An emotional support dog with a previous human bite history that acts aggressively around other tenants, for example, could be considered a direct safety risk, creating the basis for the landlord to deny accommodation.
However, this must be based on direct evidence rather than any assumptions. The emotional support animal must act in a way that would pose a clear safety or health risk, such as barking or growling at other tenants.
Property Damage Risk
Instances where an emotional support animal would cause substantial or ongoing property damage give the landlord grounds to deny accommodation. A good example of this would be an emotional support cat repeatedly urinating indoors, causing permanent flooring damage, or an emotional support dog chewing through doors and walls.
Since these would cause ongoing or permanent damage, the landlord can deny the emotional support animal. However, this doesn’t include minor wear and tear in any way or form – it can’t be a basis for an emotional support animal to be denied access to housing.
Exemptions
Even if none of these happen and the emotional support animal is always on their best behavior and doesn’t cause even the slightest bit of property damage, the landlord can still deny accommodation. However, this can happen only in certain housing situations where the Fair Housing Act doesn’t apply.
These exemptions are for:
- Owner-occupied buildings with four or fewer units (renting a room in a three-bedroom house where the owner also lives, for example).
- Single-family homes rented without a broker, provided the owner owns no more than three properties.
- Religious organizations that prefer giving housing to their members.
- Private clubs that limit occupancy to their members.
All this summarizes the instances when a landlord can deny an emotional support animal.
Can a Landlord Deny an Emotional Support Animal Based on Species/Breed?
A landlord cannot deny an emotional support animal based on type and breed just because they don’t want them in the property – there must be a valid reason for it.
For instance, the landlord can deny the emotional support animal on the basis that their presence will lead to ongoing property damage, which is something that we’ve covered above.
Another example is the tenant having an emotional support animal that isn’t suitable for the housing type, meaning that the tenant won’t be able to meet the care needs of their animal. For example, a landlord can deny accommodation for an emotional support chicken in a downtown studio apartment with no outdoor access, as a chicken isn’t a good fit for an apartment.
Additionally, emotional support animals are exempt from any breed-specific legislation, such as city ordinances banning certain breeds. Therefore, a landlord, as well as the municipality, cannot deny an emotional support animal based on breed, even when there’s a city ordinance restricting the breed.
The only instance when a landlord can deny an emotional support animal based on type or breed is when the owner has an animal that isn’t legal to own in their state, such as exotic animals.
Commonly Asked Questions About ESAs and Housing
Here are the answers to commonly asked questions about emotional support animals and their housing rights.
Can an Airbnb Host Deny My Emotional Support Animal?
According to Airbnb’s Accessibility Policy, hosts aren’t required to accommodate emotional support animals like they do for service animals. This is because the service animals are covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Emotional support animals, however, are not, as this law grants protections to service animals for hotels and other types of lodging.
However, Airbnb listings in California and New York are an exception. These states offer added protections for emotional support animals through their own ESA state laws, requiring hosts in these states to accommodate emotional support animals.
Can a Landlord Deny an Emotional Support Animal Without Registration?
Registration isn’t necessary for emotional support animals, so a landlord cannot ask for registration. As long as the tenant has a valid ESA letter written by a mental health professional licensed in your state, they will have everything needed to request accommodation for their emotional support animal.
Can a Landlord Deny an Emotional Support Animal Because of Allergies?
Allergies cannot be a basis for denying accommodation to an emotional support animal. Allergic reactions triggered as the emotional support animal goes in and out of the property can’t be a basis for denying an emotional support animal. However, if the emotional support animal is in an owner-occupied building with four or fewer units, the landlord is exempt from the FHA.
Can Landlords Deny an ESA Letter?
A landlord cannot deny an ESA letter just because they don’t want an animal to live on their property. They must have a legal reason, such as any of the reasons we’ve explained above, to be able to deny an ESA letter legally.
The Fair Housing Act also ensures emotional support owners aren’t discriminated against when applying for housing by not requiring them to disclose that they have an emotional support animal.
Filing an FHA Complaint
A landlord can deny an emotional support animal, but the Fair Housing Act is also very clear about when and where a landlord can deny accommodation to an emotional support animal. It is illegal for a landlord to deny an emotional support animal just because they don’t want an animal or they have a no-pet policy in place.
If you ever find yourself in a situation where your landlord denies accommodation unlawfully, file a complaint online with the Department of Housing and Urban Development. You can also file a complaint by calling 1-800-669-9777.