Emotional support animals and service animals are essential companions that many individuals with disabilities need to have with them. Not only do emotional support animals provide comfort, but they also help relieve certain symptoms of specific mental health conditions and other disabilities. In the case of service animals, these working dogs perform specific tasks for their owners, helping them regain a sense of confidence and ease of daily life.
If you have an emotional support animal, a service animal, or you are considering adding either of these wonderful animals into your life, you might be wondering what your rights are. Our article aims to give you this information along with details about emotional support animals and one of the most important federal acts that protects emotional support animal rights, the Fair Housing Act.
What Is an Emotional Support Animal?
An emotional support animal (ESA) is typically considered a comfort animal, and they do differ from a service animal. Emotional support animals may be any breed of animal or size, though cats and dogs are the most common, and they provide comfort and relief from their owners’ conditions via their presence. Emotional support animals are not trained to complete any specific tasks for their owners to help them manage their disabilities or conditions the way service animals are. Because of this, emotional support animals are not granted the same wide-reaching public access rights that service animals are.
That being said, there are federal laws that recognize service animals and give them limited protections to live and travel easily with their owners.
What is the Fair Housing Act?
The Fair Housing Act (FHA) was passed in 1968 in order to stop discrimination in regards to housing-related activities, such as renting, the sale of properties, and the financing of a dwelling. The Fair Housing Act aims to protect individuals from discrimination in housing because of race, nationality, religion, disability, or familial status. The Act was also established to help individuals in protected classes find housing despite issues with accessibility or price in their area.
It’s important to keep in mind that property owners can deny potential tenants due to reasons such as criminal history or a lack of income, but gender, race, family status, nationality, religion, and disability status are not legal considerations for landlords and rental agencies.
How Does the Fair Housing Act Protect Emotional Support Animals?
As we mentioned above, the Fair Housing Act protects emotional support animals. Because many individuals with disabilities rely on the comfort and support of their ESA, these helpful companions are granted the right to live alongside their owner even in spaces that don’t typically allow animals. Refusing to provide accommodations for an individual who needs to live with their ESA or denying an individual on the basis of their ESA counts as discrimination, which is illegal according to the Fair Housing Act.
Does the Fair Housing Act Cover Service Animals?
The Fair Housing Act does protect service animals in addition to emotional support animals. Service animals are essential to helping an individual with a disability maintain their comfort and safety, in addition to supporting them through their daily tasks.
To be considered a service animal, the animal (must be a dog or a miniature horse) will need to be trained to directly assist with a specific part of a person’s disability or relieve certain aspects of the individual’s disability. Examples of the tasks that service dogs might complete include retrieving medication, interrupting harmful behaviors, turning lights on and off, and providing medical alerts for seizures.
If an individual is denied housing on the basis that they will need to live with their service dog, this is discrimination and illegal, according to FHA regulations.
Emotional Support Animals and the Fair Housing Act
When you are considering adding an emotional support animal into your life, it’s important to understand your ESA’s role in regard to your condition and the rights that are granted to you and your ESA by the Fair Housing Act.
Emotional support animals are beneficial for individuals with certain conditions, such as anxiety or depression, those who need support after a traumatic event, or those who need extra comfort and support during their daily lives as a result of conditions like behavioral disorders, PTSD, or other mental health conditions.
It’s important to note that while ESAs do provide significant comfort and symptom relief to many individuals, they are not trained to specifically relieve parts of an individual’s disability and they are not considered service animals.
The Fair Housing Act protects your rights to live with any emotional support animal that provides you a mental health benefit or a benefit related to your disability, as long as the ESA is prescribed by a licensed medical professional. No one is allowed to be denied housing with their emotional support animal, except in very specific circumstances, which we discuss below.
Are There Required Documents for ESAs and the Fair Housing Act?
Your emotional support animal is protected under the Fair Housing Act, but that doesn’t mean you can simply pass off any pet as an ESA. You must gather certain documents that show proof of your need of an emotional support animal and verify that you have a disability. Questions about the specifics of what your ESA does or what your disability is are illegal, but landlords and rental agencies may ask if you have a disability and if that disability requires the use of an emotional support animal.
Your first step in obtaining documentation for your ESA is consulting with your doctor, therapist, or another licensed medical professional. They will listen to your concerns and prescribe you an emotional support animal, and they will then draft a letter attesting to that need.
Once you have your emotional support animal letter, you are able to request accommodation under the Fair Housing Act for any housing area that you wish to reside in. These accommodations will ensure that you can live with your emotional support animal without paying any extra rents, deposits, or pet fees.
Keep in mind that you are not legally obligated to provide landlords or rental agencies with extensive information about your disability, ESA registration (this type of thing is not official and does not exist), or certification for your ESA (again, this is not legally required or valid). You are also not required to prove that your emotional support animal has specific training, as ESAs don’t need to be trained, and proof of trained skills is never legally acceptable to ask for.
The only documentation you will need for your ESA is an official letter from a licensed medical professional stating your need for one.
What if My Landlord Refuses Accommodation?
The Fair Housing Act states that landlords must provide accommodations to individuals with disabilities that need to live with their emotional support animals. If you have followed all of the correct steps and provided your landlord or rental agency with an ESA letter and you are still denied accommodation, your next step should be to file a discrimination complaint.
By law, landlords must provide access to accommodation if a person has a disability and if their support animal does not create health issues or hardship for other tenants. However, if a landlord refuses your accommodation even after they’ve seen the ESA letter, you have a few options.
You may file a complaint through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, contact your state government agencies that handle discrimination complaints, or reach out to the National Fair Housing Alliance.
Any of these options will help you work towards ensuring your necessary accommodations are provided to you.
Fair Housing Act and Emotional Support Animal FAQs
The Fair Housing Act and its protection of emotional support animals often raise some questions. Review our answers to frequently asked questions on this topic for more information.
Are ESAs Protected by the Americans With Disabilities Act?
Emotional support animals are not protected by the Americans with Disability Act (ADA) because they are not service animals. The ADA is designed to protect service animals, which are trained to complete specific tasks for their owners and emotional support animals are not trained to meet these standards. The only federal protection that emotional support animals receive is found in the Fair Housing Act.
Are Certain Types of Housing Excluded From the Fair Housing Act?
The Fair Housing Act covers the majority of housing types available in the United States, including public housing. However, some types of housing are excluded from the Fair Housing Act and the owners of these properties do not have to adhere to the regulations set forth by this act in certain circumstances.
Housing exceptions to the FHA include owner-occupied rental housing with four or less units, single-family homes rented or sold by the owner without an estate agent, or housing that is privately owned by clubs or religious organizations that limit housing to a members-only basis.
How Do I Request Accommodations?
Requesting accommodation for your housing doesn’t have to be a confusing or complex process. You will need to inform your landlord or rental agency that you need accommodations for your emotional support animal and provide them with a letter stating your need for an ESA from a licensed medical professional. Once your request has been processed, your landlord or rental agency will inform you of the next steps regarding your housing and accommodation.
Can a Landlord Deny My ESA Based on Breed or Size?
Landlords or rental agencies cannot deny your emotional support animal based on breed, size, or even the species of animal. ESAs are typically cats and dogs, but other animals are also potential ESA candidates.
When Can a Landlord Deny My Emotional Support Animal?
There are few limited exceptions for when your landlord or rental agency can legally deny your emotional support animal. The most common reason is due to your ESA being out of control and causing significant damage to the property or presenting a threat to other tenants. Your ESA may also be denied due to their size in cases where they cannot fit and thrive into a certain rental or housing unit.
Are Emotional Support Animals Considered Service Animals?
Emotional support animals are not considered service animals as they are not specifically trained to help with their owner’s disability, though they do provide comfort and relief of the symptoms of certain conditions. Because of this, ESAs are granted more limited public access rights than service animals are, but they do have fair housing rights as granted by the FHA.
Can Emotional Support Animals Travel With Their Owners?
Emotional support animals may travel with their owners without fees in certain circumstances. Air travel is handled by each airline on a case-by-case basis, and you will need to directly check with the airline you wish to take your ESA on for specific procedures and accommodation request instructions. The same goes for hotels or other public accommodations which may grant ESA accommodations, such as no fees for staying with your ESA, on a case-by-case basis.
How Do I Get an Emotional Support Animal?
If you want to add an emotional support animal to your care plan, your first step is speaking to a licensed medical professional about this. Your therapist, doctor, or another medical professional will be able to draft you a letter stating your need for an ESA, and then you can adopt an animal that you bond with or have your current pet as an emotional support animal.
Once you have your ESA letter, you are able to request accommodations from landlords and rental agencies as according to the Fair Housing Act.
Understanding Your Housing Rights
Emotional support animals are a popular topic, and many individuals recognize the benefits that ESAs bring for those who are suffering from certain mental health conditions or other disabilities. Even though emotional support animals aren’t trained in any specific way, they provide significant relief and comfort from an individual’s disability with their presence.
If you want to add an ESA to your care plan, it’s important to consult with a medical professional and understand which housing rights you and your ESA can take advantage of. Once you understand these and have all of your documents in order, you can start living comfortably with your emotional support animal, no matter where you need to find housing.