Can Landlord Deny ESA? Everything You Need to Know
Emotional support animals (ESA) help people with mental health disabilities feel relief from those symptoms. While medication and therapy can manage a lot of emotional issues, sometimes it’s hard to beat the love and affection that dogs and cats provide. Plus, if you’re someone who lives alone and deals with anxiety and depression from loneliness, an ESA might be perfect for you.
That said, you might be wondering how your landlord feels about the whole situation. So, can landlords deny ESAs? The short answer is yes, but it’s a lot more complicated than a simple yes or no. Thankfully, we’re here to break all that down and more.
What Is an Emotional Support Animal (ESA)?
First things first, you need to know what an ESA is before you decide to adopt one, get an ESA letter, and provide that information to your landlord. Basically, emotional support animals, or ESAs, are comfort animals that help reduce symptoms of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and other mental health disorders.
While emotional support animals offer relief for these symptoms, they’re not handled the same way as service animals. Instead, they’re closer to pets and only protected under the Fair Housing Act (FHA), whereas service animals are protected by the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
It’s also important to note that ESAs can be most types of animals as long as they’re friendly; it’s all about how they help you with your condition.
How Can Landlord Deny ESAs?
While emotional support animals (ESAs) are able to live in apartments that may not be pet-friendly, that doesn’t mean landlords don’t have rights. Typically, landlords can only remove emotional support animals if they’re misbehaving but some other exceptions apply. Learn more about how landlords can deny ESAs below.
Destructive Behaviors
Emotional support animals with destructive behaviors can be denied by landlords. If the animal is damaging property, scarring other guests, or making loud noises that are disturbing the peace, landlords have grounds to deny or remove an ESA from the premises.
Some additional behaviors that can result in an ESA being denied include:
• Frequently barking during the evening hours or at other tenants
• Growling at tenants
• Peeing inside apartments
• Chewing bushes and damaging property
• Encroaching on other people’s properties
• Foul odors
These are only a handful of examples, so keep these in mind and choose an animal that can properly behave to avoid problems.
ESA Fraud
If you plan on getting an ESA letter from a reputable source, you don’t have to worry about this one. However, if you’re claiming that you have that letter already or that your animal was approved, even if they were, landlords can deny your request if you don’t present the letter.
To avoid any issues, make sure you have a copy of the letter handy before going to your landlord. What’s more, you need to make sure the letter is signed by a licensed mental health professional in your state.
Financial or Space Burdens
In some cases, allowing you and your emotional support animal to reside in their housing may increase the cost of said housing. If this happens, landlords can deny your request for an ESA.
Aside from financial problems, if your ESAs are two massive Alaskan huskies that won’t fit in a one-bedroom apartment, landlords can deny your request. Most landlords are reasonable about these accommodations but always consider the cost your ESAs may bring with them.
How to Get an ESA Letter
When getting an ESA letter it’s important to ensure that it’s legit and will hold up under scrutiny if landlords try and deny your animal. For this reason, we recommend working with reputable organizations like US Service Animals for the best results.
You’ll be connected with a licensed mental health professional who’s licensed in your state and experienced at approving emotional support animals. Overall, it’s one of the best support animal registration processes out there.
Aside from working with a reputable online organization, you can also meet with a therapist who’s licensed in your state. This is a great way to get an ESA letter if you’ve been working with one already.
Can Landlord Deny ESA: Know Your Rights
Landlords can deny your ESA, sure, but only in certain circumstances. The good news is that if you avoid the issues we outlined in this article, you’ll have no problems. Make sure your ESA is well-behaved, friendly, and serves a legitimate purpose.
Then, get an ESA letter from a trusted licensed mental health professional or an online service like US Service Animals and stop worrying about landlords denying your support animals today.
