Emotional support animals (ESAs) are companions who offer therapeutic relief to those with emotional or mental disabilities. While they aren’t granted public access rights like service dogs, they do receive housing privileges because they are protected by the Fair Housing Act (FHA) federal law.
Under the FHA, landlords legally have to accept emotional support animals, even if they have no-pet policies in place. However, there are some exceptions. We’ll delve further into this today and explain everything else you need to know about ESAs and their housing rights.
What Is an Emotional Support Animal?
An emotional support animal is an animal that helps to ease the symptoms of a disability through their affection, companionship, and presence. Any species can be legally recognized as an ESA, including dogs, cats, rabbits, hamsters, fish, reptiles, and birds.
Emotional Support Animal vs Service Animals
Emotional support animals are often confused with service animals. While they do share a similarity in the sense that they both provide therapeutic relief, there is a key difference between them.
Service animals are considered working dogs because they perform specialized, disability-related tasks. For example, a service animal may perform deep pressure therapy for an individual struggling with anxiety or alert a deaf person to certain sounds, such as the doorbell or a fire alarm.
In comparison, ESAs aren’t required to undergo training and do not perform trained tasks. This key difference means they aren’t recognized as working dogs and therefore receive different legal protections; emotional support animals aren’t granted public access rights, while service dogs are. Service dogs also receive reasonable accommodation within the workplace and when traveling on planes.
However, as we touched on earlier, ESAs are protected under the FHA and are granted additional housing rights.
What Is the Fair Housing Act?
Established in 1968, the Fair Housing Act is a federal law that prohibits discrimination in housing, including the rental and purchase of properties. Protected characteristics under the FHA include race, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, and disability.
Since the FHA considers emotional support animals disability assistance aids, the housing rights extend to ESAs as well.
Thanks to the FHA, landlords must reasonably accommodate emotional support animals in their rental properties, regardless of whether they have no-pet policies in place. They also can’t subject emotional support animals to pet-related fees and restrictions (such as size limits and breed bans).
That said, although the FHA applies in most circumstances, there are some exceptions to be mindful of.
When Landlords DON’T Have to Accept Emotional Support Animals
Certain types of properties are exempt from the FHA and are not legally obligated to accommodate ESAs. These properties include:
- Owner-occupied buildings with four or fewer units
- Single-family housing sold independently without the use of a broker; the owner must also not own more than three homes
- Properties associated with religious organizations or private clubs
Even if the rental property doesn’t fall into one of the categories above, a landlord also has the right to deny your ESA housing if the following instances apply:
- Your animal isn’t housebroken
- Housing your animal brings undue financial hardship
- Your ESA causes significant property damage or exhibits other disruptive, unruly behavior
- Your ESA shows aggressive behavior and endangers other people living within the accommodation
- Your ESA cannot be safely accommodated in the space due to their size, weight, or general needs. For example, an alpaca would realistically not be able to live in a cramped one-bedroom apartment
In most instances, as long as your ESA is well-trained and behaved, these exceptions shouldn’t apply. That’s why it’s incredibly important to ensure your ESA knows their basic obedience and is well-socialized around other people, even if the FHA doesn’t legally require ESAs to be trained.
Getting an Emotional Support Animal Today
If you have a diagnosed emotional or mental disability, and you feel an animal’s companionship will help alleviate your symptoms, you may be eligible for an ESA. You will need to undergo an ESA assessment with a licensed mental healthcare professional (LMHP). If the LMHP feels that an ESA would be beneficial for your well-being, they will provide you with a valid ESA letter.
Navigating the legal challenges and process of obtaining an ESA letter can be difficult. This is especially the case in states like California and Montana, where there are additional requirements involved, such as having a 30-day client-provider relationship.
However, you don’t have to work through this alone; US Service Animals has an in-depth ESA certification guide that walks you through every step of the way. You can also contact their legal team directly for further assistance.