Can a Landlord Deny an Emotional Support Dog? [Landlord Rights]

An emotional support dog isn’t an ordinary dog. It provides its owner with comfort to alleviate their mental health issues, such as anxiety, stress, panic attacks. Under the Fair Housing Act, ESA owners must have access to reasonable accommodation without any pet-related fees.

Does the landlord has the right to deny an emotional support dog? What are the landlord’s rights? Let’s discuss.

What is The Fair Housing Act (FHA)?

The Fair Housing Act is a federal law, which protects tenants with disabilities in the United States against discrimination. Under the law, a disability means any medical condition that interferes with major daily life activities. And, landlords must ensure reasonable accommodation to people with disabilities. For this, they can’t charge additional pet-related fees. This applies to regions with a no-pet policy.

If you may qualify for an ESA letter to receive emotional support from your dog to manage your medical condition. Talk to a licensed mental health practitioner to apply for your emotional support dog letter.

Landlord Rights

By getting an emotional support dog letter, you can legally live with your ESA without paying extra pet deposits under the FHA.

Your landlord can ask you to provide proper documentation for your ESA. You need to show an ESA letter that should say that your dog is an important part of your life and helps you deal with your symptoms.

The FHA has specific rules for protecting tenants’ privacy. Under the law, landlords have no right to ask for complete details about the disabilities of tenants. Moreover, they can’t require dogs to get specific training to perform their job or make you register your dog as an ESA.

Can a Landlord Deny an Emotional Support Dog?

Under the FHA, landlords can’t deny housing to emotional support dog owners. But, there are some circumstances where they can do so. The FHA doesn’t apply to buildings with no more than four units where one unit is occupied by the landlord. Additionally, single-family homes rented/sold by the owners aren’t covered under the law.

Moreover, landlords can deny emotional support dogs if the pets become a threat to others or cause property damage.

Thus, your emotional support dog should be well-trained so that you can easily handle them in stressful situations. Start with basic commands, such as sit, stay, down, etc., and then train it to behave positively in different environments and circumstances. You can also train your ESA some specific techniques, such as Deep Pressure Therapy for managing anxiety.

Covering it up, the Fair Housing Act says that tenants with disabilities are eligible for reasonable accommodation in the United States. However, landlords can ask tenants to show their emotional support dog letters to verify if they are actually diagnosed with a medical condition that can be managed with pet therapy.

However, landlords can deny an emotional support dog if it’s causing property damage or have become a threat to other people.

My ESA Doctor is a reputable clinic that allows you to apply for your emotional support dog letter online in a few minutes. Our therapists see patients via video call and provide ESA letters in PDF format via emails. Check our website to learn more about our services.