FAQ’s

Your landlord or property manager can verify your letter by calling the verification number that is included on the prescribing physician’s letterhead. This is the verification phone number of the doctor that issues your prescription, not Emotional Pet Support’s number. Your landlord will simply leave a message with the first and last name of the member he is trying to verify and someone will contact them to verify your letter.

Only in certain circumstances. If the animal’s accommodation could mean additional administrative costs and other adjustments that would affect housing arrangements, then the landlord might refuse your request. For instance, the animal is disruptive or poses a threat to the health, safety, and property of the other tenants. Make sure to train your ESA so they are not unruly and you are always in control.

No. Under the regulations stipulated by the HUD, tenants with assistance animals, including emotional support animals, are not required to pay extra fees. However, a tenant can be liable for expenses that arise from damages is caused by the emotional support animal.

The American Disability Act dictates that assistance animals, including emotional support animals, must be handled properly by its owner. They must ensure that the ESA is obedient and can behave well in public. The handler is responsible for the care and supervision of the ESA at all times.

Landlords and property managers must make reasonable accommodations for tenants or prospective tenants with Emotional Support Animals, even if the apartment, house, or college dorm does not allow pets. A reasonable fee may only be asked by the landlord if there is any damage to the property as a result of your animal, otherwise no other fees may be imposed. Property managers/landlords may require the tenant complete a mental health professional Third Party Verification form. Purchase your emotional support letter for housing from Touch, or view our payment plans to get an affordable ESA prescription. If your landlord requires you to fill out their form, just check the purchase option, send us your form, and our psychiatrist will complete your housing form.

In case your landlord doesn’t allow your ESA even when you have presented him/her with all the correct documentation from a licensed therapist, there are several things that you can do:

1. It’s possible to get in https://touchesa.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Image-Placeholder.png with HUD in order to file a complaint.
2. Your lawyer can help you as well by assisting you in writing a strongly-worded letter to your landlord.
3. Finally, you may want to contact an ESA advocate and have them advise you on your next step properly.

In the event that your landlord strongly objects to and rejects your ESA, it’s essential that you ask them to write a formal rejection letter explaining their decision. Then it’s time for you to act and write them back with an email statement explaining that you have provided all the legal documentation necessary (ESA letter from TOUCH ESA). For example, you may state that denying you accommodation even with the ESA documentation is due to discrimination. Of course, proceed to inform them then that you’ll be filing a HUD complaint in regards to this open discrimination of disability. Once things come to this point, your landlord will have to check the laws on disability and understand that they are legally obliged to grant you access. Don’t lose your temper and stay calm, but never forget that you have all the right to fight this as there is absolutely no reason why someone with a disability should be forced out of their home or denied housing.

In some cases, it’s possible for your landlord to reject your ESA. After all, the purpose of ESA is to protect the person who has to deal with emotional or mental disability, but the said law doesn’t have the right to punish the landlord either. Therefore, pay attention to the following cases when landlords have the right to legally reject your ESA.

In case of a too large an animal for the accommodation size. For instance, if you want to live in a studio apartment you can’t really house a horse or a llama.
The second situation is in the case of the building having 4 or fewer units, with landlord living in the said building as well.
Finally, a landlord can reject your ESA if the accommodation is a single-family house rented to you without a realtor.
Overview of Emotional Support Animals and Housing Laws

Everything depends on whether the person in question receives federally subsidized housing or has a documented disability that would make the landlord waive the “no pets” policy. Sadly, in the case of renting housing, the landlord is in the position to deny pets. Still, federal statutes, including Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (“Sec. 504”) and the Federal Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988 (“FHAA”) state that a disabled person has to have equal rights to those with no disabilities when it comes to housing. It’s completely illegal to deny someone housing just because they have a certain disability. According to the statues, everyone, and this includes people with disabilities, has the right to equally enjoy their accommodation. Courts have stated before that “no pets” rule doesn’t stand if the person with an emotional or mental disability finds the comfort and ease in their pet’s companionship. A landlord who still denies housing to a person with a disability who needs an animal by their side for emotional support and qualifies under the statutes, violates the said statutes and can be seriously fined.

In order to actually qualify under both statutes, the tenant has to check whether they have a qualifying disability in the first place. For example, mental disabilities such as mental illness, retardation, and special learning disabilities as well as mental impairment when it comes to performing major life activities all qualify under the statutes.

What’s more, under Sec. 504, the tenant must be “otherwise qualified” in order to get the benefit, he/she must be denied that benefit due to the disability only, and the whole program must get federal financial assistance. According to courts, “otherwise qualified” means that the tenant has to be able to meet the program’s requirements even with the handicap. Also, the tenant should be able to respect tenancy rules such as taking care of the animal, cleaning up after it, walking it in designated areas, etc. Finally, Sec. 504 provisions can only be benefited by housing authorities that are funded by federal government (e.g. public housing projects).

Unlike Sec. 504, the FHAA applies to both public and private housing. Of course, FHAA also requires the establishment of a qualifying disability as well as the proof that the landlord is fully aware of the tenant’s disability which made the waiving of the “no pets” policy an obvious and legal move, but the process ended up in landlord rejecting ESA still. Moreover, the tenant has to openly request the waiver of “no pets” policy from the landlord with full explanation about the emotional support that the animal provides in their specific case of disability. In general, a physician’s statement is usually more than enough for the proof of disability and accommodation request. Feeling the emotional distress that comes from the “no pets” accommodation policy is not a reason enough to qualify under the federal law. There has to be an official connection recognized by the licensed therapist between the pet and the disability.

In case of both statutes mentioned, the person who is mentally disabled has to meet the following standards when it comes to waving the “no pets” policy in accommodation: 1) the accommodation in question has to be functional enough for the disabled person’s comfort, and 2) a cost-benefit balancing test has to be passed in order for both parties to be satisfied. The latter can be established by proving just how much the animal companion helps alleviates the emotional struggle of the disabled person. Such evidence is often obtained from a medical professional. Also, it’s essential that the tenant’s benefits in the latter case are compared to the landlord’s burdens as well. However, these burdens are usually very minimal. In the end, the number of mentally disabled people who actually qualify for the “no pets” waiving policy is quite small. But, precisely because of that, most landlords can’t argue against the waiving of the said policy. What’s more, there shouldn’t be any other reasonable alternatives to lessening the disability effects other than the pet.

Courts haven’t put a limit on possible animal species yet. But the usual species allowed in accommodation were generally, cats, dogs, and birds. Moreover, courts declared that the animal in question doesn’t require special training or ESA certification. Just providing the evidence about the connection between the animal and disability is enough.

However, even if the disabled person completely qualifies under the federal laws, the landlord can still refuse to waive “no pets” policy if this will cause great burdens on the landlord. This is true in cases when “no pets” is a fundamental housing program rule or when the disabled person cannot follow the tenancy rules. Still, so far, no landlord has been able to refuse to waive a “no pets” policy to a mentally disabled person who fully qualifies under the law, even in the above-mentioned cases.

It’s important to mention that if the tenant with disability in any way compromises the safety of other tenants or their property with the animal companion, they automatically don’t qualify under the statutes which make the landlord waive the “no pets” policy.

There are plenty of known benefits when it comes to the company of animals for people with mental disabilities. This is why it’s essential that legal communities assist the mentally disabled people with their rights in mind in order to make sure those rights are enforced.