An emotional support animal’s presence can help people with a psychiatric disability immensely. For instance, emotional support animals mitigate the symptoms of a psychiatric condition with their presence alone, and the routine required to care for them gives the owner a sense of purpose that gives them a reason to get out of bed.
Since these animals are considered a part of someone’s treatment for a psychiatric condition, such as depression and anxiety, they are protected under the Fair Housing Act. Federal law gives them the right to live with their owners, even if their lease or rental agreement has a no-pet policy.
However, not many people know what the law says about multiple emotional support animals in a rental property. Given that emotional support animals must not cause undue hardship to the landlord, the number of emotional support animals someone has is a big question.
In this article, we will answer whether a landlord can limit the number of emotional support animals. Whether you’re a landlord or someone with an emotional support animal, read on to learn what the law says about landlords limiting the number of emotional support animals their tenants can have.
What Is an Emotional Support Animal?
An emotional support animal is a type of support animal that provides therapeutic benefits to individuals with a psychiatric disability through companionship. A licensed mental health professional writes an ESA letter to an individual with a mental health condition, recommending the use of an emotional support animal to ease their symptoms.
Since emotional support animals are recommended by a mental health professional, they are considered a medical need, not pets. That’s why laws like the Fair Housing Act protect their rights to live with their owners in no-pet housing. This protection gives thousands of emotional support animal owners peace of mind.
The same applies to multiple emotional support animals. Some people might have a need for more than one emotional support animal, especially those with animals that typically require a companion of their own to live a healthy life, such as rabbits and guinea pigs. This, however, concerns many that their landlords might limit the number of emotional support animals they can have.
We talk more about this below after covering the differences between emotional support animals and service animals. Considering that they are commonly mistaken for one another, being able to distinguish the two is critical, particularly for those who have or plan on having both for their condition.
Emotional Support Animal vs. Service Animal: Main Differences
While both emotional support animals and service animals assist their handlers, how they do so is the primary difference. Emotional support animals simply exist and comfort their owner with their presence – they don’t actively do anything, as having a pet already has therapeutic benefits that can help those with a psychiatric disability.
Service animals can also provide the same therapeutic benefits to individuals with a disability, but what makes these assistance animals different is the tasks they perform related to someone’s disability. For example, a psychiatric service dog can perform deep pressure therapy, interrupt harmful behaviors, and remind the handler when it is time to take medication. These, and many other tasks service animals perform, assist the handler in their daily lives.
Due to these differences, service animals have public access rights in addition to the housing rights given to them by the Fair Housing Act. The Americans with Disabilities Act clearly states that service animals can enter public places like restaurants and shops even if they have a no-pet policy. The same public access rights, however, aren’t given to emotional support animals.
How Many Emotional Support Animals Can Someone Have?
There isn’t a limit on how many emotional support animals someone can have as far as federal law is concerned. An individual with a psychiatric disability can have as many emotional support animals as they need.
However, each emotional support animal must be justified and have documentation that proves their status as an emotional support animal. Therefore, each emotional support animal requires an ESA letter. This isn’t uncommon, as many mental health professionals support multiple emotional support animals if they help their clients with different symptoms.
Even though an individual can have multiple emotional support animals, it doesn’t mean they can live with all of their emotional support animals in a rental property, no questions asked. Here’s more on what having multiple emotional support animals means for those renting.
So, Can a Landlord Limit the Number of Emotional Support Animals?
The answer to whether a landlord can limit the number of emotional support animals is yes, but only under specific conditions. A landlord cannot impose arbitrary limits, like no more than two emotional support animals, for example. The Fair Housing Act and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) are very clear about in what situations landlords can deny ESAs.
According to federal law, the following situations can legally allow a landlord to limit the number of emotional support animals a tenant can have, provided with examples to help you better understand each point.
- The presence of the ESAs causes financial hardship.
- Example: A landlord renting out a duplex unit can deny someone with six emotional support dogs due to the financial hardship required for installing soundproof walls to prevent other units from hearing barking.
- The presence of the ESAs alters the housing provider’s services.
- Example: A housing provider can deny the accommodation request of a tenant who wants to bring their emotional support animals to a retirement community for seniors with allergies, as the presence of the ESAs would alter their services.
- The presence of the ESAs poses a health or safety risk to others.
- Example: A landlord can deny a tenant who wants to keep multiple emotional support dogs that act aggressively towards other tenants, as the dogs would be posing a clear and present safety risk.
- The presence of the ESAs would result in property damage.
- Example: A housing provider renting a historic house with antique hardwood floors can deny someone with multiple emotional support cats, as cats are likely to damage the floors with their claws.
Note that these also mean that the landlord can not only limit the number of emotional support animals but also deny them entirely, as the tenant’s accommodation request will be unreasonable with the number of ESAs they have.
How to Handle Disputes With a Landlord Rejecting Your ESAs
If you have multiple emotional support animals and you feel that your landlord is limiting the number of emotional support animals you can keep unlawfully or denying them altogether, you’re not helpless.
You can file an online complaint with the HUD and even take it to court to take legal action, as dealing with a landlord unlawfully denying your emotional support animals can worsen anyone’s mental health struggles.
FAQs About Landlords Limiting the Number of Emotional Support Animals
Below are answers to some of the frequently asked questions about landlords limiting or denying emotional support animals.
Can Landlords Reject Emotional Support Animals Because of Size?
A landlord can reject an emotional support animal due to size if the presence of the animal causes undue hardship, just like a high number of emotional support animals. A good example of this would be having a miniature horse in a small studio apartment. Since the miniature horse won’t have adequate space to live in a studio, the landlord would have the right to deny accommodation.
Is There an Animal a Landlord Can Deny as an ESA?
Landlords can’t deny an emotional support animal because they don’t want or dislike the type of ESA a tenant has. Since any animal someone is allowed to keep in their state can be their emotional support animal, landlords cannot deny a specific type of emotional support animal. That’s, of course, unless the presence of the ESA causes undue hardship or other problems, as previously mentioned.
What About Laws Limiting Pet Ownership?
There are local laws that limit the number of pets a person can keep at their home. For instance, Los Angeles County limits pet ownership to three dogs and cats per household. While many believe that these also apply to emotional support animals, keep in mind that ESAs aren’t pets. Therefore, federal law overrides these restrictions – those with multiple ESAs aren’t subject to local laws surrounding pet ownership limits.
Can a Landlord Limit the Number of Emotional Support Animals? Your Question Answered
Landlords cannot limit the number of emotional support animals because they aren’t happy with how many ESAs a tenant has. The only situation when a landlord can limit or deny the number of emotional support animals is when the presence of the animal causes undue hardship, such as a safety risk to others or damage to the property.
Therefore, to conclude our article, the answer to whether or not a landlord can limit the number of emotional support animals is yes, but only under specific circumstances.