Emotional support animals (ESA) are some of the most valuable companions around, as these animals provide relief to their owner’s mental health symptoms simply through their presence. Your emotional support animal is no doubt a companion that you need to keep at your side no matter what, though this can be confusing to navigate when you live in an apartment or another complex that is overseen by a landlord or property manager.
Oftentimes, these buildings have pet limits for residents, and this might complicate your ability to live with your ESA. Our article gives you more information about emotional support animals, including whether or not your ESA counts toward any pet limit your property has in place.
What Is an Emotional Support Animal?
An emotional support animal is any animal that helps to relieve the symptoms of certain mental health conditions, such as anxiety, chronic stress, depression, and PTSD. While most emotional support animals are dogs or cats, an ESA can be any type of animal, including birds, rabbits, snakes, and fish.
For many people, the presence of an emotional support animal in their lives provides them with comfort, routine, and valuable companionship. Emotional support animals can often be an essential part of a mental health treatment plan for individuals who need support but may not need the skilled and specialized help of a service animal.
Service Animals Versus Emotional Support Animals
Many people may confuse service animals and emotional support animals, or they may think of these animal companions as the same thing. However, there are some very important distinctions to make between service animals and emotional support animals.
- Service animals are usually dogs, though they can be miniature horses in some situations; emotional support animals can be any type of animal that brings the owner comfort.
- Service animals are highly trained to help with disability-related tasks, while emotional support animals don’t need to be trained.
- Service animals have wide-reaching public access rights so they can accompany their owners wherever; emotional support animals typically only have the right to live with their owners.
If you think you would benefit more from a service animal over an emotional support animal, speak to your doctor or licensed mental healthcare provider to learn more about the role, a service animal could play in your treatment plan.
Is My Emotional Support Animal a Pet?
While you can register your pet as an emotional support animal, a valid ESA is not technically considered a pet. These animals are around to provide you with comfort and companionship, and they play an important role in how a mental health condition is treated and how symptoms are relieved. Without your emotional support animal, you may have a more difficult time dealing with negative or stressful emotions and situations.
Keep in mind that you must register your animal as an emotional support animal for them to be considered a companion animal and be protected by certain federal and state-level rights. If your animal is not a valid ESA, it may be considered a pet and subject to pet rules, fees, and restrictions as applicable.
How Do I Make Sure My ESA Is Valid?
Ensuring that your emotional support animal is valid is one of the most important things you can do when it comes to keeping your ESA at your side and benefiting from the protected rights that certain laws grant to ESAs.
The first step in making sure your companion animal is a valid ESA is speaking to a mental healthcare provider licensed in your state. Your provider can discuss your condition with you, including providing a diagnosis and treatment options, and they can help evaluate if an emotional support animal is right for you.
Once your provider has approved your animal as an emotional support animal, they will write you an ESA letter. This letter will state your need and include a brief description of your animal in addition to details about your mental healthcare provider and their signature. After you have received this letter, you can keep it on file to submit to landlords or property managers and take advantage of your ESA rights.
Your ESA letter is the thing that shows your companion animal is not a pet, and it will exempt you from paying pet fees and pet rent in addition to adhering to animal breed and size restrictions.
Take note that your ESA letter will typically expire after a year, at which point you will need your provider to write you a new one.
Will My Emotional Support Animal Count Towards the Pet Limit?
According to the Fair Housing Act, emotional support animals are not considered pets. This means that your ESA does not count towards any pet limit or pet restrictions that a building or apartment complex may have in place. Technically, you can have as many ESA as you need living alongside you, as long as you can safely and comfortably live with the animals and you have a valid ESA letter for each of your companions.
You can also have pets alongside emotional support animals. For example, let’s say your apartment complex has a two-pet limit. You may have two cats, but you also have a small dog that is a valid ESA, and you have an ESA letter for your dog. You can live with your two cats and your dog in the apartment even though three animals are above the pet limit because your dog is not considered a pet; they are considered a companion animal and necessary for the treatment of your mental health condition.
FAQs About Emotional Support Animals
When it comes to your emotional support animal, and living alongside your emotional support animal, you may have several lingering questions. Below, we answer the most frequently asked questions about emotional support animals.
How Many Emotional Support Animals Can I Have?
You are legally allowed to have as many emotional support animals as you need, within reason. This means that your emotional support animals should all have a valid ESA letter, and they should all be necessary for the treatment of your mental health condition. You will need to be able to financially and physically care for all of your animals, and there must be enough space in your area of housing to properly care for your animals.
For example, if you have several reptiles as emotional support animals, they must each have a valid ESA letter, and you must have space for care supplies and enclosures; these enclosures must fit comfortably inside your living space, and they must not present severe financial issues or potential destructive problems for the landlord.
An example of an ESA accommodation that would not be allowed or would need to be modified is trying to live with several great Dane dogs in a small studio apartment – there is not enough space to care for the animals comfortably, and having several large animals in a tiny space might present significant issues for the tenant, animal, and landlord.
What Rights Does an ESA Letter Give Me?
Your emotional support animal letter gives you the right to live alongside your support animal without adhering to any pet restrictions or pet limits your building may have in place. With an ESA letter, you will also not be required to pay for pet rent, pet fees, and any special pet security deposits; you can live with as many ESAs as your unit can accommodate, and you have valid ESA letters for.
Keep in mind that just because you do not have to pay pet rent or fees with a valid ESA does not mean that you do not have to pay if your animal causes damage. Companion animals may accidentally be destructive to your housing unit, and if your ESA does destroy property, the landlord or property manager is legally able to ask you to pay for the items your companion animal damaged.
Can My Emotional Support Animal Be Denied?
Your emotional support animal can be denied in very specific circumstances. In general, a landlord or property manager will be required to accommodate your need for an ESA, regardless of whether that means moving you to a different unit that allows your animal and you to live more comfortably, or if it means simply allowing your companion animal in a no-pets building.
However, if your emotional support animal cannot be accommodated by the landlord (for example, you are likely unable to live with a very exotic animal in an apartment complex, ESA or not, or if your ESA is causing severe destruction or acting aggressively and presenting a danger to others, your ESA might be denied accommodation.
It’s important to make sure that your emotional support animal is reasonable and that they are well-behaved and able to live alongside you without causing issues, as this will ensure that your accommodations are approved every time without issue.
What If My ESA Rights Are Being Violated?
If you believe that your ESA rights, such as the right to live with your emotional support animal or the right to have multiple ESAs reasonably in one unit, you may need to contact an advocate in your state. Plenty of legal aid centers and local state-level legal clinics can provide you with the support you need to ensure that you can live alongside your companion animal.
Additionally, it can be helpful to read the federal Fair Housing Act and any state-level emotional support animal laws so you know what your rights are and how to defend them if needed.
Do I Need to Train My ESA?
Unlike service animals, it is not required that your emotional support animal is trained. This is because ESAs do not complete disability-related tasks for their owners; they provide support and comfort with their presence and the routine that caring for them brings. Additionally, some emotional support animals may not even be able to be trained, as typically only cats and dogs are able to learn specific skills and tricks that might help their owners.
That being said, if you have a dog or another common emotional support animal that can be trained, you may want to consider ensuring they have good manners and that they are not aggressive or destructive. A well-behaved ESA can accompany you to more places when they are pet-friendly locations, and you are likely to have less stress when living with your ESA if they are well-behaved.
Keeping Your Support Animal at Your Side
For individuals with certain mental health conditions, the love, companionship, and support of an emotional support animal are essential to helping them go about their daily lives. If you are renting an apartment or another housing space, you may be wondering if your ESA counts towards a pet limit – we’re here to tell you that ESAs aren’t pets; they’re necessary companion animals, and they do not count toward any pet limit.
Make sure that you discuss your emotional support animal with a licensed mental healthcare professional and that you receive a valid ESA letter to ensure your emotional support animal stays at your side, no matter where you live.