I have noticed these questions popping up more and more within my social media feeds. Let us dive into the subject.
ESA is the common acronym for Emotional Support Animal. In very simple terms ESAs' are pets that have the legal OK to live with their owners despite no pet policies or any other policy, fee or contractual obligations that dictate the owner not be allowed to keep a pet in their home or fee to be paid.
The ADA/FHA define an ESA as:
"According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), an emotional support animal is any animal that provides emotional support alleviating one or more symptoms or effects of a person's disability. Emotional support animals provide companionship, relieve loneliness, and sometimes help with depression, anxiety, and certain phobias, but do not have special training to perform tasks that assist people with disabilities. Emotional support animals are not limited to dogs."
So, again, simply said an ESA is a pet that the owner can keep at home that helps them as most all pets do. They are not allowed public access as service animals are or any other special legal standing.
So why have an emotional support animal? If you are renting and the apartment has a no pet policy in place or has a "pet rent" that the renter must in order to keep the animal. This can also be useful if an HOA or condo complex has the same.
A couple of things to keep in mind:
• If the owner/management is NOT covered by the FHA they can refuse
• If the owner/management can show an undue hardship for the ESA it can be refuse.
What needs to happen to get an ESA
First off let me put this out there. The ads you see online for ESA's and service animals are BUNK! They are all a sham and only steal your money. Even the ADA has had to put a notice on their site about it.
"There are individuals and organizations that sell service animal certification or registration documents online. These documents do not convey any rights under the ADA and the Department of Justice does not recognize them as proof that the dog is a service animal."
You will need to go to your health provider and start a conversation about it. This must be your health provider that you have an ongoing relationship with. They, the provider will have to agree and put it in a letter. This letter must contain a few things
Other things to do
Research both the federal and state law going into this process. It is important that you understand the law as well, if not more than the owner/management knows the law. You will have to answer questions, and most owner/managers have very little knowledge of ESA guidelines.
Here are some links you may find useful.
https://www.hud.gov/sites/dfiles/FHEO/documents/huddojstatement.pdf
https://www.hud.gov/sites/dfiles/PA/documents/HUDAsstAnimalNC1-28-2020.pdf
https://www.ada.gov/service_animals_2010.htm
https://www.ada.gov/regs2010/service_animal_qa.html
ESA is the common acronym for Emotional Support Animal. In very simple terms ESAs' are pets that have the legal OK to live with their owners despite no pet policies or any other policy, fee or contractual obligations that dictate the owner not be allowed to keep a pet in their home or fee to be paid.
The ADA/FHA define an ESA as:
"According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), an emotional support animal is any animal that provides emotional support alleviating one or more symptoms or effects of a person's disability. Emotional support animals provide companionship, relieve loneliness, and sometimes help with depression, anxiety, and certain phobias, but do not have special training to perform tasks that assist people with disabilities. Emotional support animals are not limited to dogs."
So why have an emotional support animal? If you are renting and the apartment has a no pet policy in place or has a "pet rent" that the renter must in order to keep the animal. This can also be useful if an HOA or condo complex has the same.
A couple of things to keep in mind:
• If the owner/management is NOT covered by the FHA they can refuse
• If the owner/management can show an undue hardship for the ESA it can be refuse.
- This is normally due to insurance and the breed of the pet
What needs to happen to get an ESA
First off let me put this out there. The ads you see online for ESA's and service animals are BUNK! They are all a sham and only steal your money. Even the ADA has had to put a notice on their site about it.
"There are individuals and organizations that sell service animal certification or registration documents online. These documents do not convey any rights under the ADA and the Department of Justice does not recognize them as proof that the dog is a service animal."
You will need to go to your health provider and start a conversation about it. This must be your health provider that you have an ongoing relationship with. They, the provider will have to agree and put it in a letter. This letter must contain a few things
- An official letterhead
- The name of the licensed mental health professional (LMHP)
- The name of the practice
- Phone number of the practice
- The type of medical license
- Date the medical license was issued
- The state of the therapist's jurisdiction
- The type of animal
- That they are your therapist and are currently treating you for a disability recognized in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM).
- The date the letter was issued
Other things to do
Research both the federal and state law going into this process. It is important that you understand the law as well, if not more than the owner/management knows the law. You will have to answer questions, and most owner/managers have very little knowledge of ESA guidelines.
Here are some links you may find useful.
https://www.hud.gov/sites/dfiles/FHEO/documents/huddojstatement.pdf
https://www.hud.gov/sites/dfiles/PA/documents/HUDAsstAnimalNC1-28-2020.pdf
https://www.ada.gov/service_animals_2010.htm
https://www.ada.gov/regs2010/service_animal_qa.html
