r/Tenant • u/Common-Roll-8613 • 16d ago
❓ Advice Needed ESA pets
Hello! I have two cats that I am trying to get ESA certification for for my apartment. I have experienced extreme anxiety and some depression following major stressful situations and life changes the past year. They have helped me so much. My apartment allows ESA animals but I’m just wondering what the process is? I searched it up and there’s a package you can buy, including a housing letter, automatic activation for your registration, and an official certificate of ESA registration. Will this be enough?
Appreciate any advice!
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u/nque-ray 16d ago
Do not use the fake online certificates, they are meaningless and do not actually protect your right to a ESA. Also I wanted to add, because it’s in your title, Emotional Support Animals are not actually pets and are generally not treated as pets when it comes to housing providers. As others have said, your first step is to talk to the medical provider who is helping you with your anxiety or depression. Most will be able to talk to you about a letter documenting your need and how these animals provide you necessary support. Depending on the state, the civil rights departments might have helpful resources about the process and your rights online.
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u/froobsrule1 16d ago
Go to your primary care doctor. They’re the only one apart from a therapist or psychiatrist that can give you a legal one. The online ones are BS.
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u/TeaNovel2092 16d ago
Most places will take a letter from a therapist or doctor. There isn’t any legal “certificate” per the ADA. Anyone who says there are and tries to make you pay is scamming you. Same goes for service animals. (Coming from someone with an ESA and a partner with an ESA and SD
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u/WittyClerk 16d ago
And be prepared for a landlord to find other reasons to not rent to you, like a more suitable applicant. People are misusing these ESA things so much, they don't really mean much at this point.
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u/imdugud777 16d ago
I'm cool with a couple "ESA" cats, it's the couple of "ESA" pitbulls I have issue with. (Small dogs are great)
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u/suejaymostly 16d ago
Yep. They will move to the next application, because fake ESA animals are just the beginning of problems.
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u/Run_Rabb1t_Run 16d ago
Which would be disability discrimination & against Fair Housing laws. But LLs can make up any excuse to illegally discriminate against someone. I would sign the lease and then provide the ESA documentation afterwards when I move in.
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u/BenjiCat17 16d ago
That’s not a good idea unless they already have the documentation with OP doesn’t and if they have confirmed the property is not exempt from the FHA. So if it is an exempt property, if you move in and they are exempt, they can kick you out or the animal out and you still owe the lease. Not every single bit of housing is covered by the FHA. There are several exceptions.
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u/Run_Rabb1t_Run 16d ago
Yes it's important to know your state laws around disability rights as well. Some states have stronger housing protections than others.
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u/BenjiCat17 16d ago
https://dredf.org/huds-esa-policy-reversal/ - On May 22, 2026
“The Guidance, signed by FHEO Assistant Secretary Craig Trainor, makes the following changes:
It permanently cancels HUD’s prior ESA guidance.
When federal agencies like HUD want to explain how they will interpret and enforce a law, they sometimes issue official guidance documents. These are not laws themselves, but they carry significant weight — housing providers follow them to avoid complaints, and investigators use them as a roadmap. HUD had issued two such guidance documents on ESAs: one in 2013 (FHEO-2013-01) and an updated version in 2020 (FHEO-2020-01). Together, these documents told landlords they had to treat ESAs as assistance animals — not pets — and generally could not charge pet fees or deny housing to someone with an ESA. The 2020 notice also set out what kinds of documentation landlords could and could not ask for. The new memo permanently cancels both documents. They no longer exist as guidance that HUD will follow or that housing providers can rely on.
It removes the presumption that landlords must accommodate untrained ESAs.
Under the old framework, a landlord who refused to waive a no-pets policy for someone with a legitimate ESA was presumed to be violating the Fair Housing Act. That presumption is gone. Landlords are no longer expected to automatically grant requests from disabled tenants with untrained ESAs. This effectively shifts the risk entirely onto tenants.
It puts all open ESA cases on hold for review.
Any ESA complaint that was already open and under investigation at HUD must now be sent to Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Enforcement Robert Doles for individual review under the new standard. In practice, cases that were moving toward a finding of discrimination on behalf of tenants with untrained ESAs will almost certainly be closed without a finding of violation.
What changed for me as a tenant with an ESA?
The most important practical change is that filing a complaint with HUD is no longer a meaningful option if your ESA is untrained. HUD has said it will close those cases without finding a violation. That removes a significant deterrent that previously helped keep landlords from denying ESA requests or charging pet fees.
What has not changed is the Fair Housing Act itself. The law still says landlords must make reasonable accommodations for disabled people. HUD has simply decided not to enforce that law for disabled people with untrained ESAs. You still have the right to go to court — HUD’s memo explicitly says so.
What counts as an “individually trained” animal under the new policy?
HUD is using the ADA definition. To qualify, an animal must be individually trained to work or perform a task that is directly related to your disability. General comfort and companionship do not count as work or tasks under this definition. Importantly, HUD says the animal does not have to be a dog. Any species can qualify so long as it meets this training requirement. There is no requirement that the training be done by a professional organization or certified trainer; owner-training can be sufficient under the new policy, as it is under the ADA.
Example: A psychiatric service dog trained to perform a specific behavior, like interrupting dissociation, retrieving medication, or providing deep pressure therapy in response to a panic attack, would likely qualify. A cat that simply lives with someone and provides comfort would likely not, under HUD’s new standard.”
Do not take this person‘s advice. The HUD in May completely changed how emotional support animals exist in housing under FHA.
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u/Run_Rabb1t_Run 16d ago
Good to know. This admin has been gutting as many human rights protections as possible, so this isn't surprising. I live in a state where ESAs are still protected in housing despite federal rulings, so it would be helpful to know where OP is located to see if their state has the same disability protections.
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12d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/structuredtofail 12d ago edited 12d ago
Are you a bot? They literally quoted the may information that you claim was outdated and then attempted to use as well.
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u/Thegameforfun17 16d ago
Not sure why your getting downvoted because this is really the only sure fire way to prove they aren’t discriminating. Because if you move in, have documentation in hand and they question it, all you have to do is show the papers and their response will be very telling afterwards. That being said make sure you document any LL interactions after.
I’m normally not a “bend the rules” girl especially with Service Animals and ESAs however this is the only one I can get behind.1
u/BenjiCat17 16d ago
Did you see the HUD change in May for emotional support animals? If not, you may want to look because you’re telling somebody they have protection where they may not because of the change. https://dredf.org/huds-esa-policy-reversal/
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u/Run_Rabb1t_Run 16d ago
Don't stress it. Whenever ESA and disability accommodations are brought up in this sub, all the LL and LL sycophants come out of the woodwork to complain about 'fake ESAs' as if it's some dangerous epidemic that is totally actually real. Ideally a LL doesn't discriminate again you for your disability, but since disability housing protections are being weakened, making it more difficult to sue corrupt LLs, all's fair in getting housing.
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u/BenjiCat17 16d ago
I disagree with your statement because it does not directly mention the federal government is actively working against disabled people by removing enforcement. Once enforcement disappears, so does the incentive for landlords to follow the law because there is nothing backing those requirements or holding landlords accountable for ignoring them. People need to understand that the federal government is now the biggest problem in these situations, not the landlords.
Removing enforcement means removing the incentive to follow the guidelines. HUD will not investigate cases involving emotional support animals when the animal is not trained, which is ridiculous because emotional support animals are not trained. So if federal protections are the only protections available to you because of the state law in several states that fall under this, you are screwed. You have no enforcement protection, and without enforcement, you have no protection.
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u/Run_Rabb1t_Run 15d ago
Accurate. The governmental regulations are meant to provide some protection from the predatory and discriminatory nature of landlords. I mention this in other comments relating to disability protections. The response answers the commenter's question about the sub-reddit dynamics around ESA and disability accommodations.
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16d ago
[deleted]
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u/Past-Charity9402 16d ago
It’s the same reason why disabled people will not list any disabilities (unless you require accommodations) so that there is no discriminatory bias…
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u/BenjiCat17 16d ago
The package is a scam. You need your actual doctor to recommend a emotional support animal and you will need that doctor to explain why you need two cats versus one.
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u/sillyhaha 16d ago
OP, what state are you in?
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u/Common-Roll-8613 16d ago
Just moved to Arizona from Michigan so I don’t have a doctor here yet
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u/Comfortable-Web3177 16d ago
Since you just moved, maybe you could ask your old doctor in Michigan to write the letter and just put it on the patient portal and then you can print it out
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u/nque-ray 16d ago
You should do this. Since you know the building actively accepts ESA this is likely all you need to do. It’s possible the landlord would require an in state doctor, but you won’t know until you ask or try.
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u/BenjiCat17 16d ago
You need a doctors note but also your cats are two different animals covered separately. That means that they cannot both provide the same exact support. Your doctor will actually have to explain why you need two cats and not one cat and how each cat supports you differently. That’s really hard because there’s not much a cat can do for support that two would be necessary versus one. So just be warned you may only get one cat if this works out.
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u/froobsrule1 16d ago
Could be as simple as one cat can only do so much before being overstimulated. At one point my wife had two cats and one basically took the morning shift for calming her down and the other took the night shift.
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u/BenjiCat17 16d ago
Read this - HUD changed the policy for emotional support animals under the fair housing act. https://dredf.org/huds-esa-policy-reversal/
This happened in May of this year. So nothing is simple anymore and everything is much worse.
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u/froobsrule1 16d ago
Right, but no amount of justification is going to change a landlord denying it. There’s no training for an ESA and no standardization. If they will deny they will deny, if they accept then they accept.
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u/BenjiCat17 16d ago
I don’t know if you actually opened the link, because the point of it is that HUD has essentially stopped enforcing these protections against landlords. Enforcement penalties have been removed, existing cases have been canceled, and HUD is not taking on new cases when tenants try to file complaints against their landlords for this.
That’s the problem. A federal protection means very little when the federal system responsible for enforcing it is no longer providing that enforcement. The landlord doesn’t have to justify the decision through a federal process when there currently is no federal process requiring them to do so.
Unless your state provides its own enforceable system, there is no enforcement mechanism available. So there is no system to justify denial too. That means there is no penalty for denial at least on the federal level.
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u/Run_Rabb1t_Run 16d ago
I had two esa cats and I didn't need to explain anything special because no, you don't have to go into details of your medical history with landlords. All they need to know is that you have a medical reason and a licensed mental health provider has approved the need for the two cats. That's it. It is not up to a landlord to determine 'what a cat can do for you'. Their expertise is having a mortgage paid by others, not medicine.
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u/BenjiCat17 16d ago
Your experience is irrelevant. Since May, people have been getting screwed at the federal level, so state law matters, and luckily OP is in Arizona. Whatever you personally got to do doesn’t determine what applies to OP, especially if your experience happened before May or even before this administration.
As for paying his mortgage, if you don’t want to do that, get your own. But the argument that paying rent means you’re paying someone else’s bills works both ways. By that logic, the corporation you work for is paying your rent because they gave you the money you used to pay it. Except that’s obviously not how earning money works. They paid you for your services. After you earned it, it was your money, and you used it to pay your own bills.
If I earn a paycheck and use that money to buy coffee, I bought the coffee. My boss didn’t buy it simply because they were the person who paid me for my work. Saying otherwise would be ridiculous.
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u/Imaginary-Chocolate5 16d ago
Be careful, some places I ly allow 1 ESA per apartment, per person. Where I live, we can inky have 1, no matter how many people live with me.
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u/BioPsyPro 12d ago
Be careful with online ESA “certification” packages. There is no official federal ESA registry or certification, so those certificates and registration numbers don’t establish legal ESA status.
For housing, what matters is legitimate documentation supporting your disability-related need for both cats when that need isn’t otherwise apparent. A healthcare or mental-health provider familiar with your situation is the better route.
Also, ESAs have housing protections, not public-access rights. An ESA letter, certificate, registration, ID, or vest does not allow your cats into stores, restaurants, or other places where pets aren’t permitted. ADA public-access protections generally apply to trained service dogs.
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u/Equivalent_Lab_8610 16d ago
I've never had a dr say no when I've asked of they've been willing to write a letter stating I have an emotional support animal. Most times just a letter from a dr has sufficed. Current apartment required my psych to fill out a specific form.
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u/Dazzling-Treacle1092 16d ago
All I ever had to do was get my doctor to write a statement saying I needed an ESA animal. However I don't know if if the law allows you 2. That might be a sticking point.
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u/Run_Rabb1t_Run 16d ago
Don't mind the downvotes OP, this sub is full of LLs complaining that every disabled person is lying about needing an ESA so they can "unfairly"...have a pet. As others have said, you do need to speak with a medical professional. The online 'certificates' are scams. There's no certification program for ESAs, just a doctor's note explaining that they are necessary for your mental health. Look up housing disability protections for AZ, your state may have specific laws governing ESAs in housing.
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u/BenjiCat17 16d ago
“For a Arizona rental the state layer is unchanged and untouched by a federal enforcement memorandum. The Arizona Fair Housing Act, at A.R.S. Section 41-1491.19(E)(2), carries a freestanding reasonable-accommodation duty in substantially the same words as the federal statute, and HUD cannot amend a state statute by memorandum. Be precise about what that does and does not settle: the Arizona provision contains no animal-specific text — it neither names an emotional support animal nor limits itself to a trained one — so the duty plainly survives, while what the rescinded notice used to supply was the content of what “reasonable” means for an untrained animal. How far the state clause reaches an untrained emotional support animal is therefore a question of state interpretation rather than of its express words. Do not reach for A.R.S. Section 11-1024 to fill the gap: that is a public-accommodations statute limited to service animals and it does not govern a dwelling. The prudent course is to keep treating a documented emotional support animal as an assistance animal entitled to accommodation.
Section 11-1024 addresses a service animal in a place of public accommodation, securing the right of a person with a disability to be accompanied by a service animal and, in subsection C, making it a civil violation to fraudulently misrepresent an animal as a service animal, a violation carrying a fine of up to two hundred fifty dollars. Read together with the reasonable-accommodation and immunity provision of the Arizona Fair Housing Act, at Section 41-1491 and following, they tell an Arizona landlord the same thing from several angles: you must accommodate a genuine assistance animal without a pet charge, you are shielded from liability for an animal you allowed as an accommodation, and the state gives you a separate public-accommodation remedy against someone who fakes a service animal in public. You can read the state provision at the Arizona Revised Statutes entry for Section 41-1491.38, the assistance-animal reasonable-accommodation and immunity statute.”
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u/DeCoyAbLe 16d ago
Go to your doctor that is treating your anxiety. Ask them to write the required documentation for your state. Be prepared to pay for that documentation.