# ESA Letter in Longmont, CO: Boulder County, No Boulder Ordinance

> Longmont shares a county with Boulder but not Boulder's city ordinance. Where a Longmont assistance animal complaint goes, and what August 12, 2026 changes.

- Source: https://supportanimal.com/blog/colorado-emotional-support-animal/longmont/
- Publisher: Support Animal (supportanimal.com)
- Updated: 2026-08-07
- License note: informational content; not legal or medical advice.

## Key facts

- Population: 99,818
- Households renting: 37.5%
- Typical pet deposit (as a pet): Capped at $300
- Typical pet rent (as a pet): Capped at $35/mo
- Breed/weight limits common: yes
- Pet fees, deposits, and breed limits with a valid ESA letter: none (FHA reasonable accommodation)

## Sharing a county is not sharing an ordinance

Longmont and the City of Boulder sit in the same county and are close in
size: 99,818 people here against Boulder's 106,803, on the Census Bureau's
Vintage 2024 subcounty estimates. That closeness breeds a costly
confusion: tenants assume whatever protection Boulder arranged for itself
covers the whole county.

It does not. A city ordinance is the law of the city that passed it, and
Boulder's stops at Boulder's limits. Longmont has adopted no version, and
no Longmont office takes a housing discrimination charge or runs its own
filing clock.

The practical effect is smaller than it sounds. The state layer matters
most, and it is identical on both sides of the line. A Longmont renter and
a Boulder renter hold the same rights, with a different first phone number
to dial.

## Who rents in Longmont

Of 42,155 occupied homes in the city, 15,823 are rented: a renter share of
37.5% on the 2020-2024 American Community Survey five-year estimates, table
B25003, against 33.8% for Colorado as a whole.

Set it beside the neighbour: Boulder rents at 52.8%, the highest share of
any city in the state. Longmont is a comparatively owner-heavy town next
door to the most tenant-heavy one, which shapes who your landlord is likely
to be: a single-property owner or a family that kept the house, rather
than a management company with an accommodations inbox.

## The small-landlord myth, and why it fails in Colorado

Small landlords are the ones who repeat the exemption story. The building
is owner-occupied, it has four units or fewer, and federal fair housing law
genuinely does leave it alone.

Colorado's law does not. The state act has no disability carve-out for
small properties, and the three-or-fewer-units exception at
C.R.S. § 24-34-502(1.5)(a) is confined to the source-of-income provisions.
The duty in C.R.S. § 24-34-502.2(2)(b) (not to refuse an accommodation
necessary for equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling), binds the
owner of a Longmont duplex exactly as it binds a corporate landlord.

## One statute for both sides of the county line

Two dates matter here. House Bill 26-1045 was signed on May 19, 2026. It
takes effect on August 12, 2026. Lawmakers put the reason in the bill's own
declaration: rescinded federal guidance is being restored, this time as
Colorado statute.

It supplies definitions Colorado lacked. Under C.R.S. § 24-34-301(2.5), an
animal counts as an assistance animal when it works for a person with a
disability, performs tasks, assists them, or gives therapeutic emotional
support. One term now covers a service animal and an emotional support
animal alike. C.R.S. § 24-34-301(8.5) then treats the emotional support
animal on its own: an animal whose only contribution is emotional support
alleviating a symptom or an effect of a disability.

Two presumptions follow. Under
C.R.S. § 24-34-502.2(2)(b)(II)(A), permitting an assistance animal in
housing is presumed to be a reasonable accommodation. Under
C.R.S. § 24-34-502.2(2)(b)(II)(B), a complete prohibition of assistance
animals in housing is presumed to be discriminatory.

## The clause that decides whether the presumption is yours

The first presumption carries a condition, and skipping past it is the
commonest way a good claim gets weaker. It holds so long as the housing
provider has been given an opportunity to engage in an interactive
accommodation process.

An owner-managed Longmont rental has no portal to build that record for
you. Send an email, keep the reply, date everything, and ask before the
animal is in the unit. A request made afterwards lets the landlord say the
process never happened, which turns the case into a fight about procedure
rather than about your disability.

C.R.S. § 24-34-501(3.5) also defines a reasonable accommodation as an
exception or adjustment to a rule, policy, practice or service, expressly
including public and common-use spaces. A "no animals in the courtyard or
laundry room" rule sits inside that definition.

## Paperwork: what may be asked, and who may write it

Being asked for documents is not, by itself, discrimination.
C.R.S. § 24-34-502.2(2)(b)(II)(C) treats two steps as lawful in themselves:
asking for reasonable documentation of the disability, or of the
disability-related need, and running a good faith interactive process. That
stops being true once either is obvious. The request has boundaries: your
disability and your need for the animal, not breed, weight, obedience
training or any online listing. No Colorado agency issues a registration or
certificate for an assistance animal, so nothing of that sort can be
demanded.

Who signs matters more than most Longmont renters expect. Under
C.R.S. § 12-245-229(3)(a), a mental health licensee (psychologist,
counsellor, clinical social worker, marriage and family therapist) may not
make a finding unless they have met the patient **in person**.
C.R.S. § 12-240-144(3)(a) gives physicians the wider option of meeting in
person or by telemedicine. A video appointment therefore satisfies the rule
for one profession and not the other. Either way the professional must be
sufficiently familiar with you, be legally and professionally qualified,
and set down a written finding on disability plus a separate written
finding on the disability-related need.

That finding does double duty. C.R.S. § 18-13-107.3 makes it a class 2
civil infraction to intentionally misrepresent an entitlement to an
assistance animal to obtain housing, but only where a written or verbal
warning came first, and a written finding under C.R.S. § 12-240-144(1)(a)
or § 12-245-229(1)(a) is an affirmative defence. The statute is explicit
that lacking one is not proof of the offence.

## Charges a Longmont lease may and may not carry

Since January 1, 2024, C.R.S. § 38-12-106 has limited what a pet can cost a
tenant: the additional deposit tops out at three hundred refundable
dollars, and additional monthly rent at thirty-five dollars or one and
one-half percent of the rent, whichever is *greater*. The percentage only
overtakes the flat figure above roughly $2,333 of rent.

An approved assistance animal should carry neither charge. Dropping the fee
is the sort of exception to a policy that C.R.S. § 24-34-501(3.5)
describes.

Breed limits get their own answer. From August 12, 2026,
C.R.S. § 24-34-502(1)(a)(III) takes an animal's presence out of the
direct-threat category on its own, and blocks any presumption that the
animal will substantially damage what belongs to other people. Documented,
specific conduct may still be weighed. Where a landlord
blames the insurer, C.R.S. § 10-4-110.8(16) denies carriers any breed-based
ground for declining or surcharging a homeowner's or dwelling fire policy,
and allows only one question touching breed, whether the dog has been
declared dangerous.

## Getting the deposit back

The rewrite of C.R.S. § 38-12-103 that took effect on January 1, 2026 is
worth reading before move-out day. Return is due in thirty days, or up to
sixty if the lease says so, and deductions are limited to unpaid rent,
unpaid utilities, other lawful charges named in the lease, and damage
beyond normal wear and tear that did not already exist when you arrived.
Under C.R.S. § 38-12-102(4) normal wear and tear now takes in
uncleanliness, unless the unit is substantially less clean than at the
start.

The landlord proves the case, not you: both that the withholding was not
wrongful and what the actual damages were. Holding 125% or more of actual
damages is presumed to exceed them unreasonably, and
C.R.S. § 38-12-103(11)(c) bars calling carpet substantially and irreparably
damaged if it was not replaced with new carpet in the preceding ten years.
A written request obliges the landlord to produce the photographs,
receipts, invoices or estimates within fourteen days. Wrongful retention
exposes them to treble damages, attorney fees and costs, once you have
given seven days' written notice of intent to sue.

## Where a Longmont complaint actually goes

To the Colorado Civil Rights Division, which enforces a state law older
than the federal Fair Housing Act, Colorado passed the country's first
statewide fair housing act in 1959. C.R.S. § 24-34-504(1) gives you one
year from the unfair housing practice, and the Division says plainly that
it cannot extend that for any reason. Submitting intake through CaseConnect
is not filing the charge; the charge is drafted and signed afterwards, so
an intake begun in month eleven can still miss. Because the Division is a
HUD-certified Fair Housing Assistance Program agency, most housing cases
end up dual-filed with a state and a federal case number. Reach it on
303-894-2997, or 720-432-4294 in Spanish.

Local help exists without a city civil rights office. Colorado Legal
Services has no Longmont branch, but its Boulder office covers Boulder
County from 2935 Baseline Road, Ste 301, on 303-449-7575. Longmont's own
Housing and Community Investment division administers the city's CDBG, HOME
and affordable housing dollars and offers free housing counselling plus a
rehabilitation programme for income-qualified residents. Boulder County
runs a housing helpline, the Longmont Housing Authority handles assisted
housing here, and the Denver Metro Fair Housing Center reports working
across seven counties, Boulder included. Statewide, Colorado Housing
Connects has staffed a bilingual renter helpline since 2014 on
844-926-6632.

## What Longmont landlords can and cannot do

**Cannot:**
- Cannot operate a complete prohibition on assistance animals, which C.R.S. § 24-34-502.2(2)(b)(II)(B) presumes to be discriminatory from August 12, 2026
- Cannot treat the mere presence of an assistance animal as a direct threat to health or safety, or presume it will cause substantial physical damage to the property of others, under C.R.S. § 24-34-502(1)(a)(III)
- Cannot refuse to make reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, practices or services where necessary to afford a person with a disability equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling, under C.R.S. § 24-34-502.2(2)(b)
- Cannot rely on the small-landlord and owner-occupied exemptions that exist under federal law, because Colorado's disability provisions carry no equivalent, the three-or-fewer-units carve-out at C.R.S. § 24-34-502(1.5)(a) applies only to the source-of-income rules
- Cannot charge a pet deposit or pet rent for an approved assistance animal, because waiving that charge is an exception to a policy within the definition of reasonable accommodation at C.R.S. § 24-34-501(3.5)
- Cannot take more than a three-hundred-dollar refundable pet deposit, or more than thirty-five dollars a month or one and one-half percent of rent, whichever is greater, for an ordinary pet under C.R.S. § 38-12-106
- Cannot justify a breed restriction by pointing at its insurer, since C.R.S. § 10-4-110.8(16) bars an insurer from pricing or refusing a policy on dog breed and from asking about breed at all
- Cannot keep any part of a deposit without a written statement of the exact reasons within thirty days, and cannot charge for carpet replacement across a unit where the carpet was not replaced within the previous ten years, under C.R.S. § 38-12-103
- Cannot place a lien on the animal itself for unpaid rent, under C.R.S. § 38-20-102(3)(a)

**Can:**
- May request reasonable documentation supporting the claim of disability or the disability-related need, and may run a good faith interactive process, without that being discrimination, unless the disability or the need is obvious, under C.R.S. § 24-34-502.2(2)(b)(II)(C)
- May act on documented, specific conduct of the animal that poses a direct threat to health or safety or causes substantial physical damage to property
- May hold a tenant responsible for damage the animal actually causes, provided it exceeds normal wear and tear, did not preexist the tenancy, and is substantiated with the photographs, invoices or estimates C.R.S. § 38-12-103(8) requires on request
- May ask for a walk-through inspection at the end of the tenancy, as may the tenant, under C.R.S. § 38-12-103(1.5)

## How to get an ESA letter in Longmont

1. **Check that you qualify**, Answer a short screening about how your condition affects daily life in Longmont. No diagnosis paperwork needed up front. (About 5 minutes: free)
2. **Connect with a licensed professional**, You are matched with a provider licensed for Colorado clients who reviews your situation in a telehealth evaluation. (Telehealth evaluation)
3. **Complete your evaluation**, The professional evaluates whether an emotional support animal alleviates symptoms of a condition recognized in the DSM-5. Honest evaluations, not everyone qualifies. (Most of Our Applicants Qualify)
4. **Receive your signed letter**, Your letter arrives on the professional's letterhead with their license number: the documentation Colorado landlords may lawfully request. (Typically within days of approval)
5. **Send it to your landlord**, Submit the letter with a short reasonable-accommodation request. Pet fees, pet deposits, and breed limits no longer apply to your animal in Longmont. (Protection under FHA + state law)

## Conditions that can qualify for an ESA

No fixed government list exists. A licensed professional evaluates whether an animal alleviates symptoms of a DSM-5-recognized condition, commonly:

- Generalized anxiety disorder
- Major depressive disorder
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Panic disorder
- Social anxiety disorder
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
- Bipolar disorder
- Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
- Phobias with housing impact
- Chronic stress affecting daily function

## Housing help in Longmont

- [Colorado Civil Rights Division, Housing Discrimination](https://ccrd.colorado.gov/housing-discrimination) (state agency)
- [City of Longmont Housing and Community Investment](https://longmontcolorado.gov/housing-and-community-investment/) (city agency)
- [Longmont Housing Authority](https://www.longmonthousing.org/) (housing authority)
- [Boulder County Housing Helpline](https://bouldercounty.gov/departments/housing/housing-helpline/) (county agency)
- [Colorado Legal Services, Boulder office](https://lawhelp.colorado.gov/node/19001) (legal aid)
- [Denver Metro Fair Housing Center](https://www.dmfhc.org/what-is-housing-discrimination) (fair housing)
- [Colorado Housing Connects](https://coloradohousingconnects.org/) (tenant help)

## Frequently asked questions

### I live in Longmont, in Boulder County. Does Boulder's city ordinance protect me?

No. A municipal ordinance is the law of the municipality that passed it, so Boulder's reaches tenancies inside Boulder city limits and stops there. Longmont has no equivalent ordinance and no city office that accepts a housing discrimination charge. What does cover you is state law, which is the same on both sides of the city line: C.R.S. § 24-34-502.2(2)(b) makes refusing a reasonable accommodation discrimination, C.R.S. § 24-34-502(1)(k) makes that an unfair housing practice, and C.R.S. § 24-34-504(1) gives you one year to bring it to the Colorado Civil Rights Division.

### Where does a Longmont tenant get free help with an assistance animal problem?

Colorado Legal Services runs the office that covers Boulder County from 2935 Baseline Road, Ste 301, on 303-449-7575. There is no Longmont branch, so that is the office to call. Boulder County operates a housing helpline, and the City of Longmont's own Housing and Community Investment division provides free housing counselling to residents alongside the federal CDBG and HOME money and the affordable housing funds it administers. The Denver Metro Fair Housing Center says it works across seven counties, Boulder among them.

### My Longmont landlord owns the duplex and lives in the other half. Is he exempt?

Not from the disability rules. Federal fair housing law leaves owner-occupied buildings of four units or fewer alone, and tenants in small Longmont properties are often told that settles it. Colorado's statute has no such carve-out for disability. The only three-or-fewer-units exception in C.R.S. § 24-34-502(1.5)(a) concerns the source-of-income provisions, not accommodations. A small resident landlord in Longmont owes the same duty under C.R.S. § 24-34-502.2(2)(b) as a management company running a hundred doors.

### What actually changes on August 12, 2026?

House Bill 26-1045 takes effect. It writes an assistance animal definition into C.R.S. § 24-34-301(2.5) that expressly takes in emotional support animals, and defines an emotional support animal at C.R.S. § 24-34-301(8.5) as one providing solely emotional support to alleviate a symptom or effect of a disability. Two presumptions follow: under C.R.S. § 24-34-502.2(2)(b)(II)(A) allowing the animal is presumed reasonable where the provider had a chance at an interactive process, and under C.R.S. § 24-34-502.2(2)(b)(II)(B) a blanket ban on assistance animals is presumed discriminatory. The legislature's stated purpose was to put rescinded federal guidance into state law.

### My property manager says my dog's breed is not allowed under their insurance. Now what?

Test the claim, because Colorado closed that door. C.R.S. § 10-4-110.8(16) took a dog's breed out of underwriting altogether. A homeowner's or dwelling fire policy cannot be refused or surcharged on that basis, and the carrier may not even ask the breed, only whether the dog has been declared dangerous. On top of that, from August 12, 2026, C.R.S. § 24-34-502(1)(a)(III) refuses to treat an animal's presence, by itself, as a direct threat to health or safety, and refuses to presume substantial physical damage to what belongs to other people. A provider may still point to documented, specific conduct (an actual bite, actual damage), but not to a breed list.

### Who is allowed to write my letter, and does a video appointment count?

It depends which profession you see, and Longmont renters get this backwards often enough to matter. C.R.S. § 12-245-229(3)(a) requires a mental health licensee (psychologist, counsellor, social worker, marriage and family therapist), to have met you in person before making a finding. C.R.S. § 12-240-144(3)(a) lets a physician meet you in person or by telemedicine. So a video visit is fine with a physician and not with a therapist. Either way the professional must be sufficiently familiar with you, be legally and professionally qualified, and produce a written finding on disability plus a separate written finding on the disability-related need.

### I moved out of my Longmont rental and they charged me for the carpet. Can they?

Only within limits, and the limits tightened on January 1, 2026 when the rewrite of C.R.S. § 38-12-103 took effect. The deposit comes back in thirty days, or sixty if your lease said so. For carpet the decisive question is its age: unless new carpet was laid at some point in the ten years before you moved out, it cannot be treated as substantially and irreparably damaged, so a whole-unit carpet charge fails at the first step. C.R.S. § 38-12-103(8) gives the landlord fourteen days from your written request to hand over photographs, inspection reports, receipts, invoices or estimates. The landlord carries the burden of proving the withholding was not wrongful and what the real damage cost; keeping 125% or more of actual damages is presumed unreasonable. Wrongful retention costs treble damages plus attorney fees and costs, after seven days' written notice of intent to sue.

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Get evaluated by a licensed provider: https://my.supportanimal.com/qualify?sa_source=blog&sa_medium=blog&sa_campaign=esa-guides&sa_content=markdown&ref=blog&sa_term=colorado-emotional-support-animal%2Flongmont