ESA Letters · Minnesota
Get an ESA Letter in Minnesota
Minnesota wrote the support animal into its landlord-tenant code by name: Minn. Stat. § 504B.113 lives inside the tenant-remedies chapter, which means the question rides alongside ordinary Minnesota lease law rather than in a silo.
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27.8%
Households renting
22
State statutes cited
on our full guide
$0
Pet fees with a letter
~5 min
Check time
What your Minnesota letter stops, and what stays
With a valid letter
- A landlord may not charge an additional fee, charge or deposit for an approved service or support animal (Minn. Stat. § 504B.113, subd. 3(a)). Pet rent, pet deposits and one-time pet fees all fall away; liability for actual damage the animal causes does not
- A landlord may not require a tenant to hand over medical records, give access to medical providers, or supply any other documentation of the disability itself (§ 504B.113, subd. 2(b)). The letter confirms the disability and the need for the animal; it does not open the file
- rely on a certificate bought from a registry website. Anyone "who operates primarily to provide certification for a service or support animal" is excluded from the statutory list by name (§ 504B.113, subd. 1(e)), so such a certificate is not documentation from a licensed professional
- A support animal does not have to be trained to do any task (§ 504B.113, subd. 1(c)(2)). A landlord may not refuse the accommodation for want of training records
- A landlord may not make declawing or devocalization a condition of keeping an animal, advertise to discourage applicants who refuse, or write the requirement into a lease; such a clause is void and unenforceable (Minn. Stat. § 504B.114)
- charge for the animal or refuse the accommodation without exposure to a claim of discrimination in the terms, conditions or privileges of a rental under Minn. Stat. § 363A.09, subd. 1(2)
- A landlord may not coerce, intimidate, threaten or interfere with a tenant for asking (Minn. Stat. § 363A.09, subd. 6)
Still applies
- A landlord may ask for supporting documentation, but not where the disability or the disability-related need is readily apparent or already known to the landlord (§ 504B.113, subd. 2(a))
- The letter must come from a licensed professional on the statutory list: a physician, physician assistant, nurse, psychologist, mental health professional, social worker or counselor licensed in Minnesota, or the same professions licensed in another state where there is an existing treatment relationship (§ 504B.113, subd. 1(e))
- The protection covers a prospective tenant as well as a current one, because "tenant" is defined to include both (§ 504B.113, subd. 1(d)). The request can be made during the application
- A landlord that charges pet fees at all must disclose in the lease that they cannot be charged for a service or support animal (§ 504B.113, subd. 3(b)), and a tenant who paid because that disclosure was missing may sue to get the money back (subd. 3(c))
- A security deposit must be returned with one percent annual interest, or a written statement of the specific reason for withholding it furnished, within three weeks of the tenancy ending, and the landlord carries the burden of proving the reason (Minn. Stat. § 504B.178, subds. 2, 3)
- set an ordinary security deposit at any amount, because Minnesota caps none. That is precisely why the fee ban rather than a dollar ceiling is what protects a tenant with a support animal
- A tenant who knowingly misrepresents a disability or supplies fraudulent documentation can have the application or the animal request denied, and can face eviction for a lease breach (§ 504B.113, subds. 4-5)
The Minnesota rule: § 504B.113 in the landlord-tenant code
Subdivision 1(c) recognizes the category, and the surrounding sections give Minnesota tenants unusually concrete remedies. One caution the guides flag: a separate misrepresentation provision targets service animals, so honesty in the documentation matters doubly here.
The law behind the letter
Every claim on this page traces to a primary source. The ones doing the work in Minnesota:
- Minn. Stat. § 504B.113, subd. 1(c)
- Minn. Stat. § 504B.113, subd. 3(a)
- Minn. Stat. § 504B.113, subd. 1(e)
- Minn. Stat. § 504B.113, subd. 2
What pet charges actually look like in Minnesota
Typical figures from our 20 Minnesota city guides. Every one of these charges falls to $0 once a valid letter is on file.
| City | Monthly pet rent | Pet deposit |
|---|---|---|
| Minneapolis | Varies by building | Varies by building |
| St. Paul | Varies by building | Varies by building |
| Rochester | Varies by building | Varies by building |
| Bloomington | Varies by building | Varies by building |
| Duluth | Varies by building | Varies by building |
Three steps to your Minnesota letter
Check that you qualify
Answer a short screening about how your condition affects daily life in Minnesota. No diagnosis paperwork needed up front.
About 5 minutes: free
Connect with a licensed professional
You are matched with a provider licensed for Minnesota clients who reviews your situation in a telehealth evaluation.
Telehealth evaluation
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
Receive your signed letter
Your letter arrives on the professional's letterhead with their license number: the documentation Minnesota landlords may lawfully request.
Typically within days of approval
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 Minnesota.
Protection under FHA + state law
About “ESA registration” in Minnesota
Minnesota law does not recognise any registry, certificate, ID card or vest as proof that an animal is a support animal, and no state or federal registry carries legal weight. What Minnesota does have is unusually blunt about the sellers of those documents: Minn. Stat. § 504B.113, subd. 1(e) lists the licensed professionals whose documentation a landlord must accept and then closes with the sentence "A licensed professional does not include any person who operates primarily to provide certification for a service or support animal." A site whose business is selling certificates is excluded by that definition, so paperwork bought from one is not the documentation the statute contemplates. A landlord may lawfully disregard it. What the statute asks for is a letter from a treating professional on the list confirming the disability and the connection between the disability and the need for the animal. There is one narrow exception that proves the rule, and it is not about emotional support animals: under Minn. Stat. § 256C.025, subd. 5 a landlord or homeowners association board may require written certification from an Assistance Dogs International or International Guide Dog Federation accredited organisation supervising a service dog in training.
Minnesota ESA letter FAQs
Why does Minnesota put ESA law in the landlord-tenant code?
So the rights sit next to the remedies tenants actually use (security deposits, repairs, eviction defenses), making an ESA denial easier to raise where it hurts.
Is there a Minnesota penalty for fake ESAs?
The misrepresentation statute on the books covers service-animal claims; passing off a pet as an assistance animal invites trouble under related fraud provisions. A genuine evaluation avoids the entire question.
Do Minneapolis ordinances add anything?
They need not: § 504B.113 already binds every Minnesota landlord, and local civil-rights ordinances layer anti-discrimination enforcement on top.
Is an online ESA letter valid in Minnesota?
Yes. Minnesota layers its own fair housing law on top of the federal Fair Housing Act, and neither requires an in-person visit, what both require is a real evaluation by a provider licensed for Minnesota. A telehealth evaluation that ends in a signed letter meets that standard; a questionnaire that ends in a PDF does not.
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