# ESA Letter in Arlington Heights, IL: Your Local Clock Is 60 Days

> Arlington Heights runs its own fair housing board with subpoena power. It also gives you 60 days to file, not the state's one year. Do not plan around the year.

- Source: https://supportanimal.com/blog/illinois-emotional-support-animal/arlington-heights/
- Publisher: Support Animal (supportanimal.com)
- Updated: 2026-08-10
- License note: informational content; not legal or medical advice.

## Key facts

- Population: 75,596
- Households renting: 26%
- Typical pet deposit (as a pet): Capped: 1.5 months' rent
- Typical pet rent (as a pet): Varies by building
- Breed/weight limits common: sometimes
- Pet fees, deposits, and breed limits with a valid ESA letter: none (FHA reasonable accommodation)

## Sixty days, not the year you were told about

One home in four here is rented. Arlington Heights has 31,466 occupied homes
and 8,178 of them are rented: a **26.0%** renter share, under the 32.9% figure
for Illinois as a whole, in a village of 75,596 people. A smaller renter base
has not produced a thin rulebook.

The village enacted its own fair housing ordinance, which it says "prohibits
housing discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin,
familial status, disability, sexual orientation." A **Fair Housing Review
Board** reviews the complaints.

It is a real forum, and a fast one. Complaints must be in writing, and you get
**60 days after the occurrence**. The village housing page says so, its
complaint form repeats it, and **§ 6-504(e)(3)(c)** fixes the same 60 days for
a written complaint to the Department of Planning and Community Development.

Now the state clock: the Illinois Department of Human Rights gives you a
**year**. Plan around the year and the local door shuts in month two. Diary
the date the week your landlord says no.

## What the review board can do once you file

This one is not decoration. Under **§ 6-504(e)(3)** the board, a function of
the village Housing Commission, may investigate, **subpoena witnesses and
documents**, administer oaths, attempt conciliation, hold a full hearing, and
report to the Board of Trustees. Conciliation runs on a 60-day window, and the
report is due within 60 days of the first hearing notice.

All six prohibited acts at § 6-504(e)(3)(a)(1)–(6) name disability, beginning
with refusing to rent and with discriminatory terms, conditions or services:
the two a refused assistance animal sits inside.

Write to the Fair Housing Review Board, Department of Planning and Community
Development, 33 S. Arlington Heights Road, Arlington Heights IL 60005, or call
847.368.5200. The ordinance reaches conduct "within the corporate limits of
the Village."

## The four-flat with the owner living upstairs

The local rule does not cover every building. Section 6-504(e)(3) does not
apply to buildings of **four or fewer independent family units where the owner
occupies one**, and a religious-organization exemption sits beside it. If your
landlord lives in your small building, the village board is likely closed to
you.

That is the village drawing its own line, and the state's line is a separate
question. **775 ILCS 5/3-106** opens "Nothing contained in Section 3-102 shall
prohibit," then exempts owner-occupied buildings of not more than four
families. Every cross-reference inside it points back to Section 3-102. The
accommodation duty lives in **§ 3-102.1**, which 3-106 never names.

No Illinois decision settling that was found, so it is an argument for a
lawyer, not a promise. The two exemptions are written separately: falling
outside one is not falling outside the other.

## Illinois protects the animal without ever naming it

The state provision you will lean on is **775 ILCS 5/3-102.1(C)(2)**. It makes
it a civil rights violation to refuse "to make reasonable accommodations in
rules, policies, practices, or services, when such accommodations may be
necessary to afford such person equal opportunity to use and enjoy a
dwelling."

The Illinois Human Rights Act **never uses the word "animal."** Not once. You
are not applying for a pet permit. You are asking that a rule step aside: the
no-pets clause, the weight ceiling, the pet-rent box in the online portal,
because the accommodation is necessary.

Disability comes from **775 ILCS 5/1-103(I)(1)**: a determinable physical *or
mental* characteristic from disease, injury, a congenital condition of birth,
or a functional disorder. In housing the only added test is that it be
unrelated to your ability to acquire, rent or maintain a home. No state
regulation adds detail, 71 Ill. Adm. Code 2300 runs eight sections and
mentions no animal.

## Do not quote the support-dog section

Search Illinois law for animals and you land on **775 ILCS 5/3-104.1**, about
refusing to rent to a person with a guide, hearing or support dog. Its
subsection (C) even bars any extra lease charge beyond actual damage the dog
does. It looks made for you.

It reaches "any blind or hearing impaired person or person with a **physical
disability**." If your condition is a mental health one, that section is not
about you, and the landlord's lawyer will enjoy saying so.

Three more get miscited the same way. The Assistance Animal Damages Act,
740 ILCS 13, covers theft of or attacks on an animal **trained** to help a
physically impaired person. The White Cane Law at 775 ILCS 30 is aimed at
public places and transportation. And the Service Animal Access Act, 720 ILCS
630, was wiped off the books by Public Act 97-1108. Stay on 3-102.1(C)(2).

## Four animals to a property, and the code stops there

Most tenants never read **Code § 16-104**: "It shall be unlawful for any person
to keep more than four animals over four months of age on his or her property."
The only carve-outs are licensed pet shops, kennels and shelters. The text
mentions neither assistance animals nor reasonable accommodations.

Be careful what you build on that silence. The cap is a municipal ordinance,
not a lease term, and the village is not your landlord. It sits on top of
whatever your lease says. If one more animal would put you past four, get
advice before you assume an exception exists.

One near miss: § 16-401(b) exempts "service animals as defined by Title II and
Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act", but only from the ban on
animals in food premises. By its terms that does not reach an emotional support
animal, and it is not a housing rule.

## What the animal costs, and what comes back to you

Arlington Heights is suburban Cook County, so the **Residential Tenant and
Landlord Ordinance** governs your deposit. Section **42-111(a)** caps it at
**one and one-half months' rent** and bars a landlord from dodging the cap by
labelling the money anything but a security deposit. A "pet deposit" is still
a deposit.

No other ceiling exists. The village code has no pet fee and no pet deposit
rule at all, and Illinois caps nothing.

For an approved assistance animal the figure is zero anyway, and not because of
a cap. Charging you for the animal *is* refusing the accommodation, and
**775 ILCS 5/3-102.1(C)(1)** repeats the point: a landlord may not increase,
for persons with a disability, any customarily required security deposit.

Damage the animal really causes is yours. Under **765 ILCS 710/1** the landlord
has **30 days** (from the later of your move-out or your right of possession
ending), to send an itemised statement with paid receipts, or the whole deposit
is due back in **45 days**. A court finding refusal to itemise or bad faith
awards **twice the deposit** plus costs and fees. **Public Act 103-224** struck
the old five-unit threshold on 1 January 2024, so every Illinois residential
landlord is covered.

## Nothing in this village certifies an animal

No village office, no Cook County agency and no Illinois department issues an
official emotional support animal credential. Neither the village code nor the
state Act mentions one. No card and no online listing carries legal weight, so
a landlord may disregard a printout bought from a website.

What answers the question a landlord is allowed to ask is documentation from a
licensed professional who actually knows you and can explain why the animal
matters for your condition. **24 C.F.R. § 100.204** sets the federal
accommodation duty, and **§ 100.202(c)** limits a landlord's inquiries while
allowing a request for information showing you qualify for a disability-related
benefit. Ignore anyone still quoting HUD's 2020 assistance-animal guidance: it
was withdrawn on 17 September 2025. The regulations survive.

## When the sixty days are gone, and who else helps

Missing the local window does not end your case. The Illinois Department of
Human Rights takes a housing charge within **one year** under 775 ILCS
5/7B-102(A)(1) and targets 100 days for its investigation, without losing
jurisdiction if it misses. If it dismisses, you have 90 days to ask the
Commission to review.

Or skip the agencies. **775 ILCS 5/10-102(A)(1)** allows a circuit court suit
inside **two years**, with a **jury** if either side demands one and, under
paragraph (3), with no charge ever filed. Under 775 ILCS 5/8B-104 the award can
reach actual damages, attorney's and expert witness fees, and penalties of
$16,000, $42,500 or $70,000. And if the landlord pressures you for
asking, **775 ILCS 5/3-105.1** makes that a violation of its own.

The **Cook County Commission on Human Rights** is a county forum with its own
180-day deadline, so ask early. **Open Communities** works on fair housing, and
**Legal Aid Chicago** gives free civil legal help across Cook County.

One last village body, and know what it is not. **Section 6-508** creates the
Arlington Heights Commission for Citizens with Disabilities (nine members,
four of whom must be persons with disabilities), with duties covering their
housing needs. It is **advisory**: a place to be heard, not a place to file.

## What Arlington Heights landlords can and cannot do

**Cannot:**
- Cannot refuse to make a reasonable accommodation in rules, policies, practices or services when it may be necessary to give a tenant with a disability an equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling, under 775 ILCS 5/3-102.1(C)(2), which is what a request to waive a no-pets rule for an assistance animal asks for
- Cannot treat a mental-health disability as outside the Act, because 775 ILCS 5/1-103(I)(1) defines disability as a determinable physical or mental characteristic and the housing article adds only that it be unrelated to the person's ability to acquire, rent or maintain a housing accommodation
- Cannot demand that the animal be trained, certified, registered or of a particular species, none of which appears anywhere in the Illinois Human Rights Act. The word "animal" does not appear in the Act at all
- Cannot refuse to rent because of the disability of a person who will live in the unit or of anyone associated with the renter, not only the person signing the lease, under 775 ILCS 5/3-102.1(A)
- Cannot alter the terms, conditions or privileges of a tenancy, or the services and facilities that come with it, because of a disability, under 775 ILCS 5/3-102.1(B)
- Cannot increase for a person with a disability any customarily required security deposit, in the express words of 775 ILCS 5/3-102.1(C)(1)
- Cannot coerce, intimidate, threaten or interfere with a tenant who asks for an accommodation, or who helped someone else ask, under 775 ILCS 5/3-105.1, a separate civil rights violation from refusing the request
- Cannot keep any part of a security deposit for damage without sending an itemised statement with paid receipts within 30 days, or must return the whole deposit within 45 days, under 765 ILCS 710/1: a duty that reaches every Illinois landlord since Public Act 103-224 removed the five-unit threshold on January 1, 2024
- Cannot rely on 775 ILCS 5/3-104.1 to justify a charge, because that section is written for blind, hearing impaired and physically disabled tenants and grants a landlord nothing in any event

**Can:**
- May ask for information establishing the disability and the disability-related need for the animal where neither is obvious, the enquiry 24 C.F.R. § 100.202(c) leaves open
- May refuse an accommodation that is not reasonable. One imposing an undue financial or administrative burden, or requiring a fundamental alteration of the landlord's operations
- May hold a tenant liable for damage the animal actually causes, and may recover it from the deposit through the itemised statement 765 ILCS 710/1 requires
- May enforce the ordinary terms of the tenancy against a tenant with an assistance animal: rent, noise, cleanliness and lease conduct rules apply the same way they apply to everyone else
- May set a security deposit at any amount, Illinois capping none, and may charge pet fees and pet rent to tenants generally, since no Illinois statute regulates them, which is exactly why the accommodation, rather than a ceiling, is what removes the charge for an assistance animal

## How to get an ESA letter in Arlington Heights

1. **Check that you qualify**, Answer a short screening about how your condition affects daily life in Arlington Heights. No diagnosis paperwork needed up front. (About 5 minutes: free)
2. **Connect with a licensed professional**, You are matched with a provider licensed for Illinois 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 Illinois 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 Arlington Heights. (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 Arlington Heights

- [Arlington Heights Fair Housing Review Board](https://www.vah.com/government/departments/planning___community_development/housing/cdbg.php) (municipal agency)
- [Cook County Commission on Human Rights](https://www.cookcountyil.gov/agency/commission-human-rights) (county agency)
- [Open Communities](https://www.open-communities.org/) (fair housing)
- [Legal Aid Chicago](https://legalaidchicago.org/) (legal aid)

## Frequently asked questions

### How long do I have to complain to the Village of Arlington Heights?

Sixty days, in writing. The village housing page says complaints "are to be in writing and may be filed up to 60 days after the occurrence," the village complaint form repeats that you have 60 days from the date of the alleged act, and Municipal Code section 6-504(e)(3)(c) fixes the same 60 days in the ordinance itself. That is far shorter than the one year the Illinois Department of Human Rights allows, so plan around the shorter clock.

### Where do I file, and can the Fair Housing Review Board actually do anything?

File in writing with the Fair Housing Review Board, Department of Planning and Community Development, 33 S. Arlington Heights Road, Arlington Heights IL 60005, or call 847.368.5200. Under section 6-504(e)(3) the board can investigate, subpoena witnesses and documents, administer oaths, attempt conciliation within 60 days, hold a full hearing and report to the Board of Trustees. Disability is named in all six prohibited acts at section 6-504(e)(3)(a)(1) through (6).

### My landlord lives in our four-unit building. Does the village ordinance still cover me?

Probably not. Section 6-504(e)(3) does not apply to buildings of four or fewer independent family units where the owner occupies one, and a religious-organization exemption also exists. That is the village's own line. The state question is separate: 775 ILCS 5/3-106 is written against Section 3-102, and the accommodation duty sits in Section 3-102.1, which 3-106 does not name. No Illinois decision resolving that was found, so it is an argument to take to a lawyer rather than a guarantee.

### Arlington Heights limits a property to four animals. Does my emotional support animal count toward it?

Code section 16-104 makes it unlawful to keep more than four animals over four months of age on a property, and it exempts only licensed pet shops, kennels and shelters. The text says nothing about assistance animals or reasonable accommodations in either direction. That cap is a village ordinance sitting on top of whatever your lease says, and a municipality is not your landlord, so if you are already near four animals get advice before adding one instead of assuming an exception exists.

### Can an Arlington Heights landlord charge me a pet deposit for an assistance animal?

For an approved accommodation the right figure is zero, because billing you for the animal is how the refusal happens. Two backstops sit underneath that in this village: Cook County Residential Tenant and Landlord Ordinance section 42-111(a) caps any deposit at one and one-half months' rent and bars relabelling it as something else, and 775 ILCS 5/3-102.1(C)(1) says a landlord may not increase, for persons with a disability, any customarily required security deposit.

### Is the Commission for Citizens with Disabilities the place to file my housing complaint?

No. Municipal Code section 6-508 creates the Arlington Heights Commission for Citizens with Disabilities, nine members of whom four must be persons with disabilities, and its duties include studying the housing needs of people with disabilities and analysing their complaints. It is advisory and does not adjudicate cases. It is a legitimate place to be heard, but the complaint itself goes to the Fair Housing Review Board or to a state route.

### I already missed the 60 days. Is my case over?

No, the local route is only one of several. The Illinois Department of Human Rights takes a housing charge within one year under 775 ILCS 5/7B-102(A)(1), and 775 ILCS 5/10-102(A)(1) gives you two years to sue in circuit court, where either party may demand a jury and paragraph (3) says no charge need have been filed first. The Cook County Commission on Human Rights runs its own 180-day deadline and is worth asking about early.

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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=illinois-emotional-support-animal%2Farlington-heights