# ESA Letter in Des Moines, IA: Eight Elements, One Missing

> Iowa Code § 216.8C lists eight things a Des Moines ESA letter must contain — and the state's own form has no field for one of them.

- Source: https://supportanimal.com/blog/iowa-emotional-support-animal/des-moines/
- Publisher: Support Animal (supportanimal.com)
- Updated: 2026-08-23
- License note: informational content; not legal or medical advice.

## Key facts

- Population: 213,096
- Households renting: 39.5%
- Typical pet deposit (as a pet): Capped: 2 months' rent
- Typical pet rent (as a pet): Waived once approved
- Breed/weight limits common: yes
- Pet fees, deposits, and breed limits with a valid ESA letter: none (FHA reasonable accommodation)

## 35,599 renting households, and one agency down the road

Des Moines is Iowa's largest city (213,096 people on the 2024 Census
estimate), and 35,599 of its 90,105 occupied homes are rented: **39.5
percent** on the 2020-2024 American Community Survey, against 28.3 percent
for the state. One in five renting households in Iowa is inside this
municipality.

Median gross rent here is **$1,090**, above the $972 statewide figure and
below three suburbs on the same commute: Waukee at $1,383, Johnston at $1,338,
Ankeny at $1,319. Des Moines is not the expensive part of its own metro, but
it is the part with the agency in it. The Iowa Office of Civil Rights sits at
6200 Park Avenue, and publishes the form this page is about.

## The statute that lists what the letter says

Iowa is one of a small number of states where the contents of an assistance
animal letter are set out in legislation rather than left to custom. Iowa
Code § 216.8C(1) says a licensee "shall make a written finding that includes
all of the following," and then gives eight paragraphs:

> a. Whether the patient or client has a disability.
> b. Whether the patient has a disability-related need for an assistance
> animal.
> c. The particular assistance provided by the assistance animal, if any.
> d. Certification whether the provider-patient relationship has existed, in
> person or via telehealth, for at least thirty days between the licensee and
> the patient or client.
> e. Certification whether the licensee is familiar with the person and the
> disability prior to providing the written finding.
> f. The date the finding was issued by the licensee and the date the finding
> will expire.
> g. The license number and type of license held by the licensee.
> h. Whether the licensee received a separate or additional fee or other form
> of compensation solely in exchange for making the written finding required
> under this section.

Take that as a checklist and it does two jobs at once. Held against a
document you have already paid for, it tells you whether the document is
complete. Held against a landlord asking for more, it marks the boundary: the
legislature wrote eight items, and a ninth is not on the list.

## Two of the eight are disclosures, not tests

Paragraphs (d) and (h) are built differently from the rest, and the
difference is the whole ballgame for anyone who has just moved to Des Moines
or has never seen a therapist.

Both begin with a word that is not "that". Paragraph (d) requires
certification **whether** the relationship has run thirty days. Paragraph (h)
requires a statement of **whether** a separate fee was received. Neither
paragraph sets a condition. They require a fact to appear on the page so the
reader can weigh it: a short relationship is disclosed, a fee is disclosed,
and the finding stands or falls on paragraphs (a) to (c).

This reading is not a stretch and the drafting history shows it. Until the
2024 rewrite, § 216.8C contained no thirty-day rule at all; what it had was a
cap limiting the form to "only two questions" answerable "yes" or "no", with
no room for "additional detail". The 2024 Act replaced that cap with the
eight-item list, and it chose "whether" twice.

## The field the state's own form forgot

Under § 216.8C(4) the agency "shall create a form in compliance with this
section and provide the form to the public on the agency's website," and it
has. The document is headed **Finding of Disability and Need for Assistance
Animal** and says of itself that it "is used to make the required finding
pursuant to Iowa Code section 216.8C". The copy linked from the agency's
resources page was created in July 2024.

Read its bottom half against paragraph (g). The form collects the provider's
printed name, a signature and a date. **There is no field for a licence
number and none for a licence type**, and paragraph (g) requires both.

The form also states the thirty days in the older, stricter way, asking the
provider to certify they "have had a relationship with the patient/client for
at least thirty (30) days," which is the 2024 phrasing rather than the
current statutory one.

None of this makes the form a bad thing to use. It is the state's own
document, landlords recognise it, and it is free. The practical move is
smaller than the problem sounds: **use the form, and have the clinician write
the licence number and type on it.**

## What the letter is not required to contain

The list is a ceiling as much as a floor, and reading it that way answers
most of the requests Des Moines renters get.

There is no paragraph about a diagnosis, and § 216.8B(6)(a) says so directly:
a landlord "shall not request information under this section that discloses a
diagnosis or severity of a person's disability or any medical records
relating to the disability." The same paragraph preserves your option to
volunteer that information: a door you can open, never one that can be
opened for you.

There is no paragraph about the animal's breed, weight, age or training, and
nothing anywhere about registration. § 216.8B(4) has already dealt with that,
declaring a registration of any kind "not sufficient information to reliably
establish" disability or need.

Supporting information may be asked for at all only where the disability or
the need "is not readily apparent", § 216.8B(3), and what may then be
requested is "documentation identified in section 216.8C, subsection 1".

## Dates: the two clocks inside the document

Paragraph (f) requires the finding to carry the date it was issued and the
date it expires, so the letter should tell you its own answer. Section
216.8C(2) supplies the rule those dates follow: the finding "must be made
within twelve months of the start of a rental agreement and is valid for a
period of twelve months or the term of the rental agreement, whichever is
greater." Two rules rather than one: freshness measured from the start of the
lease, and a validity period running to the longer of the two figures, so a
twenty-four-month lease does not send you back in month thirteen.

## If the answer is no, or is nothing at all

Iowa gives a Des Moines renter something most states do not: a statutory
right to an answer on paper. Section 216.8B(6)(e) requires the landlord to
"provide a written determination," and § 216.8B(2) requires a response "within
a reasonable amount of time." If weeks pass, a short dated note citing both is
worth more than a phone call. It converts silence into either a decision or a
documented refusal to make one.

Two doors take a complaint, and this city has both. The **Des Moines Civil
and Human Rights Commission** is the local one, on (515) 283-4284; Iowa Code
§ 216.19(2) requires a city of twenty-nine thousand or more to maintain a
commission, and Des Moines is the largest of the sixteen Iowa cities above
that line. The **Iowa Office of Civil Rights** takes housing complaints
statewide from 6200 Park Avenue on 515-281-4121. Section 216.19(3) requires
the two bodies to coordinate and "eliminate needless duplication", so this is
not a choice between rivals.

The dates matter more than the door: **three hundred days** to the agency
under § 216.15(13), **two years** to the district court under § 216.16A(2)(a),
the latter available whether or not any agency complaint was ever filed.

## Getting the eight elements onto a page

The list is only useful if someone qualified fills it in. Section 216.8C(1)
names six licence chapters: 148, 148C, 152, 154B, 154C and 154D, which are
medicine and surgery, physician assistants, nursing, psychology, social work
and behavioural science, and then adds "a licensee of another state who is
licensed under a similar law and who is in good standing with that state."
Telehealth appears in paragraph (d) by name.

Start with a clinician you already see. They are the cheapest option, they
already satisfy paragraph (e) comfortably, and asking costs nothing beyond an
appointment, though many providers have never written a § 216.8C finding and
will want the form put in front of them. A community mental health centre
does the same work at low cost through an intake designed around ongoing
treatment rather than a single written finding, which usually means a longer
wait than a lease question allows.

If neither fits, a licensed evaluation is the route built for this: screening
questions, a clinician licensed to make the finding, and a letter only where
the findings support one: written to the eight paragraphs, with the licence
number and licence type on it, which is the one thing the state's own form
will not prompt anybody to add.

## What Des Moines landlords can and cannot do

**Cannot:**
- A denial has to rest on one of four grounds in section 216.8B(6)(c): undue financial and administrative hardship, fundamental alteration of the landlord's operations, an animal-specific direct threat or substantial property damage that cannot be reduced or eliminated by a reasonable accommodation, or that the accommodation is not otherwise reasonable.

**Can:**
- Must respond in writing. Section 216.8B(6)(e) requires the landlord to provide a written determination on an assistance animal request, and section 216.8B(2) requires the request to be evaluated and answered within a reasonable amount of time. Silence is not a permitted answer in Iowa.
- May ask for documentation only where the disability or the need is not readily apparent, and then only for the information section 216.8C describes. Section 216.8B(6)(a) forbids requesting information that discloses a diagnosis or the severity of a disability, or any medical records relating to it.
- Must waive the rules normally required for pets. Section 216.8B(6)(b) requires reasonable accommodation in the landlord’s rules, policies, practices and services normally required for pets, which is where pet rent, pet deposits and breed and weight schedules sit.
- Proof of licensing and vaccination may be required for each animal under section 216.8B(6)(d), and a second animal may be documented separately under section 216.8B(5). Damage caused by the animal remains the tenant's liability under section 216.8B(8).

## How to get an ESA letter in Des Moines

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

- [Des Moines Civil and Human Rights Commission](https://icrc.iowa.gov/locations/des-moines-civil-and-human-rights-commission) (local commission)
- [Iowa Office of Civil Rights](https://icrc.iowa.gov/file-complaint/housing-complaint-process) (state agency)
- [Iowa's assistance animal form and fact sheet](https://icrc.iowa.gov/resources/assistance-animal-fact-sheet-policy-guidelines-and-request-forms) (state form)
- [Iowa Legal Aid, Central Iowa Regional Office](https://iowalegalaid.org/locations/) (legal aid)

## Frequently asked questions

### What exactly does an ESA letter have to say in Des Moines?

Yes, and Iowa is one of very few states where the answer is set by statute rather than by custom. Section 216.8C(1) requires a licensee to "make a written finding that includes all of the following," and then gives eight paragraphs. Used as a checklist it works in both directions: held against a document you have already paid for it shows whether the document is complete, and held against a landlord asking for more it marks the boundary, because the legislature wrote eight items and a ninth is not on the list. The three worth checking yourself before you send anything are paragraph (c), "the particular assistance provided by the assistance animal, if any"; paragraph (f), the issue and expiry dates; and paragraph (g), "the license number and type of license held by the licensee", which the state's own form does not ask for.

### The state form does not ask for a licence number. Does that matter?

It matters enough to fix before you hand the letter over. The Iowa Office of Civil Rights publishes the finding form under § 216.8C(4), and the version linked from its resources page was created in July 2024. It collects the provider's printed name, signature and date. Paragraph (g) of the statute requires "the license number and type of license held by the licensee," and there is no field for either. Nothing about that makes the form unusable (it is the state's own document and using it is sensible), but ask the clinician to write the licence number and licence type on it. It costs a line and it closes the only gap a careful landlord could point at.

### How long is my Des Moines letter good for?

Section 216.8C(2) gives the answer in one sentence: the written finding "must be made within twelve months of the start of a rental agreement and is valid for a period of twelve months or the term of the rental agreement, whichever is greater." Two separate things are happening there. The first is a freshness rule about when the finding is made, measured from the start of the lease. The second is a validity period, and because it runs to the longer of twelve months and the lease term, a two-year lease does not put you back in front of a clinician at month thirteen. Paragraph (f) also requires the finding itself to state the date it was issued and the date it will expire, so the document should tell you its own answer.

### Can a Des Moines landlord ask what my diagnosis is?

No. Section 216.8B(6)(a) says the landlord "shall not request information under this section that discloses a diagnosis or severity of a person's disability or any medical records relating to the disability." The subsection then adds that you or your legal guardian may volunteer that information if you choose, entirely at your discretion, which is a door you can open, not one that can be opened for you. Note what the statute does allow to be asked: supporting information under § 216.8B(3), but only where the disability or the need for the animal "is not readily apparent," and only the documentation § 216.8C describes. The eight elements are the answer to "what do you need from me".

### Where do I complain if a Des Moines landlord refuses?

There are two doors and Des Moines has both inside the city. The Des Moines Civil and Human Rights Commission takes local complaints on (515) 283-4284; § 216.19(2) requires a city of twenty-nine thousand or more to maintain a commission, and at 213,096 people this is the largest of the sixteen Iowa cities above that line. The state agency is also here, on 515-281-4121, and takes housing complaints from anywhere in Iowa. Section 216.19(3) requires the two to share work and "eliminate needless duplication," so neither is the wrong choice. The dates are what matter more than the door: § 216.15(13) requires the complaint within three hundred days of the practice, and § 216.16A(2)(a) allows two years for a housing case in district court whether or not you complained to anybody first.

### My building charges pet rent. Does that apply to an assistance animal?

Not once the animal is approved as an accommodation. Section 216.8B(6)(b) requires the landlord to make reasonable accommodations "in the landlord's rules, policies, practices, and services normally required for pets," and a monthly pet charge is a service normally required for pets in the plainest sense. Iowa's landlord-tenant chapter is silent on the point in a way that surprises people (chapter 562A does not contain the word "pet" or "animal" at all), so the protection comes from the civil rights chapter, not the lease chapter. The ordinary security deposit is different and it is capped for every tenant in the state: § 562A.12(1) forbids demanding or receiving more than two months' rent.

### Does my provider have to be in Iowa?

No. Section 216.8C(1) permits the finding to be made by a licensee under Iowa Code chapter 148, 148C, 152, 154B, 154C or 154D (medicine and surgery, physician assistants, nursing, psychology, social work, behavioural science), "or a licensee of another state who is licensed under a similar law and who is in good standing with that state." The out-of-state clause is in the same sentence that creates the requirement, so a clinician licensed elsewhere is not working around Iowa law; they are working inside it. Paragraph (d) names telehealth expressly. What does not change is the content: the same eight elements, and the licence number that identifies which licence is being relied on.

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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=iowa-emotional-support-animal%2Fdes-moines