# ESA Letter in Topeka, KS: Six Months, Then 300 Days

> K.S.A. 44-1005(i) gives six months to file and a written-request exit if the Commission stalls past 300 days. In Topeka, both halves get used.

- Source: https://supportanimal.com/blog/kansas-emotional-support-animal/topeka/
- Publisher: Support Animal (supportanimal.com)
- Updated: 2026-09-05
- License note: informational content; not legal or medical advice.

## Key facts

- Population: 125,467
- Households renting: 41%
- Typical pet deposit (as a pet): Barred as accommodation
- Typical pet rent (as a pet): $25-$50/mo for pets
- Breed/weight limits common: yes
- Pet fees, deposits, and breed limits with a valid ESA letter: none (FHA reasonable accommodation)

## The capital rents below the state median

Topeka has 22,495 renting households out of 54,837 occupied homes, 41.0
percent on the 2020–2024 American Community Survey five-year estimate,
against 32.8 percent statewide. That is ninth of Kansas's twenty largest
cities by share and fourth by number.

Median gross rent is **$979**, eighty-one dollars *below* the $1,060 Kansas
median.

That is worth pausing on, because it corrects an assumption people carry
into these conversations. Kansas's two large non-suburban cities both rent
under the state figure: Topeka at $979 and Wichita at $975. The statewide
number is pulled up by Johnson County: Leawood at $1,983, Prairie Village at
$1,794, Overland Park at $1,515. Nobody in Topeka is paying a Kansas
premium.

The 2024 Census estimate puts the city at 125,467, fifth in Kansas.

## Two clocks in one subsection

K.S.A. 44-1005(i) does two separate jobs, and most people only know about
the first.

### The six months

> "Any complaint filed pursuant to this act must be so filed **within six months after the
> alleged act of discrimination**, unless the act complained of constitutes a **continuing
> pattern or practice of discrimination** in which event it will be from the last act of
> discrimination."

Six months is the Kansas window. Longer than South Dakota's and Montana's
180 days, shorter than Maine's 300 and Oregon's year.

The continuing-pattern clause matters more than it looks. A monthly pet
charge attached to an assistance animal is not a single event at signing,
and Kansas says so on the face of the statute, which South Dakota's
equivalent does not. That is not a reason to wait; it is a reason to keep
every monthly statement, because the analysis depends on the pattern being
documented.

### The 300 days

> "Complaints filed with the commission may be dismissed by the commission on its own
> initiative, and **shall be dismissed by the commission upon the written request of the
> complainant, if the commission has not issued a finding of probable cause or no probable
> cause or taken other administrative action dismissing the complaint within 300 days of the
> filing.**"

This is the part almost nobody knows about, and it is the useful half.

Ten months after you file, if nothing has happened, you can require the Commission to dismiss
your complaint. Not ask. The statute says "shall be dismissed … upon the written request."

## Why you would want your own complaint dismissed

Because of what the next sentence does:

> "Any such dismissal of a complaint in accordance with this section **shall constitute final
> action by the commission which shall be deemed to exhaust all administrative remedies under
> the Kansas act against discrimination for the purpose of allowing subsequent filing of the
> matter in court by the complainant, without the requirement of filing a petition for
> reconsideration**…"

The dismissal is not a loss. It is a key.

Administrative exhaustion is normally the obstacle between a stalled agency
file and a courtroom. K.S.A. 44-1005(i) converts a 300-day silence into
exhaustion by operation of statute, and expressly removes the
reconsideration petition that would otherwise be assumed necessary.

So the sequence available to a Topeka tenant is: file within six months; if
nothing has happened by day 300, request dismissal in writing; take the
matter to court with administrative remedies deemed exhausted.

## Practical notes on using it

**Put the request in writing.** The statute says "written request," and an oral request does
not trigger the mandatory dismissal.

**Count from the filing.** The 300 days run "within 300 days of the filing," not from the act
of discrimination or from any subsequent event.

**Check what has happened first.** The trigger is that the Commission has not issued a probable
cause finding, a no-probable-cause finding, or taken other administrative action dismissing the
complaint. An investigation that is slow but has produced a finding is not within the
subsection.

**The Commission must notify.** The same subsection requires written notice to all parties of a
dismissal within five days of it.

## About the Commission's website

The Kansas Human Rights Commission is real, K.S.A. 44-1003 creates it and
K.S.A. 44-1005 gives it this procedure.

This page does not link to it. No Kansas Human Rights Commission host could
be reached from where this material was compiled, on any address tried, and
citing a government URL nobody in this pipeline could open is how a dead
link ships. The statute is the citation, and it is the part that governs
anyway.

## The claim you are filing about

**K.S.A. 44-1016(h)(3)(B)**, "a refusal 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 residential real property", with **42 U.S.C. § 3604(f)(3)(B)**
behind it. Federal deadlines run on their own schedule; do not treat the Kansas six months as
the only clock in play.

Charges attached to the animal come off under **K.S.A. 44-1016(h)(2)**, discrimination in "the
terms, conditions or privileges" of a rental. K.S.A. 58-2550(a) caps the unfurnished deposit at
one month's periodic rent (just under a thousand dollars at Topeka's median), and its
additional half-month pet deposit is conditioned on a rental agreement that permits pets, which
an accommodation animal is not there under.

And do not open with **K.S.A. 39-1108**: its extra-charge bar belongs to a "service dog,
specially selected, trained and tested for the purpose."

## What to keep while the file sits

The 300-day exit is only useful to a tenant who can still prove what
happened by the time it arrives.

Keep the accommodation request as sent, with its date. Keep the refusal, in
whatever form it came. Keep every statement showing the charge, because the
continuing-pattern language in the same subsection is what keeps an older
refusal alive.

And keep the Commission's own correspondence. The dismissal you may
eventually request is the document that establishes exhaustion of
administrative remedies, and a court will want to see it rather than hear
about it.

**Diarise day 300 when you file.** The entitlement is easy to miss because nothing prompts it: the
Commission is not obliged to tell you the date has passed. A calendar entry made on the day of filing
costs nothing and is the difference between a stalled file and a courthouse.

## What is being investigated for those 300 days

Begin with a clinician already treating you, history speaks to a
disability-related need in a way a single appointment cannot, and the visit
is the only cost. Topeka's clinical capacity serves a catchment much wider
than the city, so new-patient waits run into months, and a practice that
declines housing documentation as policy will not be argued out of it.

If no such relationship exists, a licensed evaluation covers the same ground
deliberately. A licensed clinician works out whether a disability is present
and whether this animal answers it, then commits that to writing or explains
why they cannot.

Six months to file, 300 days to a courthouse door. Neither clock helps a
file with nothing in it.

## What Topeka landlords can and cannot do

**Cannot:**
- May not refuse a reasonable accommodation in rules, policies, practices or services where it may be necessary to afford a person with a disability equal opportunity to use and enjoy residential real property: K.S.A. 44-1016(h)(3)(B).
- May not discriminate because of disability in the terms, conditions or privileges of the rental, or in the services and facilities provided with it: K.S.A. 44-1016(h)(2).
- May not take a security deposit above one month's rent for an unfurnished unit, or 1½ months' where the landlord supplies the furniture, K.S.A. 58-2550(a).

**Can:**
- May take the additional pet deposit of up to half a month's rent only where the rental agreement permits the tenant to keep pets, K.S.A. 58-2550(a). An accommodation animal is not there on permission, so the condition is not satisfied.
- Must return the balance of the deposit within fourteen days of determining charges and no more than thirty days after termination, possession and demand, or face damages of one and a half times the amount wrongfully withheld: K.S.A. 58-2550(b) and (c).
- May refuse where the tenancy would be a direct threat to the health or safety of others or would cause substantial physical damage to the property of others, K.S.A. 44-1016(h)(7). This is an assessment of the individual animal and tenancy, not of a breed.
- May still hold the tenant liable for damage: K.S.A. 39-1108 makes even a trained service dog's handler liable for damage to the premises, and nothing in the accommodation duty says otherwise.
- Is not required to permit modifications at the landlord's expense, K.S.A. 44-1016(h)(3)(A) puts reasonable modifications of existing premises at the cost of the person with the disability.
- Is exempt from the state act only within K.S.A. 44-1018(b): a four-family owner-occupied building, or an owner with an interest in no more than three single family houses renting without a broker. The federal Fair Housing Act runs its own, different exemptions.

## How to get an ESA letter in Topeka

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

- [Kansas Legal Services](https://www.kansaslegalservices.org/) (legal aid)
- [Kansas Housing Resources Corporation](https://kshousingcorp.org/) (state housing authority)
- [Disability Rights Center of Kansas](https://www.drckansas.org/) (disability rights org)
- [Douglas County](https://www.dgcoks.gov/) (county government)

## Frequently asked questions

### How long do I have to complain in Kansas?

Six months. K.S.A. 44-1005(i) requires any complaint under the act to be filed "within six months after the alleged act of discrimination, unless the act complained of constitutes a continuing pattern or practice of discrimination in which event it will be from the last act of discrimination." That is longer than South Dakota's and Montana's 180 days and shorter than Oregon's year.

### What happens if the Commission does nothing for a year?

You can force the exit. The same subsection requires a complaint to be dismissed "upon the written request of the complainant, if the commission has not issued a finding of probable cause or no probable cause or taken other administrative action dismissing the complaint within 300 days of the filing." The request has to be in writing, and the dismissal is mandatory once the conditions are met.

### Does a dismissal like that hurt my case?

No. It is the mechanism, not a defeat. K.S.A. 44-1005(i) provides that such a dismissal "shall constitute final action by the commission which shall be deemed to exhaust all administrative remedies under the Kansas act against discrimination for the purpose of allowing subsequent filing of the matter in court by the complainant." It converts a stalled file into a court case.

### Do I need to petition for reconsideration first?

The subsection says not: the dismissal exhausts administrative remedies "without the requirement of filing a petition for reconsideration." That is a step the statute expressly removes, which is worth knowing because reconsideration is often assumed to be mandatory before a court will hear the matter.

### Where is the Kansas Human Rights Commission?

It is the body created by K.S.A. 44-1003 and it administers the complaint procedure in K.S.A. 44-1005. This page does not link to its website: no Kansas Human Rights Commission host could be reached from where this material was compiled, and citing a government address nobody in this pipeline could open is how a dead link ships. The statute is the citation.

### Is a monthly pet charge one act or many?

It is the situation K.S.A. 44-1005(i)'s continuing pattern language is written for, the six months run "from the last act of discrimination" where a continuing pattern or practice is alleged. That is not a reason to wait, but it is a reason to keep every statement, because the analysis depends on the pattern being documented.

### Topeka rents below the state median. Does that matter?

It corrects an assumption. At $979, Topeka's median gross rent is eighty-one dollars under the $1,060 Kansas figure, as is Wichita's $975. The state median is pulled up by the Johnson County suburbs rather than by the large cities. The one-month deposit cap in K.S.A. 58-2550(a) therefore ceilings a smaller number here than in Overland Park or Leawood.

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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=kansas-emotional-support-animal%2Ftopeka