# ESA Letter in Kalamazoo, MI: A City Board That Reads

> Kalamazoo has its own fair housing ordinance and a Civil Rights Board that reviews complaints under it. What that adds for a renter with a support animal.

- Source: https://supportanimal.com/blog/michigan-emotional-support-animal/kalamazoo/
- Publisher: Support Animal (supportanimal.com)
- Updated: 2026-08-17
- License note: informational content; not legal or medical advice.

## Key facts

- Population: 73,290
- Households renting: 57.7%
- Typical pet deposit (as a pet): Capped: 1.5 months' rent
- Typical pet rent (as a pet): Varies by building
- Breed/weight limits common: yes
- Pet fees, deposits, and breed limits with a valid ESA letter: none (FHA reasonable accommodation)

## The most rental-dependent city in the state's top twenty

Kalamazoo rents **57.7 percent** of its occupied homes: 17,044 of 29,523,
which is the highest share among Michigan's twenty largest municipalities
and more than double the statewide figure of 26.8 percent. Median gross
rent is $1,078.

Almost everything about how an assistance-animal request goes here follows
from that. Housing providers are mostly operators rather than accidental
landlords. Policies are written down. And the city itself has built
machinery that smaller Michigan municipalities have not.

## Kalamazoo has its own fair housing ordinance

Two chapters of the city code matter: **Chapter 18**, the Non-Discrimination
Ordinance, and **Chapter 18A**, the Fair Housing Ordinance.

Attached to them is a **Civil Rights Board**, created in September 2020
after updates to Chapter 18, which in the city's own words "reviews
allegations and violations of the local Non-Discrimination Ordinance and
Fair Housing Ordinance" and "makes recommendations to the City on how
practices or policies that lead to discrimination can be changed."

It is not a board of general volunteers. Members must be able to
"demonstrate experience in civil rights, public accommodation, employment,
disability or housing law", disability law named specifically. Complaints
are reported through the city's 311 service, and the board meets in the
evening, which matters if you work.

Outside Detroit, this is the most substantial municipal civil-rights
apparatus a renter on this site will meet in Michigan.

## Use it, and file with the state anyway

The city route is worth using. It is local, it is free, and the people
reading it have relevant expertise.

It does not, however, replace the state route or hold its deadline. The
statute the city board is not enforcing, the Persons with Disabilities
Civil Rights Act, belongs to the **Michigan Department of Civil Rights**,
whose intake line is **1-800-482-3604** and whose window closes **180 days**
after the act. HUD's is **one year**, under 24 C.F.R. § 103.35. Neither
pauses because a city board is reading the same facts.

The sensible sequence is: written request to the landlord, dated; local
complaint if it is refused; state complaint before day 180, whatever the
board has or has not done by then.

## What the state duty says, and why a written policy helps you

MCL 37.1506a(1)(b) makes it unlawful in a real estate transaction to
"[r]efuse to make reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, practices,
or services, when the accommodations may be necessary to afford the person
with a disability equal opportunity to use and enjoy residential real
property."

In a city of professional landlords, that sentence is doing its best work.
The rule is already written down; nobody has to reconstruct what was said
at a viewing. Ask who reviews accommodation requests, put it to that
person, and get the decision in writing.

If the answer is no, MCL 37.1102(2) is the next question: the accommodation
is required "unless the person demonstrates that the accommodation would
impose an undue hardship", and the demonstration is theirs.

## Deposits, and a ceiling worth checking at $1,078 rent

Michigan caps everything a landlord holds at one and a half months' rent
(MCL 554.602), which here is roughly **$1,617**.

That is low enough to matter. A full month's deposit plus a $500 pet
deposit is already over the line, and MCL 554.601(d) makes clear the pet
deposit counts: a security deposit includes any amount "returnable to the
tenant on condition of return of the rental unit by the tenant in condition
as required by the rental agreement."

What the money may be spent on is fixed too: MCL 554.607 allows damage
caused by "conduct not reasonably expected in the normal course of
habitation", unpaid rent and unpaid utilities, and nothing else, with
MCL 554.606 shutting off any attempt to sign those protections away. Do the
arithmetic on your own lease before you sign it, because in a market this
tight the ceiling is the part landlords most often get wrong.

For an approved assistance animal the pet portion should not be charged at
all: a charge that exists only because of the animal is a term imposed
because of the disability, which MCL 37.1502(1)(b) prohibits. Monthly pet
rent is not capped by anything, state or local, so for a pet it is a price
and for an assistance animal it is the accommodation duty that removes it.

## Registration and certification: about the building

Kalamazoo requires residential rental properties to be registered and
certified as safe and sanitary, with certification running between **28 and
52 months** depending on the property's inspection history, and periodic
inspections applying to every rental type: including short-term rentals
listed on Airbnb or VRBO.

Two things follow. Your landlord is used to city paperwork, which makes a
formal written request less alien than it would be elsewhere. And that
system decides nothing about your animal: certification is about safety and
condition, the accommodation duty is about rules.

## The centre that covers this county, and the one that does not

The **Fair Housing Center of Southwest Michigan** is in the city, at 405
West Michigan Avenue, on **(269) 276-9100** or toll free **(866)
637-0733**, serving nine counties including Kalamazoo. Its published list
of what it investigates includes "Denial of Reasonable Accommodations or
Modifications for Persons With Disabilities". This exact problem, named.

Worth knowing: the Fair Housing Center of **West** Michigan, in Grand
Rapids, does **not** cover Kalamazoo County. The two centres divide the
region, and a call to the wrong one costs you a week. **Legal Aid of
Western Michigan** does have a Kalamazoo office for civil legal help.

## The letter, and the Michigan case behind it

A Kalamazoo landlord may ask, where the disability and the animal's role
are not obvious, for verification of the disability, the accommodation and
the link between them.

What they may not require is an expert witness. The Michigan Supreme
Court's order of 29 November 2022 vacated any reading of *Riverbrook v
Fabode* to that effect. And they may not require registration: the state's
voluntary programme is for trained service animals, carries no legal
privileges or protections, and the Department of Civil Rights tells anyone
required by a landlord to register an animal to file a complaint.

What failed in *Riverbrook* is the shape to avoid: a letter written after a
single telephone call, no records reviewed, no testing, naming a condition
that had not been diagnosed and never saying what the animal did. In a city
where letting offices see accommodation requests regularly, a letter of
that kind gets recognised quickly. One from a licensed professional who has
actually evaluated you does the job.

## If you are a student renter

Kalamazoo's rental year turns over hard in August, and a large share of the
city's tenancies are signed months in advance by people who have not seen
the unit. Two things follow for an animal.

Ask before you sign, in writing, and get the accommodation confirmed in the
same medium: a leasing agent's verbal "that's fine" in February is worth
very little in August when a different member of staff is doing move-ins.

And if you are refused at the application stage, that refusal counts. The
duty at MCL 37.1506a(1)(b) runs to a person "engaging in a real estate
transaction", which includes the decision whether to rent to you at all, and
your 180 days runs from the refusal rather than from the tenancy you never
got.

## What Kalamazoo landlords can and cannot do

**Cannot:**
- Cannot refuse a reasonable accommodation in rules, policies, practices or services where it may be necessary to give a person with a disability an equal opportunity to use and enjoy residential real property: MCL 37.1506a(1)(b), and 24 C.F.R. § 100.204(a) federally.
- Cannot rely on a no-pets policy to refuse an assistance animal: the Michigan Department of Civil Rights gives "[a]llowing a service or support animal in a no-pet complex" as its own example of an accommodation state and federal law require.
- Cannot treat the request as settled by the animal's breed or size where the animal is an approved assistance animal: the accommodation analysis is individual, and a blanket rule is not that analysis.
- Cannot demand that the tenant register the animal or produce a state identification card. The Michigan Department of Civil Rights runs a voluntary identification programme for trained service animals and tells anyone "required to obtain service animal identification or register a service animal by a landlord" to file a complaint.
- Cannot require expert-witness testimony or a particular kind of professional: the Michigan Supreme Court vacated any reading of Riverbrook to that effect, holding that neither 42 U.S.C. § 3604(f)(3)(B) nor MCL 37.1506a(1)(b) contains such a requirement.
- Cannot ask about the existence, nature or severity of a disability as a general screening question, 24 C.F.R. § 100.202(c), which allows only defined inquiries made of every applicant.
- Cannot hold more than one and a half months' rent in deposits from any tenant, a refundable pet deposit included, because MCL 554.601(d) defines a security deposit to include any amount returnable on the condition the unit is returned as the lease requires, and MCL 554.602 caps the total.
- Cannot use a deposit for anything but actual damage beyond normal habitation and rent or utility arrears, MCL 554.607, and cannot contract out of the act at all, because MCL 554.606 says its requirements may not be waived.
- Cannot write a lease clause that discriminates in violation of the PWDCRA: MCL 554.633(1)(c) prohibits it, and MCL 554.636(1) lets the tenant void the lease and recover $250 or actual damages, whichever is greater, once written notice has gone unremedied for 20 days.
- Cannot refuse to rent, or discriminate in the terms, conditions or privileges of the tenancy, because of a disability: MCL 37.1502(1)(a) and (b).
- Cannot refuse a reasonable modification made at the tenant's expense, though it may require restoration of the interior on move-out where that is reasonable, MCL 37.1506a(1)(a).
- Cannot start a clock the law does not give it: no Michigan statute sets a deadline for a landlord's answer to an accommodation request, so a request left unanswered is a fact to record, and the tenant's own filing deadlines keep running while they wait.

**Can:**
- Must show undue hardship if it refuses: MCL 37.1102(2) requires accommodation "unless the person demonstrates that the accommodation would impose an undue hardship", which puts the demonstration on the housing provider.
- May ask for reliable disability-related information where the disability and the need are not obvious: the standard the Michigan Court of Appeals applied in Riverbrook v Fabode, drawn from the 2004 joint statement of HUD and the Department of Justice.
- Is not required to accept an animal whose tenancy would be a direct threat to the health or safety of others. 24 C.F.R. § 100.202(d), but that is a judgement about the individual animal's conduct, not about its breed.
- Is exempt only in narrow circumstances: MCL 37.1503 excepts renting in a building with no more than two families where the owner or their immediate family lives in one of them, or renting a room in a dwelling the lessor lives in. The Michigan Department of Civil Rights states the same exclusion as "[o]wner-occupied one or two family dwellings".

## How to get an ESA letter in Kalamazoo

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

- [City of Kalamazoo Civil Rights Board](https://www.kalamazoocity.org/Government/Boards-Commissions/Civil-Rights-Board) (city agency)
- [City of Kalamazoo, report a civil rights complaint](https://www.kalamazoocity.org/Residents/Connect-with-311/Report-Civil-Rights-Complaint) (city agency)
- [Fair Housing Center of Southwest Michigan](https://www.fhcswm.org/) (fair housing)
- [Michigan Department of Civil Rights](https://www.michigan.gov/mdcr/enforcement/fair-housing) (state agency)
- [Legal Aid of Western Michigan](https://lawestmi.org/) (legal aid)
- [City of Kalamazoo rental housing registration](https://www.kalamazoocity.org/Community/Rental-Housing) (city agency)

## Frequently asked questions

### Does Kalamazoo have its own fair housing law?

Yes, and a board to look at complaints under it. The city's Code of Ordinances carries a Non-Discrimination Ordinance at Chapter 18 and a Fair Housing Ordinance at Chapter 18A, and the Civil Rights Board, created in September 2020 following updates to Chapter 18, "reviews allegations and violations of the local Non-Discrimination Ordinance and Fair Housing Ordinance" and recommends changes to practices or policies that lead to discrimination. Board members must be able to demonstrate experience in civil rights, public accommodation, employment, disability or housing law. Complaints are reported through the city's 311 service.

### Should I complain to the city, the state, or both?

Both, and in that order of speed rather than importance. The city's Civil Rights Board reviews allegations under local ordinances and can recommend changes; the Michigan Department of Civil Rights is the body that enforces the Persons with Disabilities Civil Rights Act, and its window is 180 days from the act, on 1-800-482-3604. Nothing about a local complaint pauses that state deadline, and nothing pauses HUD's one-year window under 24 C.F.R. § 103.35. Use the local route for speed and the state route to protect your position.

### Kalamazoo is 57.7 percent renters. Does that change how landlords respond?

It changes the market, not the duty. In a majority-renter city, most housing providers are professional operators with written policies, and a written policy is exactly what MCL 37.1506a(1)(b) is aimed at: a housing provider may not "[r]efuse to make reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, practices, or services, when the accommodations may be necessary to afford the person with a disability equal opportunity to use and enjoy residential real property." Ask who reviews accommodation requests, send it to that person in writing, and keep the reply.

### What is the city's rental certification, and does it affect my animal?

It affects the unit, not the animal. Residential rental properties in Kalamazoo must be registered and certified as safe and sanitary, and properties that pass inspection are certified for between 28 and 52 months depending on the property's history, with periodic inspections applying to all rental types including short-term rentals. That is a housing-condition system. The accommodation duty comes from MCL 37.1506a(1)(b) and 24 C.F.R. § 100.204(a), and it applies to a landlord whatever the state of their certification.

### How much can a Kalamazoo landlord hold in deposits?

One and a half months' rent in total, MCL 554.602, which at the city's $1,078 median gross rent is roughly $1,617. A refundable pet deposit counts inside that ceiling, because MCL 554.601(d) defines a security deposit to include any amount "returnable to the tenant on condition of return of the rental unit by the tenant in condition as required by the rental agreement". The deposit may only be used for actual damage beyond the normal course of habitation and for rent or utility arrears under MCL 554.607, and MCL 554.606 provides that the act may not be waived by the lease.

### Which fair housing organisation covers Kalamazoo County?

The Fair Housing Center of Southwest Michigan, which is based in the city at 405 West Michigan Avenue and serves nine counties including Kalamazoo. Its published list of what it investigates includes "Denial of Reasonable Accommodations or Modifications for Persons With Disabilities", and it can be reached on (269) 276-9100 or toll free on (866) 637-0733. Note that the Fair Housing Center of West Michigan, in Grand Rapids, does not cover Kalamazoo County: the two centres divide the region between them.

### My landlord wants a certificate proving the animal is an ESA. Is there one?

No. Michigan's only official animal identification is the Department of Civil Rights' voluntary programme for trained service animals under MCL 37.303, which the department says "may not be required as a barrier to entry" and which "do[es] not provide the animal or their handler any legal privileges or protections". MDCR tells anyone required by a landlord to obtain service animal identification or to register an animal to file a complaint. What supports a request is documentation from a licensed professional who has evaluated you: the point the Michigan Court of Appeals pressed in Riverbrook v Fabode, where a letter based on a single phone call did not survive scrutiny.

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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=michigan-emotional-support-animal%2Fkalamazoo