# ESA Letter in Minnesota: The State That Wrote Support Animals Down

> Minnesota names support animals in statute, requires no training, and bans pet fees for them outright. What Minn. Stat. § 504B.113 gives renters.

- Source: https://supportanimal.com/blog/minnesota-emotional-support-animal/
- Publisher: Support Animal (supportanimal.com)
- Updated: 2026-08-11
- License note: informational content; not legal or medical advice.

**Summary:** Minnesota is the rare state that wrote the emotional support animal into its landlord-tenant code by name. Minn. Stat. § 504B.113, headed "Service and Support Animal Documentation," defines a "support animal" as an animal that provides emotional support alleviating one or more identified symptoms or effects of a person's disability and that "does not need to be trained to perform a specific disability-related task." Most states leave a tenant arguing that a general accommodation duty stretches to cover an untrained animal. Minnesota legislated the answer. The same section then does three more things: it bans any additional fee, charge or deposit for the animal (subd. 3(a)); it tells landlords exactly who may write the supporting letter, through a closed list of licensed professionals that expressly excludes anyone "who operates primarily to provide certification for a service or support animal" (subd. 1(e)); and it bars a landlord from demanding medical records or access to a tenant's medical providers (subd. 2(b)). Discrimination claims run under the Minnesota Human Rights Act, Minn. Stat. ch. 363A, whose disability definition at § 363A.03 subd. 12 uses "materially limits" rather than the federal "substantially limits." A tenant has one year and three separate doors: a charge with the Department of Human Rights, a charge with a local commission, or a civil action filed directly in district court with no charge required first.

## The state that wrote it down

Most states leave an emotional support animal to inference. There is a fair
housing law, it says a landlord must make reasonable accommodations in rules,
and a tenant has to argue that a no-pets rule is a rule and that their animal
belongs inside the argument. It works. It is also an argument, and arguments
get lost at the leasing desk.

Minnesota did not do that. It put support animals in the landlord-tenant
chapter by name.

Minn. Stat. § 504B.113 is headed "Service and Support Animal Documentation."
It defines what a support animal is, says who may write the letter, states
what a landlord may ask for, sets out what a landlord may never ask for, and
bans any additional fee for the animal. A Minnesota renter does not have to
reason their way to those answers. They are written down in one section.

## What "support animal" means here

The definition is at § 504B.113, subd. 1(c). A support animal is an animal
that "provides emotional support that alleviates one or more identified
symptoms or effects of a person's disability" and that "does not need to be
trained to perform a specific disability-related task."

Read that second clause twice, because it is the one that does the work. In
most of the country a landlord can stall by asking what the animal is trained
to do. In Minnesota the statute answers before the question is asked. Training
is not part of the definition.

Two smaller pieces of the same subdivision matter more than they look.
"Tenant" is defined to include a prospective tenant, so the protection is
already running while you are filling in the application. And the definition
of reasonable accommodation at subd. 1(f) names the waiver of a "no-pets or
pet-fee policy" — the fee policy, not just the ban.

The disability standard comes from the Human Rights Act at Minn. Stat.
§ 363A.03, subd. 12, and it is wider than the federal one. Minnesota asks
whether an impairment "materially limits" a major life activity. Federal law
asks whether it substantially limits one. The same subdivision covers an
impairment that is "episodic or in remission" and would materially limit an
activity when active, which is how conditions that come and go are inside
the definition rather than argued about.

## Who Minnesota lets write your letter

Subd. 1(e) gives a closed list, and it is short. Physicians licensed by the
Board of Medical Practice are on it. So are physician assistants, nurses,
psychologists, mental health professionals, social workers and counselors,
each licensed under the chapter the statute names for that profession.
Someone in one of those professions licensed in another state also counts,
but only where they already have a treatment relationship with you.

Then the subdivision ends with a sentence that no other state in this guide
has: "A licensed professional does not include any person who operates
primarily to provide certification for a service or support animal."

That is a registry ban written as a definition. A business whose product is a
certificate is excluded from the list by what it does for a living. Paperwork
bought from one is not documentation from a licensed professional, and a
Minnesota landlord may lawfully set it aside. No registry, ID card, vest or
certificate carries legal weight in Minnesota, and the statute says so in the
only way that actually bites.

## What a landlord may ask, and where the line falls

A landlord may ask for supporting documentation for each animal. It may not
ask at all where your disability, or your need for the animal, is "readily
apparent or already known" to it.

When it does ask, what it is entitled to is narrow: documentation from a
licensed professional confirming the disability and the relationship between
that disability and the need for the animal. Nothing further. Subd. 2(b) is
blunt about the rest: a landlord "must not require the tenant to disclose or
provide access to medical records or medical providers or provide any other
information or documentation of a person's physical or mental disability."

So a request for your diagnosis, your chart, or your therapist's phone number
is not a tough negotiation. It is outside what the statute allows.

## The money rule, and the receipt you may be owed

Subd. 3(a): a landlord "must not require a tenant with a reasonable
accommodation under this section to pay an additional fee, charge, or deposit
for the service or support animal." Three words, three products. Pet rent is a
charge. A pet deposit is a deposit. A one-time pet fee is a fee. All of them
go. What stays is liability for damage the animal actually does, which is
settled at the end on the evidence rather than collected at the start on the
assumption.

Minnesota sets no cap at all on the amount of an ordinary security deposit.
That is exactly why the fee ban, and not a dollar ceiling, is what protects a
tenant here.

Then there is a provision worth knowing about before you sign anything. Under
subd. 3(b), a landlord that charges pet fees must disclose in the lease that
those fees cannot be charged for a service or support animal. If it does not,
subd. 3(c) lets a tenant sue to recover fees already paid under the pet
policy, on showing they would have asked for an accommodation and "would
likely have received" one had the disclosure been there. A landlord's
paperwork failure turns into the tenant's refund.

Ordinary deposits are governed by § 504B.178. They earn one percent simple
interest a year. They come back, with a written statement of any deductions,
within three weeks of the tenancy ending. And subd. 3(c) of that section puts
the burden of proving a deduction on the landlord, not the tenant.

## The statutes that look right and are not

Search Minnesota law for animals in housing and you will land on the wrong
provision first. Minn. Stat. § 256C.025, subd. 4 says housing, and it says a
person "shall not be required to pay extra compensation" for a service dog.
It reads like the answer.

It is limited to a person "totally or partially blind, or person who is deaf,
or person with a physical disability," and to a service dog. A tenant whose
disability is a mental health condition is outside it. A landlord quoting it
back at you is quoting a real statute that does not govern your request.

The 2025 legislature added subd. 5 to the same section, for service dogs in
training under an organisation accredited by Assistance Dogs International or
the International Guide Dog Federation, and it lets a landlord or a
homeowners association board require written certification from that
organisation. It is the one place in Minnesota law where a housing provider
may demand certification from an outside body, and it has nothing to do with
an emotional support animal.

Two more worth naming. Minn. Stat. § 363A.09, subd. 5 gives a service animal
user full and equal access to real property with no extra compensation, and
Minn. Stat. § 609.833 makes faking a service animal a petty misdemeanor, in
a place of public accommodation only. Neither is the housing route. In
housing, misrepresenting a disability costs you the application or the animal
under § 504B.113, subd. 5, not a criminal charge.

## Renting in an owner's state

Minnesota is the most owner-occupied state in this guide. Statewide, 641,268
of 2,307,955 occupied homes are rented, 27.8 percent, on the 2020-2024
American Community Survey five-year estimate. Every other state here is
higher.

That shows up in the cities. Only two of the twenty largest are
majority-renter, Minneapolis at 52.3 percent and St. Cloud at 51.4 percent,
and Minneapolis is a narrower majority than the largest rental city of any
other state in this guide. Eleven of the twenty sit above the statewide rate.
The rest are owner territory, where a renter asking about an animal is asking
a landlord who has not been asked often.

## One year, three doors, one choice

Minn. Stat. § 363A.28, subd. 3 gives a tenant one year, and three ways to
use it: a civil action, a charge with a local human rights commission, or a
charge with the Commissioner of Human Rights. The year is suspended while you
are voluntarily in mediation or another dispute resolution process.

The local door has a guarantee attached. Under § 363A.07, subd. 3, a charge
may be filed with a local commission within one year "notwithstanding the
provisions of any ordinance or resolution to the contrary", so a shorter
local deadline cannot shorten your year.

It also has a catch, and it is the most important sentence on this page:
filing with one agency "shall preclude the option of filing the same charge
with the other agency." Choose the city or choose the state. You do not get
both, and the choice is made the moment you file.

## What a court can order

Minnesota's court route is unusually open. Under § 363A.33, subd. 1 a person
may bring a civil action "directly to district court", no charge first, no
administrative step to exhaust. Subd. 6 gives either side a jury.

The remedies are why it matters. Subd. 8(a) says the court "shall order" a
respondent who discriminated to pay compensatory damages, "including mental
anguish or suffering, in an amount up to three times the actual damages
sustained," on top of a civil penalty to the state and punitive damages under
Minn. Stat. § 549.20. Subd. 4 adds something a tenant without money should
know: the court may appoint an attorney for the complaining party, and it may
authorise the action to be commenced without payment of fees, costs or
security.

The document that starts all of this is an ordinary one: a current letter from
a licensed professional who actually treats you, saying you have a disability
and explaining why the animal helps. Minnesota tells you exactly who may write
it. That is the whole test.

## Key statutes

- **Minn. Stat. § 504B.113, subd. 1(c)** ("Support animal", defined: and no training required): A "support animal" is an animal that "(1) provides emotional support that alleviates one or more identified symptoms or effects of a person's disability; and (2) does not need to be trained to perform a specific disability-related task." That second clause is what makes Minnesota different from most of the country. Elsewhere a tenant must argue that a general reasonable-accommodation duty reaches an untrained animal; in Minnesota the legislature said so directly, in the landlord-tenant chapter, in the definition itself. [Text](https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/504B.113)
- **Minn. Stat. § 504B.113, subd. 3(a)** (No additional fee, charge or deposit: the money rule): "A landlord must not require a tenant with a reasonable accommodation under this section to pay an additional fee, charge, or deposit for the service or support animal. A tenant is liable to the landlord for any damage to the premises caused by the service or support animal." Pet rent, a pet deposit and a one-time pet fee are all "a fee, charge, or deposit," so all three come off. What survives is liability for actual damage the animal actually does. [Text](https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/504B.113)
- **Minn. Stat. § 504B.113, subd. 1(e)** (Who may write the letter: a closed list, and an anti-mill clause): A "licensed professional" is a person licensed by the Board of Medical Practice under ch. 147, a physician assistant under ch. 147A, a nurse under ch. 148, a psychologist under ch. 148, a mental health professional under ch. 148B, a social worker under ch. 148E, a counselor under ch. 148F, or any of those holding a valid licence in another state "provided the professional has an existing treatment relationship with the tenant." The subdivision then closes the obvious loophole in one sentence: "A licensed professional does not include any person who operates primarily to provide certification for a service or support animal." [Text](https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/504B.113)
- **Minn. Stat. § 504B.113, subd. 2** (What a landlord may ask for, and what it may never ask for): A landlord may require supporting documentation for each animal, but must not require it where the disability or the disability-related need "is readily apparent or already known to the landlord." On request the tenant must give documentation from a licensed professional confirming the disability and the relationship between the disability and the need for the animal. The hard limit is in the same paragraph: a landlord "must not require the tenant to disclose or provide access to medical records or medical providers or provide any other information or documentation of a person's physical or mental disability." [Text](https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/504B.113)
- **Minn. Stat. § 504B.113, subd. 3(b)-(c)** (The disclosure duty, and the right to claw back fees already paid): A landlord that charges pet fees at all must disclose in the lease that no such fee may be charged for a service or support animal. If it does not, a tenant may sue to recover fees, charges or deposits already paid under the pet policy, on showing that the tenant would have requested an accommodation and "would likely have received a reasonable accommodation had the landlord provided the disclosure." It is a rare provision: a documentation failure by the landlord converts into money back for the tenant. [Text](https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/504B.113)
- **Minn. Stat. § 504B.113, subd. 4-5** (Misrepresentation in housing is civil, not criminal): A tenant must not knowingly misrepresent themselves as a person with a disability requiring a service or support animal, or provide fraudulent supporting documentation. The consequence is that the landlord "may deny the tenant's rental application or request for a service or support animal," and nothing bars an eviction action for a breach of the lease. Note what is absent: no fine, no criminal charge. Minnesota's criminal misrepresentation offence lives in § 609.833 and reaches public accommodations only. [Text](https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/504B.113)
- **Minn. Stat. § 363A.03, subd. 12** (Disability: Minnesota's standard is broader than the federal one): A disabled person is any person who "(1) has a physical, sensory, or mental impairment which materially limits one or more major life activities; (2) has a record of such an impairment; (3) is regarded as having such an impairment; or (4) has an impairment that is episodic or in remission and would materially limit a major life activity when active." Minnesota says "materially limits" where the federal standard says "substantially limits," and clause (4) expressly covers conditions that come and go, which is how depression, anxiety and PTSD that fluctuate sit inside the definition. [Text](https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/363A.03)
- **Minn. Stat. § 363A.09, subd. 1** (The core housing prohibition under the Human Rights Act): It is an unfair discriminatory practice for an owner, lessee, managing agent or their agent to refuse to rent because of disability, or to discriminate "in the terms, conditions or privileges of the sale, rental or lease of any real property or in the furnishing of facilities or services in connection therewith." The terms-and-conditions limb is where a charge levied for an animal a tenant needs is challenged. Subd. 1(3) separately reaches discriminatory advertisements, application forms and inquiries, and subd. 6 bars coercing, intimidating, threatening or interfering with anyone exercising these rights. [Text](https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/363A.09)
- **Minn. Stat. § 256C.025, subd. 4** (The housing trap: it says housing, it says no extra charge, and it is not for an ESA): "Every person who is totally or partially blind, or person who is deaf, or person with a physical disability who has a service dog … shall be entitled to full and equal access to all housing accommodations … and shall not be required to pay extra compensation for such service dog but shall be liable for any damage done to the premises." Every word is real and none of it reaches an emotional support animal: the section is limited to blindness, deafness or physical disability, and to a service dog. A tenant whose disability is a mental-health condition is outside it and belongs in § 504B.113 instead. [Text](https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/256C.025)
- **Minn. Stat. § 256C.025, subd. 5** (Service dogs in training: the one place certification may be demanded): Added by 2025 c 16, this gives a person actively training a service dog under an organisation accredited by Assistance Dogs International or the International Guide Dog Federation the same access and the same freedom from extra compensation, and it lets "a landlord or board of a homeowners association require written certification from the organisation supervising the training." It is the single provision in Minnesota law under which a housing provider may demand certification from a named outside body, and it has nothing to do with an emotional support animal. [Text](https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/256C.025)
- **Minn. Stat. § 363A.09, subd. 5** (Full and equal access for a service animal user): It is an unfair discriminatory practice to deny full and equal access to real property "to a person who has a disability and who uses a service animal," and that person "may not be required to pay extra compensation for the service animal but is liable for damage done to the premises." Worth knowing rather than relying on: the Human Rights Act does not define "service animal" anywhere in § 363A.03, and the ADA-based definition at § 363A.19(c) applies expressly "for purposes of this section", the public accommodations section. A support animal's protection does not depend on resolving that, because § 504B.113 covers it by name. [Text](https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/363A.09)
- **Minn. Stat. § 363A.28, subd. 3** (One year, and three separate doors): A claim "must be brought as a civil action pursuant to section 363A.33, subdivision 1, filed in a charge with a local commission pursuant to section 363A.07, subdivision 3, or filed in a charge with the commissioner within one year after the occurrence of the practice." The one-year period is suspended while the parties are voluntarily in arbitration, conciliation, mediation or a grievance process, and a respondent who takes part without notifying the department is barred from pleading the limitation period at all. [Text](https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/363A.28)
- **Minn. Stat. § 363A.07, subd. 3** (The local commission door: a one-year floor, and an irrevocable choice): "Notwithstanding the provisions of any ordinance or resolution to the contrary, a charge may be filed with a local commission within one year after the occurrence of the practice." A shorter local deadline cannot cut that down. But the next sentence is the warning: "The exercise of such choice in filing a charge with one agency shall preclude the option of filing the same charge with the other agency." Pick the state department or the local commission, not both. The local agency must tell a complainant about that choice, and about any protections the state Act offers that the local ordinance does not. [Text](https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/363A.07)
- **Minn. Stat. § 363A.33, subd. 1 and 6** (Straight to district court, with a jury): "The commissioner or a person may bring a civil action seeking redress for an unfair discriminatory practice directly to district court." There is no requirement to file a charge first and no administrative exhaustion step. A person may also sue within 90 days of a dismissal or no-probable-cause notice, or after 45 days from filing a charge if no hearing has been held and no conciliation agreement signed. And under subd. 6, the person suing and the respondent alike are "entitled to a jury trial." [Text](https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/363A.33)
- **Minn. Stat. § 363A.33, subd. 8(a)** (Treble compensatory damages, and the court must order them): Where the court finds an unfair discriminatory practice it "shall order the respondent to pay an aggrieved party who has suffered discrimination compensatory damages, including mental anguish or suffering, in an amount up to three times the actual damages sustained," on top of a civil penalty payable to the state and punitive damages under § 549.20. Where the respondent is a political subdivision, punitive damages are capped at $25,000. Under subd. 4 the court may also appoint an attorney for the complaining party and may authorise the commencement of the action without payment of fees, costs or security. [Text](https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/363A.33)
- **Minn. Stat. § 363A.21, subd. 1** (The exemption that does reach disability: and what it does not touch): Section 363A.09 does not apply to "the rental by a resident owner or occupier of a one-family accommodation of a room or rooms in the accommodation to another person," where the discrimination is by sex, gender identity, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, sexual orientation or disability. Disability is inside that list, so Minnesota's live-in-landlord carve-out is real. It is also narrow, and it is an exemption from § 363A.09 only. It says nothing about § 504B.113, which sits in a different chapter and carries the fee ban. [Text](https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/363A.21)
- **Minn. Stat. § 504B.178** (Security deposits: no cap on the amount, hard rules on the handling): A deposit bears simple non-compounded interest at one percent a year, and must be returned with interest (or a written statement giving the specific reason for withholding it must be furnished), within three weeks of the tenancy ending. A landlord may withhold only what is reasonably necessary for unpaid rent or to restore the premises, "ordinary wear and tear excepted," and subd. 3(c) puts the burden of proving the reason on the landlord. Miss the deadline and the landlord owes the withheld portion plus interest as a penalty on top of returning it. Any attempted waiver by contract is void. [Text](https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/504B.178)
- **Minn. Stat. § 504B.114** (Declawing and devocalization may not be made a condition): A landlord who allows animals must not advertise so as to discourage applicants whose animal has not been declawed or devocalized, refuse or deny occupancy over a refusal to declaw or devocalize, or require it of a tenant. "Any requirement or lease provision that violates this subdivision is void and unenforceable." A city attorney, county attorney or the attorney general may sue, with civil penalties of up to $1,000 per advertisement and up to $1,000 per animal. Enacted in 2023, it protects pets and support animals alike. [Text](https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/504B.114)
- **Minn. Stat. § 504B.261** (A pet right in subsidized accessible units: and its deposit rule runs the other way): In a multiunit building, a tenant of a disability accessible unit where the tenant or the unit receives a subsidy that reduces or eliminates rent must be allowed two birds, or one spayed or neutered dog, or one spayed or neutered cat. This turns on the unit and the subsidy rather than on any accommodation request, and here the landlord may require an additional damage deposit, refundable to the extent it exceeds actual damage. That is the opposite of the § 504B.113 rule, so the two must never be blended. [Text](https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/504B.261)
- **Minn. Stat. § 609.833** (Criminal misrepresentation: public accommodations only): Intentionally misrepresenting an animal as a service animal "in any place of public accommodation" to obtain rights the person is not entitled to is a petty misdemeanor, and a misdemeanor on a second or subsequent violation. Enacted in 2018, it is confined to public accommodations by its own terms and does not reach a rental. Read alongside § 504B.113 subd. 5, the pattern is clear: Minnesota criminalises faking in a restaurant and answers faking in housing with a denied application. [Text](https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/609.833)
- **24 C.F.R. § 100.204** (The federal accommodation duty that runs alongside): The federal Fair Housing Act regulation requires a housing provider to make reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, practices or services when necessary to afford a person with a disability equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling, and gives waiving a no-pets rule for a person with a disability as its own worked example. It runs in parallel with Minnesota law rather than instead of it, and it is what a Minnesota tenant relies on when a complaint goes to HUD rather than to the state. [Text](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-24/subtitle-B/chapter-I/subchapter-A/part-100/subpart-D/section-100.204)
- **42 U.S.C. § 3610(a)(1)(A)(i)** (The federal forum and its one-year clock): A person aggrieved by a discriminatory housing practice may file a complaint with HUD "not later than one year after an alleged discriminatory housing practice has occurred or terminated." It is a separate forum from the Minnesota Department of Human Rights and from a local commission, on its own clock, so a Minnesota tenant who has run out of state options has not necessarily run out of options. [Text](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title42-section3610&num=0&edition=prelim)

**Registration myth:** 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.

## What Minnesota landlords can and cannot do

**Cannot:**
- 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.
- Cannot 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).
- Cannot 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).

**Can:**
- 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).
- May 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).

## How to get an ESA letter in Minnesota

1. **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)
2. **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)
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 Minnesota 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 Minnesota. (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

## City guides in Minnesota

- [ESA letters in Minneapolis](https://supportanimal.com/blog/minnesota-emotional-support-animal/minneapolis.md)
- [ESA letters in St. Paul](https://supportanimal.com/blog/minnesota-emotional-support-animal/st-paul.md)
- [ESA letters in Rochester](https://supportanimal.com/blog/minnesota-emotional-support-animal/rochester.md)
- [ESA letters in Bloomington](https://supportanimal.com/blog/minnesota-emotional-support-animal/bloomington.md)
- [ESA letters in Duluth](https://supportanimal.com/blog/minnesota-emotional-support-animal/duluth.md)
- [ESA letters in Brooklyn Park](https://supportanimal.com/blog/minnesota-emotional-support-animal/brooklyn-park.md)
- [ESA letters in Woodbury](https://supportanimal.com/blog/minnesota-emotional-support-animal/woodbury.md)
- [ESA letters in Plymouth](https://supportanimal.com/blog/minnesota-emotional-support-animal/plymouth.md)
- [ESA letters in Lakeville](https://supportanimal.com/blog/minnesota-emotional-support-animal/lakeville.md)
- [ESA letters in Blaine](https://supportanimal.com/blog/minnesota-emotional-support-animal/blaine.md)
- [ESA letters in Maple Grove](https://supportanimal.com/blog/minnesota-emotional-support-animal/maple-grove.md)
- [ESA letters in St. Cloud](https://supportanimal.com/blog/minnesota-emotional-support-animal/st-cloud.md)
- [ESA letters in Eagan](https://supportanimal.com/blog/minnesota-emotional-support-animal/eagan.md)
- [ESA letters in Burnsville](https://supportanimal.com/blog/minnesota-emotional-support-animal/burnsville.md)
- [ESA letters in Coon Rapids](https://supportanimal.com/blog/minnesota-emotional-support-animal/coon-rapids.md)
- [ESA letters in Eden Prairie](https://supportanimal.com/blog/minnesota-emotional-support-animal/eden-prairie.md)
- [ESA letters in Apple Valley](https://supportanimal.com/blog/minnesota-emotional-support-animal/apple-valley.md)
- [ESA letters in Edina](https://supportanimal.com/blog/minnesota-emotional-support-animal/edina.md)
- [ESA letters in Minnetonka](https://supportanimal.com/blog/minnesota-emotional-support-animal/minnetonka.md)
- [ESA letters in St. Louis Park](https://supportanimal.com/blog/minnesota-emotional-support-animal/st-louis-park.md)

## Frequently asked questions

### Does Minnesota law actually mention emotional support animals, or do I have to rely on the federal rule?

It mentions them directly, which is unusual. Minn. Stat. § 504B.113 is headed "Service and Support Animal Documentation," and it defines a "support animal" as one that provides emotional support alleviating one or more identified symptoms or effects of a person's disability and that "does not need to be trained to perform a specific disability-related task." The federal Fair Housing Act still applies in parallel, but a Minnesota tenant does not have to reason from it alone. There is a state statute in the landlord-tenant chapter that names the animal and bans fees for it.

### Can my Minnesota landlord charge pet rent or a pet deposit for my support animal?

No. Minn. Stat. § 504B.113, subd. 3(a) says a landlord "must not require a tenant with a reasonable accommodation under this section to pay an additional fee, charge, or deposit for the service or support animal." That language covers a monthly pet rent, a refundable pet deposit and a one-time non-refundable pet fee alike. You remain liable for any damage the animal actually causes to the premises, which is a different thing from paying up front for damage it might cause.

### Who is allowed to write my ESA letter in Minnesota?

Minn. Stat. § 504B.113, subd. 1(e) gives a closed list: a person licensed by the Board of Medical Practice, a physician assistant, a nurse, a psychologist, a mental health professional, a social worker or a counselor, each licensed under the chapter named in the statute. Someone in those professions licensed in another state also counts, but only where they already have a treatment relationship with you. The subdivision then excludes "any person who operates primarily to provide certification for a service or support animal", so a certificate site is not on the list, whatever it charges.

### What can my landlord ask me for, and what is off limits?

A landlord may ask for documentation from a licensed professional confirming your disability and the relationship between that disability and your need for the animal. It may not ask at all where the disability or the need is readily apparent or already known to it. And under Minn. Stat. § 504B.113, subd. 2(b) it "must not require the tenant to disclose or provide access to medical records or medical providers or provide any other information or documentation of a person's physical or mental disability." Confirming a disability exists is permitted; opening your medical file is not.

### I already paid a pet fee before I knew about this. Can I get it back?

Possibly, and the route is specific. Minn. Stat. § 504B.113, subd. 3(b) requires a landlord that charges pet fees to disclose in the lease that they cannot be charged for a service or support animal. Subd. 3(c) then lets a tenant sue to recover fees, charges or deposits paid under the pet policy where the landlord failed to make that disclosure and the tenant shows they would have requested an accommodation and "would likely have received" one had the disclosure been made. So the landlord's own paperwork failure is what opens the door.

### My animal is not trained to do anything. Is that a problem in Minnesota?

Not for a support animal. The statutory definition at Minn. Stat. § 504B.113, subd. 1(c) says in terms that a support animal "does not need to be trained to perform a specific disability-related task." This matters because Minnesota has other statutes that do turn on training, Minn. Stat. § 256C.025, subd. 4 gives a no-extra-compensation right in housing but only to a person who is blind, deaf or has a physical disability and who has a service dog. That provision is not the one that carries an emotional support animal, and a landlord quoting it is quoting the wrong statute.

### How long do I have to complain, and where do I go?

One year, and you have three doors. Under Minn. Stat. § 363A.28, subd. 3 a claim must be brought as a civil action, filed as a charge with a local human rights commission, or filed as a charge with the Commissioner of Human Rights, within one year of the practice. Minn. Stat. § 363A.33, subd. 1 lets you go "directly to district court" without filing a charge at all, and subd. 6 gives you a jury. The clock is also suspended while you are voluntarily in mediation or another dispute-resolution process.

### My city has its own human rights commission. Should I file there or with the state?

Choose carefully, because the choice is final. Minn. Stat. § 363A.07, subd. 3 guarantees you a year to file with a local commission "notwithstanding the provisions of any ordinance or resolution to the contrary," so a shorter local deadline cannot shorten it. But the same subdivision says that filing with one agency "shall preclude the option of filing the same charge with the other agency." The local commission is required to tell you about the option and about any protections the state Act gives that its own ordinance does not.

### What can I actually recover if a Minnesota landlord gets this wrong?

More than in most states. Minn. Stat. § 363A.33, subd. 8(a) says the court "shall order" a respondent found to have discriminated to pay compensatory damages "including mental anguish or suffering, in an amount up to three times the actual damages sustained," plus a civil penalty to the state and punitive damages under Minn. Stat. § 549.20. Under subd. 4 the court may appoint an attorney for you and may authorise the commencement of the action without payment of fees, costs or security, and under subd. 7 it may award the prevailing party a reasonable attorney's fee.

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