# ESA Letter in Brooklyn Park, MN: A Referral Desk and a One-Year Clock

> Brooklyn Park's Human Rights Commission forwards complaints instead of investigating them. What Minn. Stat. § 504B.113 gives you, and the deadline nobody posts.

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

## Key facts

- Population: 82,893
- Households renting: 29.7%
- Typical pet deposit (as a pet): Varies by building
- 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)

## Eighty-three thousand people, and a rental market built around the drive to work

Brooklyn Park is the sixth-largest city in Minnesota, and the Census Bureau's
Population Estimates Program put it at 82,893 residents as of 1 July 2024. Of
its 29,148 occupied homes, 8,671 are rented, 29.7 percent on the 2020-2024
American Community Survey five-year estimate, above the 27.8 percent statewide
share but nowhere near a majority.

Jobs explain part of it. The city's 2040 Comprehensive Plan tabulates its
largest employers with figures carrying a 2017 date: the Target North Office
Campus at 3,700, Caterpillar Paving Products at 700, North Hennepin Community
College at 610, Hy-Vee at 500, and Medtronic at 420.

People arrive for that work and rent while they settle, so plenty of the animal
conversations here happen in a leasing office before anything is signed. Minn.
Stat. § 504B.113, subd. 1(d) covers that: "tenant" includes a prospective
tenant.

## What city hall does with a bias complaint, and what it does not

Brooklyn Park has a Human Rights Commission, and housing is inside its remit: it
"seeks to ensure equal opportunity in employment, housing, public
accommodations, public services, and education." Residents who believe they were
discriminated against here are asked to contact Marcellus Davis, the
commission's staff liaison, at 763-493-8394.

Now its duties. The commission's job is to "receive discrimination complaints
and figure out if the complaint should be forwarded to the Minnesota Department
of Human Rights for further action or to Community Mediation and Restorative
Services for conflict resolution." It "assists" MDHR "in implementing state laws
against discrimination." Its bias complaint form warns that without enough detail
it "may not be able to fully review and refer this complaint to the proper entity
or agency."

Those are all routing verbs. This body forwards. It does not investigate your
landlord and it does not issue a finding. MDHR confirms it from the other side:
"currently, only the Minneapolis Civil Rights Department and Saint Paul's
Department of Human Rights & Equal Economic Opportunity are authorized" to
investigate and issue findings. Brooklyn Park appears in the state's directory
of commissions. It is not one of those two.

That does not make the call a waste. It is a real local contact who will point
you somewhere. Just know what it is for.

## The clock is the actual risk

The commission publishes no filing deadline anywhere. The deadline exists
regardless. Minn. Stat. § 363A.28, subd. 3 allows one year to bring a civil
action, to file a charge with a local commission, or to file a charge with the
commissioner, and that year runs whether or not anyone here mentions it.

Picture how this goes wrong. You call in March, a referral is discussed,
mediation is floated, and twelve months lapse on a complaint that never reached
an agency with power to act. One thing cushions that, and it is not a strategy:
the same subdivision suspends the year during a voluntary arbitration,
conciliation, mediation or grievance process.

The city's own human rights page points the way out. It tells residents who have
experienced or witnessed discrimination to "call Minnesota's Discrimination
Helpline at 1-833-454-0148 or report it online," and notes the helpline "is
staffed by investigators from the Minnesota Department of Human Rights."

## What the fee ban strikes out of a Brooklyn Park lease

Minnesota wrote support animals into its landlord-tenant chapter by name. Minn.
Stat. § 504B.113, subd. 1(c) defines a support animal as one providing emotional
support that alleviates identified symptoms or effects of a disability, and one
that "does not need to be trained to perform a specific disability-related
task."

Subd. 3(a) handles the money: 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." Subd. 1(f) makes the accommodation
the waiver of a "no-pets or pet-fee policy," so a pet-friendly building with a
price list is covered as squarely as one that says no. What survives is liability
for damage the animal causes.

Your ordinary security deposit is untouched. Minnesota caps no deposit amount,
which is why subd. 3(a) rather than a dollar limit is what protects you. Minn.
Stat. § 504B.178, subd. 2 makes that deposit bear one percent simple
non-compounded interest, and subd. 3 requires it back (with interest, or with a
written statement of the specific reason for withholding), within three weeks of
the tenancy ending.

Subd. 3(b) adds a drafting duty on top of that. A lease that prices pets has to
say on its face that the price does not reach a service or support animal. Where
that sentence is missing, subd. 3(c) opens a claim to recover what the pet policy
already collected, on a showing that the tenant would have asked for an
accommodation and "would likely have received" one. A Brooklyn Park lease silent
on the exemption is evidence, not just sloppiness.

## Whose letter a Brooklyn Park landlord has to take

Subd. 1(e) is a closed list, and a short one. A counselor. A social worker. A
mental health professional. A psychologist. A nurse. A physician assistant.
Someone licensed by the Board of Medical Practice. Those are the authors the
statute will take, each under the licensing chapter it names. The same licence
held in another state counts too, but only where an existing treatment
relationship with you is already in place. Then the side door shuts, a licensed
professional "does not include any person who operates primarily to provide
certification for a service or support animal."

Subd. 2(a) lets a landlord ask for documentation but not where the disability or
the need is "readily apparent or already known." Subd. 2(b) confines it to the
disability and its relationship to the need for the animal, and bars a landlord
from requiring a tenant "to disclose or provide access to medical records or
medical providers."

The threshold sits in Minn. Stat. § 363A.03, subd. 12: an impairment that
"materially limits" a major life activity, a record of one, being regarded as
having one, or one "episodic or in remission" that would materially limit when
active — broader wording than the federal "substantially limits" formula.

## The law a landlord waves is about somebody else

Landlords quote these, and they are genuine law — just not about you.

Minn. Stat. § 256C.025, subd. 4 mentions housing and says a person "shall not be
required to pay extra compensation." It reaches a person totally or partially
blind, deaf, or with a physical disability who has a service dog. A tenant whose
disability is a mental-health condition sits outside it.

Subd. 5, added in 2025, gives a service dog in training the same rights when
supervised by an organisation accredited by Assistance Dogs International or the
International Guide Dog Federation, and lets a landlord or a homeowners
association board demand written certification from that organisation. That is
the only place in Minnesota law where a housing provider may demand outside
certification, and it has nothing to do with an ESA. There is no ESA registry in
this state and no card to buy.

## Vouchers here come from the Met Council, not city hall

Brooklyn Park does not run its own housing authority. Rental assistance here is
administered by Metro HRA, the Metropolitan Council's housing agency, whose
service area covers the city.

That matters for one rule people confuse with the fee ban. Minn. Stat.
§ 504B.261 lets a subsidised tenant of a disability accessible unit in a
multiunit building keep two birds or one spayed or neutered dog or cat, and
there the landlord may require an additional damage deposit. It turns on unit
type and subsidy, not on an accommodation request.

## If Brooklyn Park says no anyway

A refusal to rent because of disability is reached by Minn. Stat. § 363A.09,
subd. 1(1), and a fee imposed on you alone by subd. 1(2), covering "the terms,
conditions or privileges" of a rental. Subd. 6 bars coercing, intimidating,
threatening or interfering with anyone exercising these rights, the provision
to reach for if asking got you punished.

You need not file a charge first. Minn. Stat. § 363A.33, subd. 1 allows a civil
action "directly to district court" with no charge and no exhaustion, subd. 6
gives either side a jury, and subd. 8(a) says a court that finds discrimination
"shall order" compensatory damages "including mental anguish or suffering, in an
amount up to three times the actual damages sustained."

For a Brooklyn Park renter the order is short. Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid's
Minneapolis office serves Hennepin County and lists discrimination among the
housing issues it takes; intake is 1-877-696-6529. The state helpline at
1-833-454-0148 reaches MDHR investigators. And the liaison at 763-493-8394 is
worth calling, as long as you are the one keeping the calendar.

## What Brooklyn Park 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 Brooklyn Park

1. **Check that you qualify**, Answer a short screening about how your condition affects daily life in Brooklyn Park. 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 Brooklyn Park. (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 Brooklyn Park

- [Brooklyn Park Human Rights Commission](https://www.brooklynpark.org/volunteer/commissions/human-rights-commission/) (city agency)
- [Minnesota Department of Human Rights](https://mn.gov/mdhr/) (state agency)
- [Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid, housing help](https://mylegalaid.org/how-we-help/housing/) (legal aid)
- [Metro HRA rental assistance (Metropolitan Council)](https://metrocouncil.org/Housing/Services/Metro-HRA-Rental-Assistance.aspx) (housing authority)

## Frequently asked questions

### Can the Brooklyn Park Human Rights Commission investigate my landlord?

No. The commission's published duty is to "receive discrimination complaints and figure out if the complaint should be forwarded to the Minnesota Department of Human Rights for further action or to Community Mediation and Restorative Services for conflict resolution." It assists MDHR in implementing state anti-discrimination law and advises the City Council. Its own bias complaint form describes what it does as referring a complaint "to the proper entity or agency." MDHR states that "currently, only the Minneapolis Civil Rights Department and Saint Paul's Department of Human Rights & Equal Economic Opportunity are authorized" to investigate and issue findings. Calling the Brooklyn Park liaison at 763-493-8394 is still a sensible local step. It is just a routing step.

### I contacted the commission liaison. Does that pause the one-year deadline?

Do not assume it does. Minn. Stat. § 363A.28, subd. 3 sets one twelve-month limit that covers all three routes: a civil action, a charge with a local commission, or a charge with the commissioner. The same subdivision suspends that period while a voluntary arbitration, conciliation, mediation or grievance process is running, but a phone call or an initial contact is not by itself one of those processes, and the Brooklyn Park commission publishes no deadline of its own anywhere. Treat the clock as running from the day you were refused, and put the one-year date in writing where you will see it.

### The leasing office wants a pet deposit before I move in. Do I have to pay it?

Not for an approved support animal. 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 covers the one-time pet fee, the pet deposit and monthly pet rent alike. Your ordinary security deposit stays, is not capped by Minnesota law in amount, and must come back within three weeks of the tenancy ending with 1% interest or a written statement of the specific reason for withholding under Minn. Stat. § 504B.178. You remain responsible for any damage the animal actually causes.

### I have applied for an apartment but have not signed anything yet. Am I covered?

Yes. Minn. Stat. § 504B.113, subd. 1(d) defines "tenant" to include a prospective tenant, so the fee ban and the documentation limits apply while your application is still being processed. That matters in a city where a lot of renting follows a job move. Minn. Stat. § 363A.09, subd. 1(1) separately reaches a refusal to rent because of disability, and subd. 1(3) reaches discriminatory application forms and inquiries, so an application that demands more than the statute allows is itself a problem.

### My landlord quoted a state law that says I have to pay extra. Which one is it?

Probably Minn. Stat. § 256C.025, subd. 4. It is real law and it does mention housing and extra compensation, but it applies to a person who is totally or partially blind, deaf, or has a physical disability and uses a service dog. A tenant whose disability is a mental-health condition falls outside it, and it does not override the fee ban in Minn. Stat. § 504B.113, subd. 3(a). The other one that gets quoted is Minn. Stat. § 609.833, which makes misrepresenting a service animal a petty misdemeanour in a place of public accommodation, not in housing.

### Who counts as a licensed professional for the documentation in Brooklyn Park?

Minn. Stat. § 504B.113, subd. 1(e) names the professions by their licensing chapter: chapter 147 for a person licensed by the Board of Medical Practice, 147A for a physician assistant, 148 for a nurse or a psychologist, 148B for a mental health professional, 148E for a social worker and 148F for a counselor. The same licence held in another state works, but only where a treatment relationship with you already exists. The subdivision excludes "any person who operates primarily to provide certification for a service or support animal." Minnesota runs no ESA registry, and the only place its law lets a housing provider demand certification from an outside body is Minn. Stat. § 256C.025, subd. 5: for a service dog in training supervised by an accredited organisation, which is not an ESA.

### My building takes a Metro HRA voucher. Does a subsidy change the animal rules?

Not for an accommodation request. Brooklyn Park has no housing authority of its own; rental assistance in the city is administered by Metro HRA, the Metropolitan Council's housing agency. The rule people confuse with this is Minn. Stat. § 504B.261, which lets a tenant of a disability accessible unit in a multiunit building who receives a rent subsidy keep two birds or one spayed or neutered dog or cat, and there a landlord may require an additional damage deposit. That provision turns on the type of unit and the subsidy, not on a disability-related request, and its deposit rule runs the opposite way from Minn. Stat. § 504B.113, subd. 3(a).

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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=minnesota-emotional-support-animal%2Fbrooklyn-park