# ESA Letter in Coon Rapids, MN: The Commission That Isn't One

> Coon Rapids has a Civil Service Commission, not a civil rights one. Where an ESA complaint actually goes, and what Minn. Stat. § 504B.113 deletes from a lease.

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

## Key facts

- Population: 63,807
- Households renting: 25.2%
- 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)

## Anoka-Ramsey sits inside the city, and it moves the rental market

Coon Rapids had an estimated 63,807 residents on 1 July 2024, on the Census
Bureau's Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2024. Of its 24,858 occupied
homes, 6,257 are rented, 25.2 percent against 27.8 percent statewide, on the
2020-2024 American Community Survey five-year estimate.

The city's own Community Profile fills in the rest: 25,056 households, median
household income of $86,600, a median home sale price of $338,600 on
Minneapolis Area Realtors data, 27,811 jobs inside the city, and an Anoka County
labour force of 204,770 from Minnesota DEED.

One line there matters more than the money. Anoka-Ramsey Community College is in
Coon Rapids, described as "a medium-sized, multi-campus, suburban institution
outside the Twin Cities." A college inside a mostly owner-occupied suburb bends
the rental stock. Part of the city's 6,257 rented homes turns over on the
academic year: students, roommate households, first tenancies. For those
renters, the most valuable thing in Minnesota law arrives before the keys do.
Minn. Stat. § 504B.113, subd. 1(d) writes a prospective tenant into the word
"tenant," so the protection attaches while you are still an applicant.

## Ten bodies at city hall, and one whose name misleads

Coon Rapids publishes a complete roster of its boards and commissions: an Arts
Commission, a Board of Adjustment and Appeals, the City Council, a Civil Service
Commission, a Charter Commission, a Historical Commission, a Parks and
Recreation Commission, a Planning Commission, a Sustainability (Green)
Commission and a Traffic Review Committee.

No human rights commission appears. Nothing on that list is a civil rights body.

Read the fourth entry again. It is the most useful correction on this page.
A **Civil Service Commission is not a civil rights commission.** It is a
municipal personnel board, concerned with the city's own employment processes.
It takes no housing discrimination complaints and has no jurisdiction over your
landlord. One word separates its name from the office you actually want.

The state settles it. The Minnesota Department of Human Rights states that
"currently, only the Minneapolis Civil Rights Department and Saint Paul's
Department of Human Rights & Equal Economic Opportunity are authorized" to
conduct investigations and issue findings under their own city ordinances.

A Coon Rapids renter therefore has a state agency and a courthouse, and no
municipal option, which removes a hard decision. Minn. Stat. § 363A.07,
subd. 3 provides that filing with one agency "shall preclude the option of
filing the same charge with the other agency." Here there is none to forfeit.

## The county HRA develops housing; it does not judge landlords

The Anoka County Housing and Redevelopment Authority states its own origin
plainly: the ACHRA "was formed in December 1994 by adoption of a resolution by
the Anoka County Board of Commissioners … pursuant to the MN Statute, Chapter
469." Worth knowing before you call it: Coon Rapids is not on the ACHRA's
published list of member communities, which runs from Bethel to St. Francis.
Rental assistance here is administered by the Metropolitan Council's Metro HRA.

Neither is a complaint desk. An HRA builds, redevelops and subsidises; it cannot
investigate discrimination or issue a finding against a landlord. Nor does a
subsidy change the rules, § 504B.113 speaks to landlords and tenants directly,
whoever pays part of the bill.

## Where Minnesota parked the support animal

Most states leave an emotional support animal to a general accommodation duty
that never names an animal. Minnesota did not.

Minn. Stat. § 504B.113, subd. 1(c) defines a support animal as 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." Subd. 1(f) defines the
accommodation as waiving a "no-pets or pet-fee policy", ban and price tag
together.

Coverage turns on Minn. Stat. § 363A.03, subd. 12, which reaches four
situations: an impairment that "materially limits" a major life activity; a
record of such an impairment; being regarded as having one; and an impairment
that is "episodic or in remission" but would materially limit an activity while
active. Minnesota's "materially" is worded more broadly than the federal
"substantially."

Subd. 2(a) lets a landlord ask for documentation but forbids the request where
the disability or the need is "readily apparent or already known." Subd. 2(b)
sets the outer limit: 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."

## Every animal line on the addendum, and the one that stays

Subd. 3(a) is written broadly on purpose. 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 pet fee at signing is a
fee. Monthly pet rent is a charge. A pet deposit is a deposit. What survives is
damage: you stay liable for what the animal actually does, priced at the end on
evidence.

If the money was taken before you knew, look at subd. 3(b). Any lease that
prices animals must itself say those charges do not reach a service or support
animal. Where that sentence is absent, subd. 3(c) opens a claim to recover what
you already handed over, provided you show you would have asked for an
accommodation and "would likely have received" one.

Your ordinary security deposit is untouched, and Minnesota sets no ceiling on
its amount. Minn. Stat. § 504B.178 governs it: 1 percent simple non-compounded
annual interest, return with that interest or a written reason for withholding
within three weeks of the tenancy ending, deductions only for unpaid rent or to
restore the premises "ordinary wear and tear excepted," and any waiver void
under subd. 10.

## Signing the letter is a licensed job, not a purchase

Minn. Stat. § 504B.113, subd. 1(e) names everyone who may sign your
documentation and stops there: Board of Medical Practice licensees, physician
assistants, nurses, psychologists, mental health professionals, social workers
and counselors. Somebody in those professions who is licensed elsewhere still
counts, but only where an existing treatment relationship with you is already in
place, useful if you moved here for school and kept the clinician you had. The
subdivision ends by excluding "any person who operates primarily to provide
certification for a service or support animal."

Minnesota lets a housing provider demand certification from an outside body in
exactly one place, and it is not about an ESA. A 2025 addition, Minn. Stat.
§ 256C.025, subd. 5, reaches a service dog still in training under supervision,
and it names two accrediting bodies: Assistance Dogs International and the
International Guide Dog Federation. Set the two provisions side by side and the
certificate pitch collapses.

## Real statutes aimed at a reader who is not you

Minn. Stat. § 256C.025, subd. 4 is the one most likely to be quoted at a Coon
Rapids tenant. It says housing, and it says a person "shall not be required to
pay extra compensation", but it reaches only a person "totally or partially
blind, or person who is deaf, or person with a physical disability" using a
service dog. A mental-health disability sits outside it.

Minn. Stat. § 609.833 makes misrepresenting a service animal a petty
misdemeanor, and a misdemeanor on repeat, in a place of public accommodation
only. Housing's answer is § 504B.113, subds. 4 and 5: a knowing
misrepresentation lets the landlord deny the request or the application, and
does not preclude eviction. It stays civil throughout.

## One year, and who to call from Coon Rapids

Minn. Stat. § 363A.09, subd. 1 bars refusing to rent because of disability and
bars discrimination "in the terms, conditions or privileges of the … rental".
The limb a fee is challenged under. Subd. 6 bars intimidating, threatening or
interfering with anyone for asking.

You have one year under Minn. Stat. § 363A.28, subd. 3, suspended during
voluntary arbitration, conciliation, mediation or a grievance process; a
respondent who joins one without notifying the department cannot later plead the
limitation period. Minn. Stat. § 363A.33, subd. 1 lets you go "directly to
district court" with no charge filed first, subd. 6 gives either side a jury,
and subd. 8(a) says the court "shall order" compensatory damages "including
mental anguish or suffering, in an amount up to three times the actual damages
sustained."

MDHR's consultation and inquiry form is the state intake, and a Coon Rapids
complaint belongs there. Central Minnesota Legal Services runs an Anoka office
"serving Anoka and Hennepin counties"; intake is 1-877-696-6529. HOME Line
answers Minnesota renters' questions by phone at no charge, the right first
call when you need to know whether the answer you got was law or policy.

## What Coon Rapids 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 Coon Rapids

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

- [Minnesota Department of Human Rights, consultation and inquiry form](https://mn.gov/mdhr/intake/consultationinquiryform/) (state agency)
- [Central Minnesota Legal Services, Anoka office (intake 1-877-696-6529)](https://centralmnlegal.org/contact/anoka/) (legal aid)
- [HOME Line, Minnesota tenant hotline](https://homelinemn.org/) (tenant org)
- [Metro HRA (Metropolitan Council), rental assistance for Anoka County](https://metrocouncil.org/Housing/Services/Metro-HRA-Rental-Assistance.aspx) (housing authority)

## Frequently asked questions

### Coon Rapids has a Civil Service Commission. Can it hear my housing discrimination complaint?

No, and the names are close enough to cost you time. A Civil Service Commission is a municipal personnel board dealing with the city's own employment processes; it is not a civil rights body and it does not take housing discrimination complaints. The city's complete boards-and-commissions roster is Arts, Board of Adjustment and Appeals, City Council, Civil Service, Charter, Historical, Parks and Recreation, Planning, Sustainability (Green) and Traffic Review, no human rights commission anywhere on it. The Minnesota Department of Human Rights confirms the wider position, stating 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 under a city ordinance. Your route is MDHR within one year under Minn. Stat. § 363A.28, subd. 3, or a civil action.

### Does having no local commission cost me anything in Coon Rapids?

It removes a decision rather than an option. Minn. Stat. § 363A.07, subd. 3 says that filing a charge with one agency "shall preclude the option of filing the same charge with the other agency," which forces renters in the two cities that do run authorised offices to choose once and live with it. In Coon Rapids there is no second agency, so the choice never arises. The full state Act still applies: one year under Minn. Stat. § 363A.28, subd. 3, and a civil action "directly to district court" under Minn. Stat. § 363A.33, subd. 1 without filing any charge first.

### Should I send my complaint to the Anoka County HRA?

No. The Anoka County Housing and Redevelopment Authority describes itself as having been "formed in December 1994 by adoption of a resolution by the Anoka County Board of Commissioners … pursuant to the MN Statute, Chapter 469". It develops, redevelops and subsidises housing. Metro HRA likewise administers rental assistance covering Anoka County. Neither investigates discrimination or issues findings against a landlord. Send the complaint to the Minnesota Department of Human Rights instead. Nothing about a subsidy changes the underlying rules either: Minn. Stat. § 504B.113 addresses landlords and tenants directly, whoever pays part of the rent.

### I am a student at Anoka-Ramsey signing my first lease. Am I protected before I move in?

Yes. Minn. Stat. § 504B.113, subd. 1(d) defines "tenant" to include a prospective tenant, so the protection runs at the application stage rather than starting at move-in. That matters in a city where part of the rental stock turns over on the academic year. You do not have to sign first and raise the animal afterwards. Minn. Stat. § 363A.09, subd. 1(3) also covers what a landlord puts into an advertisement, prints on an application form, or asks you outright, and subd. 6 makes it unlawful to coerce, intimidate, threaten or interfere with someone for exercising these rights.

### My therapist is licensed in another state. Can she still write the letter?

Yes, if she already treats you. Minn. Stat. § 504B.113, subd. 1(e) accepts a physician, physician assistant, nurse, psychologist, mental health professional, social worker or counselor licensed in another state, provided that professional has an existing treatment relationship with the tenant. That condition is the whole test, and it is a common situation for someone who moved to Coon Rapids for school and kept the clinician they already had. The same subdivision excludes "any person who operates primarily to provide certification for a service or support animal," so a site that pairs you with a stranger for one appointment does not qualify.

### My roommates and I share the lease. Does that complicate the accommodation?

The statute is written around the tenant who needs the animal, not around the household. Minn. Stat. § 504B.113, subd. 2(b) limits the documentation to confirmation of the disability and of the relationship between the disability and the need for the animal, and bars a landlord from requiring 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." Nothing in that requires you to explain your health to co-tenants. On money, subd. 3(a) removes the additional fee, charge or deposit for the animal outright. It does not shift that cost onto anyone else on the lease.

### The building agreed to the animal but kept the monthly pet rent on my ledger. Is that lawful?

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," and a recurring monthly amount is a charge. Ask for the line to be removed at approval rather than seeking a refund a year later. If your lease charges pet fees and never disclosed the exemption, subd. 3(b) required that disclosure and subd. 3(c) lets you sue to recover what you already paid, provided you show you would have asked for an accommodation and "would likely have received" one. Your ordinary security deposit is separate and stays, earning 1% simple non-compounded annual interest under Minn. Stat. § 504B.178, and you remain liable for damage the animal actually causes.

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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%2Fcoon-rapids