# ESA Letter in Lakeville, MN: One Home in Eight Is a Rental

> Lakeville rents 12.2% of its homes, the lowest share in Minnesota. How Minn. Stat. § 504B.113 works when the landlord reading your request owns one house.

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

## Key facts

- Population: 77,971
- Households renting: 12.2%
- Typical pet deposit (as a pet): Varies by building
- Typical pet rent (as a pet): Varies by building
- Breed/weight limits common: sometimes
- Pet fees, deposits, and breed limits with a valid ESA letter: none (FHA reasonable accommodation)

## Twelve percent, and why that number shapes everything below

Lakeville is Minnesota's ninth largest city. The Census Bureau put its
population at 77,971 on 1 July 2024. It has 25,685 occupied homes, and 3,142 of
them are rented.

That is 12.2 percent, on the 2020-2024 American Community Survey five-year
estimate, against 27.8 percent across Minnesota. Roughly one home in eight here
is a rental, the lowest renter share of any Minnesota city on this list.

The city's community profile explains how it got that way. Lakeville calls
itself "a community of approximately 79,000 and growing" that "has been a leader
in the metro area for single-family home permits since 2013."

None of that changes your rights. It changes who you explain them to.

## The pause the city put on new residential applications

In April 2026 Lakeville adopted a one-year residential development moratorium.
Its planning and zoning page sets the scope: the city "will not accept or approve
certain new residential plat, subdivision, rezoning or comprehensive plan
amendment applications covered by the ordinance," and the pause "may last up to
one year, or end sooner if updated rules are adopted."

Building has not stopped. The same page records 675 single-family lots and 644
townhome units already holding preliminary or final plat approval that the
ordinance does not touch, says "housing construction will continue as usual,"
and confirms it reaches no commercial or industrial project.

That is land use, not tenancy. It says nothing about leases, animals or rent, and
it is here only because it tells you what kind of city you rent in.

## Minnesota put the support animal in the landlord-tenant chapter by name

Most states leave an emotional support animal to a general accommodation duty
that never mentions an animal. Minnesota did not. Minn. Stat. § 504B.113 is
headed "Service and Support Animal Documentation."

Subd. 1(c) defines a support animal as one 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(d) folds a prospective tenant into the word "tenant," so the
protection is live while you are still applying.

The disability underneath comes from the Human Rights Act. Minn. Stat.
§ 363A.03, subd. 12 asks whether an impairment "materially limits" a major life
activity — broader wording than the federal "substantially limits" — and reaches
one that is "episodic or in remission."

## Who may sign the letter, and what may not be asked for

Subd. 1(e) names who may write it, and nobody else qualifies. Working up the
list: a counselor licensed under chapter 148F. A social worker under 148E. A
mental health professional under 148B. A nurse or a psychologist under 148. A
physician assistant under 147A. A physician licensed by the Board of Medical
Practice under chapter 147. Any of those licensed in a different state also
counts, but only where they already have an existing treatment relationship with
you.

Then the sentence that ends the shortcut industry: "A licensed professional does
not include any person who operates primarily to provide certification for a
service or support animal." No certificate, card or vest bought online carries
weight in a Minnesota lease file.

The landlord's side is narrow too. Subd. 2(a) permits a documentation request
but forbids one where the disability or the disability-related need is "readily
apparent or already known." Subd. 2(b) limits that documentation to confirming
the disability and its relationship to the need for the animal, and bars a
landlord from requiring "access to medical records or medical providers."

## The money that goes, and the money that stays

Subd. 3(a) is the operative line: 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) defines the accommodation
as waiving a "no-pets or pet-fee policy," so a flat ban and a price tag fall the
same way.

What stays is liability for damage the animal actually causes, decided at the end
on evidence rather than collected at the start on assumption. Your ordinary
security deposit stays too. Minnesota caps it at no figure, which is why a fee
ban rather than a dollar limit is what protects you. Under Minn. Stat.
§ 504B.178 it earns 1 percent simple non-compounded interest a year and must come
back within three weeks of the tenancy ending, with that interest or a written
statement of the specific reason for withholding.

One line is worth hunting for in an owner-drafted lease. Subd. 3(b) requires a
landlord who charges pet fees to disclose that they cannot be charged for a
service or support animal. Where that is absent, subd. 3(c) lets a tenant sue to
recover fees already paid, on showing they would have asked for an accommodation
and "would likely have received" one.

## Asking an owner who has never had this request before

With 3,142 rented homes citywide and a stock built largely of single-family
houses and townhomes, the person reading your request is often an individual
owner, not a leasing department, no form, no portal, no precedent.

That is no disadvantage if you handle it plainly. Put the request in writing. Use
the words "reasonable accommodation" and give the citation, § 504B.113. Attach
the documentation described in subd. 2(b) and nothing beyond it. Say what you
want waived: the ban, the deposit, the monthly amount, or all three.

An owner may worry aloud that people fake this. Subd. 4 and subd. 5 answer them:
a landlord may deny the application or the animal request where a tenant
knowingly gives false information about a disability or supplies fraudulent
documentation. That is the whole consequence: civil, no fine, no criminal
charge.

One statute gets quoted at tenants by mistake. Minn. Stat. § 256C.025, subd. 4
mentions housing and bars "extra compensation," but only for a person "totally or
partially blind, or person who is deaf, or person with a physical disability" who
has a service dog. Its subd. 5, added in 2025, is the single corner of Minnesota
law letting a landlord demand outside certification, and only for an accredited
service dog in training.

## No commission in Lakeville, so the route is short

Lakeville's full roster of boards and commissions runs to seven: Planning;
Economic Development; Finance; Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources; the Arts
Center Advisory Board; the Youth Advisory Commission; and the City Council
itself. None is a human rights, civil rights or equity body, and Lakeville does
not appear in the Minnesota Department of Human Rights' statewide directory of
local commissions. No Dakota County body appears there either.

MDHR states the position plainly: "Currently, only the Minneapolis Civil Rights
Department and Saint Paul's Department of Human Rights & Equal Economic
Opportunity are authorized" to run investigations and issue findings under their
own city ordinances.

That removes a decision rather than an option. Minn. Stat. § 363A.07, subd. 3
provides that filing a charge with one agency "shall preclude the option of
filing the same charge with the other agency". A trap that cannot spring where
there is no local agency to pick. Minn. Stat. § 363A.28, subd. 3 gives you one
year, running to the Commissioner of Human Rights or to a civil action. A refusal
falls under Minn. Stat. § 363A.09, subd. 1(1), a fee kept in place under
subd. 1(2), pressure after you ask under subd. 6.

## Getting help inside Dakota County

Start with Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services. It covers Dakota County,
Lakeville's 55044 sits on its published eligibility list, and its intake line is
877-696-6529.

The Dakota County Community Development Agency is the local housing authority and
runs the Housing Choice Voucher program here. Four numbers appear on its fair
housing page: 612-827-3774 for the Housing Discrimination Law Project,
651-222-5863 for the Housing Equity Law Project, 651-296-5663 for the Minnesota
Department of Human Rights, and 1-800-669-9777 for HUD's Fair Housing Hotline.

If it comes to that, Minn. Stat. § 363A.33, subd. 1 lets you bring a civil action
"directly to district court" with nothing to exhaust first, and subd. 6 gives
either side a jury. 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." Subd. 4 lets the court appoint an attorney and authorize the
action to be commenced without payment of fees, costs or security.

In a city of owned houses, this usually ends with one owner reading one section
and striking one line out of a lease.

## What Lakeville 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 Lakeville

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

- [Minnesota Department of Human Rights](https://mn.gov/mdhr/) (state agency)
- [Dakota County CDA, Fair Housing referrals and hotlines](https://www.dakotacda.org/fair-housing/) (housing authority)
- [Dakota County CDA, Housing Choice Voucher (Section 8)](https://www.dakotacda.org/housing-resources/rental-assistance/housing-choice-voucher-section-8/) (housing authority)
- [Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services, intake 877-696-6529](https://www.smrls.org/) (legal aid)

## Frequently asked questions

### My landlord owns one house and has never heard of this law. Does it still apply?

Yes. Minn. Stat. § 504B.113 sets no minimum number of units and no exemption for a small owner. It speaks to a "landlord," and an individual renting out one Lakeville house is one. In a city where 3,142 of 25,685 occupied homes are rented on the 2020-2024 American Community Survey five-year estimate, an unfamiliar landlord is the normal case rather than the exception. Give them the section number and a plain explanation of what you are asking for. Most first refusals here come from never having seen the statute, not from a decision to break it.

### Which office in Lakeville takes a housing discrimination complaint?

None. The city's published roster of boards and commissions lists the City Council; the Planning Commission; the Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources Committee; the Economic Development Commission; the Finance Committee; the Lakeville Area Arts Center Advisory Board; and the Youth Advisory Commission. There is no human rights, civil rights or equity body, and Lakeville does not appear in the Minnesota Department of Human Rights' statewide directory of local human rights commissions. Nor is there a Dakota County commission in it. Your charge goes to the state department, within one year under Minn. Stat. § 363A.28, subd. 3.

### Does Lakeville's April 2026 building moratorium affect my lease?

No. The moratorium is a land-use measure. The city's planning and zoning page says that during the pause it "will not accept or approve certain new residential plat, subdivision, rezoning or comprehensive plan amendment applications covered by the ordinance," that the pause "may last up to one year, or end sooner if updated rules are adopted," and that it does not apply to commercial or industrial projects. It says nothing about leases, animals or rent, and it does not halt approved building, the city records 675 single-family lots and 644 townhome units with preliminary or final plat approval that are unaffected.

### The lease says no animals at all. Is that the end of it?

It is the start of the request, not the end of it. Minn. Stat. § 504B.113, subd. 1(f) defines a reasonable accommodation as the granting of a waiver of a "no-pets or pet-fee policy," so an outright ban is precisely the thing the section is built to move. Subd. 1(c) removes the argument a landlord reaches for next, because a support animal "does not need to be trained to perform a specific disability-related task." Make the request in writing, name the statute, and supply only the documentation described in subd. 2(b).

### Can a Lakeville landlord ask for my medical records to check the letter?

No. Minn. Stat. § 504B.113, subd. 2(b) confines the documentation to a licensed professional's confirmation of the disability and of the relationship between that disability and the need for the animal, and states that the 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." Subd. 2(a) goes further in the other direction: where the disability or the disability-related need is "readily apparent or already known," the landlord may not require documentation at all.

### What happens if my landlord accuses me of faking it?

The consequence is contained and it is civil. Minn. Stat. § 504B.113, subd. 4 and 5 let a landlord deny the application or the animal request where a tenant knowingly makes a false statement about a disability or supplies fraudulent supporting documentation, and preserve an eviction action for breach of the lease. There is no fine and no criminal charge attached to a housing request. The petty misdemeanor a landlord may have read about, at Minn. Stat. § 609.833, applies to a place of public accommodation, not to a rental home.

### I asked, and now the landlord is talking about ending my tenancy. What covers that?

Minn. Stat. § 363A.09, subd. 6 makes it unlawful to coerce, intimidate, threaten or interfere with a person who has exercised a right protected by the housing provisions of the Human Rights Act, which is what asking for an accommodation is. The refusal itself falls under subd. 1(1) and a fee kept in place under subd. 1(2), covering the "terms, conditions or privileges" of a rental. Write down dates and keep the messages. You have one year under Minn. Stat. § 363A.28, subd. 3, and Minn. Stat. § 363A.33, subd. 1 lets you go "directly to district court" instead of filing a charge.

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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%2Flakeville