# ESA Letter in St. Louis Park, MN: When the City Is the Landlord

> St. Louis Park runs its own housing authority and an advisory-only rights commission. What Minn. Stat. § 504B.113 deletes from a lease, and where a renter files.

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

## Key facts

- Population: 49,899
- Households renting: 42.2%
- 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)

## Ten thousand rented homes on the western edge of Minneapolis

St. Louis Park presses straight up against the Minneapolis city line, and it
rents accordingly. Of 24,515 occupied homes, 10,348 are rented: 42.2 percent,
on the 2020-2024 American Community Survey five-year estimate, table B25003,
against 27.8 percent statewide. No Minnesota suburb covered on this site rents
at a higher rate.

The Census Bureau's Vintage 2024 estimate counts 49,899 residents. Three METRO
Green Line Extension stations (Louisiana Avenue, Wooddale Avenue and Beltline
Boulevard) are due to open here in 2027. What is unusual is not the volume of
renting but who some of these renters answer to.

## Nine housing authorities in the metro, and this is one of them

Most Twin Cities suburbs hand rental assistance to the regional agency. St.
Louis Park does not. The Metropolitan Council's own legend for housing
authority jurisdiction lists "St. Louis Park HRA (952) 924-2579" as one of just
nine separate housing authorities in the area. This city is carved out of the
regional territory.

The St. Louis Park Housing Authority Board, in the city's words, "oversees the
administration of housing programs and policy authorized by the city council,"
and "these programs include the Housing Choice Voucher (Section 8) program and
Public Housing." Five members, second Wednesday of the month at 5 p.m., 5005
Minnetonka Boulevard, 952.924.2579; staff liaison Marney Olson, 952.924.2196.

Behind that sit two things: roughly 300 Section 8 vouchers, and a 110-unit
low-rise building the city owns and manages itself, 108 one-bedroom and 2
two-bedroom units, priority to elderly and disabled applicants.

## Sort yourself into the right column before you write to anyone

If you live in that 110-unit building, the housing authority is your landlord.
A support animal request under Minn. Stat. § 504B.113 goes to a public body
with a listed number, a named liaison and a board that meets in public. The
duty is identical; the recipient is not a private manager.

If you hold one of the roughly 300 vouchers, your landlord is whoever owns the
unit. The authority pays part of the rent. It does not set the pet policy and
cannot waive it. And for most of the 10,348 renting households here, the
authority has nothing to do with the lease at all.

## What subdivision 3(a) subtracts from the number you were quoted

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, adding that it "does not need to be trained to perform a specific
disability-related task." Subd. 1(f) defines the accommodation as a waiver of
a "no-pets or pet-fee policy." Subd. 3(a) does the arithmetic: 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." Damage the animal
actually causes stays yours.

Two more paragraphs matter before you sign. Subd. 3(b) makes a landlord who
charges pet fees disclose in the lease that they cannot be charged for a
service or support animal. Subd. 3(c) then lets a tenant recover fees already
paid under a pet policy where that disclosure was missing, if the tenant shows
they would have asked and "would likely have received" an accommodation.

Your ordinary deposit survives untouched, and Minnesota caps no deposit
anywhere, which is why the fee ban rather than a dollar ceiling is the
protection. Minn. Stat. § 504B.178 makes that deposit earn 1 percent simple
non-compounded interest and requires its return, with interest or a written
reason for withholding, within three weeks of the tenancy ending.

Asking early is safe: subd. 1(d) counts a prospective tenant as a tenant, while
Minn. Stat. § 363A.09, subd. 1(3) reaches discriminatory application forms and
inquiries and subd. 6 bars interfering with anyone exercising these rights.

## A commission that advises, and a link on its page that goes nowhere

St. Louis Park has a Human Rights Commission: ten members, third Tuesday of
the month at 6 p.m., staff liaison Pat Coleman on 952.928.1316. Its published
role is to advise "city council on how to ensure equal opportunity and
participation in housing, employment, public service, public accommodations and
education."

Read that twice. It names housing and it sounds like a counter. It is neither.
The commission does not accept, receive or investigate housing discrimination
complaints, and publishes no complaint form, no intake process and no filing
deadline. Its own page hands
discrimination straight to the Minnesota Department of Human Rights,
651.296.5663, and hate crimes to the city police, 952.924.2618. The department
puts the same limit from its 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 under their own city ordinances.

One warning: the commission's page links the department at
mn.gov/mdhr/intake/your-options/, an address that is dead, a 404. The working
intake page is mn.gov/mdhr/intake/consultationinquiryform/.

One hard decision therefore never reaches you. 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." With no local agency, no
election is made and nothing is given up.

## Wrong statutes with the right-sounding words

Three real provisions get quoted at tenants asking about something else.

Minn. Stat. § 256C.025, subd. 4 does bar extra compensation and does mention
housing, but only for a person totally or partially blind, deaf or with a
physical disability, who uses a service dog. A renter with a mental health
disability sits outside it.

Subd. 5 of the same section arrived in 2025. It extends those rights to a dog
still training as a service animal, where the supervising body is accredited by
Assistance Dogs International or the International Guide Dog Federation, and it
lets a landlord or a homeowners association board demand that body's written
certification. This is the one corner of Minnesota law where a housing provider
may require outside paperwork, and it is not about support animals.

Minn. Stat. § 609.833 makes misrepresenting a service animal a petty
misdemeanor, in a place of public accommodation only. Housing runs on
§ 504B.113, subds. 4 and 5 instead, where fraudulent documentation lets a
landlord deny the request. Civil consequences only.

## The letter's author decides more than its wording

Subd. 1(e) closes the list to seven kinds of professional: a Board of Medical
Practice licensee, a physician assistant, a nurse, a psychologist; and a mental
health professional, a social worker, a counselor. One licensed in another
state counts too, but only where a treatment relationship already exists. The
subdivision then closes the loop: a licensed professional "does not include any
person who operates primarily to provide certification for a service or support
animal."

Subd. 2(a) forbids a landlord to demand documentation where the disability or
the disability-related need is readily apparent or already known. Where it is
asked for, subd. 2(b) fixes the contents (the disability, and its relationship
to the need for the animal), and bars 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."

Disability is measured by 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."

## One year, and the numbers worth keeping on your phone

Minn. Stat. § 363A.28, subd. 3 gives you a year to bring a civil action or file
a charge with the commissioner. Negotiating does not burn it: the year is
suspended during voluntary arbitration, conciliation, mediation or grievance
proceedings, and a landlord who joins one without notifying the department
cannot later plead the limitation period.

You may also skip the agency. Minn. Stat. § 363A.33, subd. 1 permits a civil
action "directly to district court" with no charge first; 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
authorise the action to be commenced without payment of fees or costs.

Start with a phone call. HOME Line answers Minnesota tenant questions free,
and Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid's housing unit serves Hennepin County with
intake on 1-877-696-6529. If the building is the city's own, 952.924.2579
reaches the office that runs it.

## What St. Louis 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 St. Louis Park

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

- [St. Louis Park Housing Authority, Housing Choice Voucher and public housing](https://www.stlouisparkmn.gov/government/departments-divisions/housing/rental-assistance-housing-authority/housing-choice-voucher-program) (city agency)
- [Minnesota Department of Human Rights, inquiry and intake form](https://mn.gov/mdhr/intake/consultationinquiryform/) (state agency)
- [Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid, Housing](https://mylegalaid.org/how-we-help/housing/) (legal aid)
- [HOME Line, Minnesota tenant hotline](https://homelinemn.org/) (tenant org)

## Frequently asked questions

### The St. Louis Park Human Rights Commission mentions housing. Can it handle my complaint?

No. The commission's own description of its job is to advise "city council on how to ensure equal opportunity and participation in housing, employment, public service, public accommodations and education", advice to the council, not intake from residents. It does not accept, receive or investigate housing discrimination complaints, and it publishes no complaint form, no intake process and no filing deadline. Its page routes discrimination matters to the Minnesota Department of Human Rights on 651.296.5663 and hate crimes to the St. Louis Park Police Department on 952.924.2618. The Department of Human Rights confirms the boundary, 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 city ordinances.

### The commission's link to the state agency does not work. What is the right address?

You have found a genuine broken link, not a mistake on your end. The St. Louis Park Human Rights Commission page points to mn.gov/mdhr/intake/your-options/, and that address returns a 404. The working page is https://mn.gov/mdhr/intake/consultationinquiryform/, which is the Minnesota Department of Human Rights' own consultation and inquiry form. You can also reach the department by phone on 651.296.5663. Do not let a dead link cost you time, Minn. Stat. § 363A.28, subd. 3 gives one year from the discriminatory act.

### I live in the building the city owns. Who do I send my accommodation request to?

To the housing authority itself, because in that building it is your landlord. St. Louis Park owns and manages a 110-unit low-rise, 108 one-bedroom and 2 two-bedroom units, and the St. Louis Park Housing Authority Board "oversees the administration of housing programs and policy authorized by the city council," including public housing. The office answers on 952.924.2579 and staff liaison Marney Olson on 952.924.2196; the board meets the second Wednesday of the month at 5 p.m. at 5005 Minnetonka Boulevard. The duty under Minn. Stat. § 504B.113 does not change because the landlord is a public body: subd. 3(a) still bars any additional fee, charge or deposit for the animal.

### I have a St. Louis Park voucher. Does the housing authority approve my support animal?

No, your private landlord does. The city administers roughly 300 Housing Choice Voucher (Section 8) subsidies, and it is one of only nine separate housing authorities in the Twin Cities area rather than part of the regional agency. But a voucher pays part of your rent; it does not make the authority your landlord. The pet policy belongs to whoever owns your unit, and Minn. Stat. § 504B.113, subd. 3(a) puts the duty to drop the fee on that owner. Send the request to the manager who signed your lease, and keep a dated copy.

### My unit is accessible and subsidized. A neighbour told me the landlord can charge a pet deposit. Is that a different law?

It is, and it is worth keeping separate. Minn. Stat. § 504B.261 says a tenant of a disability accessible unit in a multiunit building who receives a rent subsidy must be allowed two birds or one spayed or neutered dog or cat, and it expressly permits the landlord to require an additional damage deposit. That provision turns on the type of unit and the presence of a subsidy, not on an accommodation request. If you are asking for a support animal under Minn. Stat. § 504B.113, subd. 3(a) governs instead, and its rule on deposits is the reverse. Never blend the two in one request.

### The building near the new light rail station wants a pet fee before it will process my application. Am I protected before I sign?

Yes. Minn. Stat. § 504B.113, subd. 1(d) defines "tenant" to include a prospective tenant, so the protection is live while you are still applying. Minn. Stat. § 363A.09, subd. 1(1) makes it unlawful to refuse to rent because of disability, subd. 1(2) covers discrimination in the terms, conditions or privileges of a rental (the limb a fee is challenged under), and subd. 1(3) reaches discriminatory application forms and inquiries. Subd. 6 bars anyone from coercing, intimidating or interfering with you for asking.

### A landlord told me only blind or deaf tenants get an animal at no extra cost. Which statute is that?

Minn. Stat. § 256C.025, subd. 4. It is real, it mentions housing, and it says a person "shall not be required to pay extra compensation", but it applies to a person who is totally or partially blind, deaf or has a physical disability, and who uses a service dog. A renter with a mental health disability is outside it. Your request runs on Minn. Stat. § 504B.113 instead, which covers a support animal that "does not need to be trained to perform a specific disability-related task" under subd. 1(c). Subd. 5 of the same § 256C.025 section, added in 2025, is the only place Minnesota lets a housing provider demand written certification from an outside organisation, and it applies to a service dog in training supervised by an Assistance Dogs International or International Guide Dog Federation accredited body, not to a support animal.

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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%2Fst-louis-park