# ESA Letter in Clifton: Small Landlords, Weight Limits, One Filing

> Clifton owns where its neighbours rent. Which small buildings the Law Against Discrimination skips, why weight limits bend, and where a Clifton renter files.

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

## Key facts

- Population: 90,322
- Households renting: 40.4%
- Typical pet deposit (as a pet): Capped: 1.5 months' rent
- 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)

## The outlier wrapped around two renter cities

Clifton had an estimated 90,322 residents on 1 July 2024, spread across 33,614
occupied homes. Only 13,593 of those are rented, a renter share of 40.4
percent on the 2020-2024 American Community Survey five-year estimate.

Look at what surrounds it. Paterson, its neighbour to the north, rents 73.1
percent of its homes. Passaic, its neighbour on the other side, rents 76.2
percent, the highest share of any city covered on this site. Clifton sits
between them as a place where owning is still the majority position, barely
above the 36.2 percent New Jersey averages statewide. New Jersey holds the
widest gap between its most- and least-rented large cities of any state covered
here (61.9 percentage points), and a fair slice of that gap is visible from a
Clifton street corner.

For a renter, the practical consequence is the kind of landlord you get. Fewer
institutional owners, more garden apartment complexes with a management office
of three people, more two-family houses where the owner is upstairs. That
changes both the rules you meet and, sometimes, whether the state
anti-discrimination law reaches your building at all.

## First question: does the Law Against Discrimination cover your unit?

New Jersey buries its exemptions in a definition rather than in a section
marked "exemptions," which is why people miss them. N.J.S.A. 10:5-5(n) defines
"real property" and then carves out two rentals: "of a single apartment or flat
in a two-family dwelling, the other occupancy unit of which is occupied by the
owner as a residence," and "of a room or rooms to another person or persons by
the owner or occupant of a one-family dwelling occupied by the owner or
occupant as a residence."

If you rent the upstairs of a two-family house and the owner lives downstairs,
that language is aimed at you. Do not stop reading
there, though, because the carve-out opens with four words that undo it in a
lot of cases: "except as to publicly assisted housing accommodations." And
N.J.S.A. 10:5-5(m) defines that term to include "all housing financed in whole
or in part by a loan, whether or not secured by a mortgage, the repayment of
which is guaranteed or insured by the federal government or any agency
thereof."

An FHA-backed mortgage on a two-family house is an ordinary thing in this part
of Passaic County. Where one exists, the exemption falls away. A renter who
assumes they are outside the law because the owner shares the roof may be
giving up a claim they actually have.

Note too that the LAD uses two different defined terms. "Housing accommodation"
at 10:5-5(u) carries a much narrower exclusion, only a single-family residence
whose occupants rent out "not more than one room therein." Which term applies
depends on the provision you are relying on.

## Two tracks, and an emotional support animal is on the slower one

Assuming you are covered, New Jersey runs animal requests down two separate
tracks, and the Supreme Court drew the line in a footnote.

A trained guide or service animal gets a categorical rule. N.J.A.C.
13:13-3.4(c) makes it unlawful to refuse to rent to a person with a disability
"who is accompanied by a guide or service dog or animal," and provides that
"[p]olicies which restrict the availability of housing accommodations to
persons without pets shall be void" as to that group. No balancing, no weighing.

An emotional support animal travels the other track, N.J.A.C. 13:13-3.4(f)(2),
a general rule that makes it unlawful to "[r]efuse to make reasonable
accommodations in rules, policies, practices or services" where they "may be
necessary to afford a person with a disability equal opportunity to use and
enjoy a dwelling." That rule was readopted effective 13 October 2025 and now
expires 13 October 2032.

The difference is not academic. On the second track your landlord gets to argue
back, and the Division on Civil Rights says plainly that "unlike service or
guide animals, ESAs are not automatically exempt from a housing provider's
no-pet policies." What you have is a strong claim, not a switch.

## Weight limits are policies, and policies are exactly what bends

The leading case is about a rule of the sort Clifton complexes write all the
time. In *Players Place II Condominium Ass'n, Inc. v. K.P.*, 256 N.J. 472
(2024), the community's policy limited pets "to the small domestic variety
weighing thirty (30) pounds or less at maturity." The resident's emotional
support dog weighed 63 pounds. The association sued.

On 13 March 2024 a unanimous Supreme Court, per Chief Justice Rabner, refused
to let the pet policy end the argument, and held that a resident need only show
a disability and that the accommodation "may be necessary to afford them an
'equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling.'" Then: "[h]ousing providers
then have the burden to prove the requested accommodation is unreasonable,"
with both sides expected to "engage in a good-faith, interactive dialogue."
Unreasonable means the animal would "fundamentally alter" operations or impose
an "undue financial or administrative burden."

The Court also disposed of the training objection in a sentence: "Whether the
animal has been trained is not a relevant consideration." And it warned that
the necessity question is measured modestly — "whether the accommodation will
alleviate at least one symptom of the disability, not whether the accommodation
will cure or eliminate the disability."

A weight cap, a breed schedule and a one-animal limit are all rules. An
accommodation is a request to bend a rule. That is the whole design.

## What a Clifton landlord may and may not charge

DCR's emotional support animal guidance states that a housing provider "cannot
require you to pay an additional security deposit or pet fee, or obtain
additional renter's insurance, in exchange for allowing you to keep an ESA,"
but "may require you to pay for any actual damage the animal causes." That
protection is agency guidance which the Supreme Court adopted. It is not, and
should not be described as, a statutory ban on pet fees.

Your ordinary deposit is a different matter and is governed by statute. Under
N.J.S.A. 46:8-19 the money "shall continue to be the property of the person
making such deposit" and must be "held in trust," never mingled with the
landlord's own funds. N.J.S.A. 46:8-21.2 caps it: no more than "1 1/2 times 1
month's rental." And N.J.S.A. 46:8-21.1 gives it teeth — a court finding for
the tenant in a suit for the return of the deposit "shall award recovery of
double the amount of said moneys, together with full costs," plus attorney fees
at the court's discretion.

Small-landlord tenancies are precisely where those rules get treated as
optional. They are not.

## Clifton has boards. None of them takes this complaint.

The city publishes nine boards and commissions: the Action Clifton Committee,
the Advisory Committee for Individuals with Disabilities, the Arts Center
Advisory Board, the Board of Adjustment, the Environmental Commission, the
Hazardous Material Control Board, the Health Advisory Board, the Planning
Board, and the Rent Leveling Board. There is no civil rights or human relations
commission among them, and Passaic County publishes none either.

Clifton's own page describes what those bodies do: they "act in an advisory
role to the Clifton City Council." That tracks the statute. Under N.J.S.A.
10:5-10, a municipal civil rights commission in this state may foster "good
will, cooperation and conciliation," suggest policy to the governing body and
run education programmes, and nothing beyond that. Clifton does have a
disability advisory committee, which is worth knowing about, but an advisory
committee is not a complaint intake.

So there is one administrative route, and it starts at the state:

- **New Jersey Division on Civil Rights**, bias.njcivilrights.gov, or
  1-833-NJDCR4U (833-653-2748). Nearest office: Newark, 31 Clinton Street,
  973-648-2700.
- **HUD**, 1-800-669-9777, a second door with a longer clock.

The deadline gap is the reason to know both. N.J.S.A. 10:5-18 gives you "180
days after the alleged act of discrimination" to file with the Division; 42
U.S.C. § 3610(a)(1)(A)(i) gives HUD a full year. New Jersey ties itself to the
federal system by statute at N.J.S.A. 10:5-9.2, which makes DCR a "certified
agency" for Fair Housing Act purposes.

For free legal help, Northeast New Jersey Legal Services is the programme for
Passaic County residents; it also covers Bergen and Hudson, and unsafe housing
and landlord-tenant disputes are named on its list of housing work.

## One last thing about paperwork

There is nothing here to buy. No New Jersey regulation defines an emotional
support animal at all, so there is no official standard a purchased document
could satisfy. DCR puts the point from the other direction: "[d]ocumentation
obtained from the Internet that does not come from a treating healthcare
professional generally will not be sufficiently reliable to support the need
for an ESA." The letter that does the work is the one written by the clinician
who treats you.

## What Clifton landlords can and cannot do

**Cannot:**
- A landlord may not refuse because the animal is untrained. The Supreme Court's words are "[w]hether the animal has been trained is not a relevant consideration."
- A landlord may not condition the accommodation on a doctor's order for the animal. The Court held that the LAD "does not require that an ESA be prescribed by a mental health professional."
- Cannot demand that the animal cure or eliminate the disability. The necessity test is symptom-level: "the question is whether the accommodation will alleviate at least one symptom of the disability, not whether the accommodation will cure or eliminate the disability" (Players Place II).
- Cannot treat a weight limit, size limit or breed rule as a trump card. The pet policy is the thing the accommodation is an exception to. The association in Players Place II had a thirty-pound cap and the resident’s dog weighed sixty-three pounds.
- A landlord may not charge an additional security deposit or a pet fee, and may not require additional renter's insurance, in exchange for allowing an ESA, Division on Civil Rights guidance, adopted by the Supreme Court. The same guidance preserves the landlord's right to charge "for any actual damage the animal causes."
- A landlord may not make any written or oral inquiry or record about the disability of a prospective tenant or occupant, unless a government agency requires the information and the landlord says so clearly (N.J.A.C. 13:13-3.3).
- A landlord may not take reprisals against a tenant for opposing a practice forbidden by the LAD, for seeking legal advice about it, or for filing a complaint (N.J.S.A. 10:5-12(d)).
- Total security may not exceed one and a half months' rent (N.J.S.A. 46:8-21.2), and any additional security collected during the tenancy is capped at 10 percent of the current deposit per year. A refundable pet deposit sits inside that ceiling.

**Can:**
- A landlord or condominium association must assess an emotional support animal request under N.J.A.C. 13:13-3.4(f)(2), and once the tenant shows a disability and that the animal may be necessary for an equal opportunity to use and enjoy the dwelling, the burden shifts: the housing provider has "the burden to prove the requested accommodation is unreasonable" (Players Place II, 256 N.J. 472 (2024)).
- Must "engage in a good-faith, interactive dialogue" while the request is considered, as both sides are expected to. A landlord who simply stops responding is not following the framework the Court set out.
- A landlord may deny only on an individualised assessment. The test is "whether allowing an ESA would fundamentally alter the housing provider's operations or impose an undue financial or administrative burden" (Players Place II; DCR ESA fact sheet, point 4).
- May still apply a no-pets policy where the accommodation analysis does not support an exception. An ESA is not automatically admitted. DCR says "unlike service or guide animals, ESAs are not automatically exempt from a housing provider’s no-pet policies." The categorical no-pets override at N.J.A.C. 13:13-3.4(c) and the statutory fee exemption at N.J.S.A. 10:5-29.2 are for trained guide and service dogs.
- Where the disability or the need for the animal is not obvious or already known, a landlord may request reliable documentation from the tenant's treating health care professional, but "cannot require that your request be in writing or that you submit documentation in a specific format" (DCR ESA fact sheet, point 3).
- The deposit must come back within 30 days of the tenancy ending, itemised, with the tenant's share of interest; a wrongly withheld deposit is recoverable at double, with costs and possible fees (N.J.S.A. 46:8-21.1).
- May charge pet rent and pet fees to tenants generally, because no New Jersey statute caps or bans them for anyone. The protection for an assistance animal comes from N.J.A.C. 13:13-3.4(e) and from DCR guidance the Supreme Court adopted, not from a fee statute.
- Is outside the Law Against Discrimination when renting one unit in an owner-occupied two-family house, or a room in the owner’s own one-family home (N.J.S.A. 10:5-5(n)), unless the housing is publicly assisted, which includes any building financed by a federally insured or guaranteed loan (10:5-5(m)).

## How to get an ESA letter in Clifton

1. **Check that you qualify**, Answer a short screening about how your condition affects daily life in Clifton. No diagnosis paperwork needed up front. (About 5 minutes: free)
2. **Connect with a licensed professional**, You are matched with a provider licensed for New Jersey 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 New Jersey 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 Clifton. (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 Clifton

- [Northeast New Jersey Legal Services (Bergen, Hudson, Passaic)](https://www.nnjls.org/) (legal aid)
- [NJ DCR, Know the Law: Discrimination in Housing](https://www.njoag.gov/about/divisions-and-offices/division-on-civil-rights-home/know-the-law/njlad/discrimination-in-housing/) (state agency)
- [NJ DCA Division of Codes and Standards, landlord-tenant information](https://www.nj.gov/dca/codes/offices/) (state agency)
- [HUD, report housing discrimination](https://www.hud.gov/reporthousingdiscrimination) (federal agency)

## Frequently asked questions

### My landlord lives in the other unit of the house. Does the Law Against Discrimination still apply?

It may not, and then again it may, so check before you give up. New Jersey hides its exemptions inside a definition: N.J.S.A. 10:5-5(n) defines "real property" and excludes the rental "of a single apartment or flat in a two-family dwelling, the other occupancy unit of which is occupied by the owner as a residence," and the rental of rooms in an owner-occupied one-family home. But that exclusion opens with the words "except as to publicly assisted housing accommodations," and N.J.S.A. 10:5-5(m) defines that term to include "all housing financed in whole or in part by a loan … the repayment of which is guaranteed or insured by the federal government or any agency thereof." A federally insured mortgage on a Clifton two-family puts the building back inside the Act.

### The complex has a weight limit. Can it be enforced against my emotional support animal?

Not automatically, and the leading New Jersey case is about that exact conflict. In Players Place II Condominium Ass'n, Inc. v. K.P., 256 N.J. 472 (2024), the community's policy limited pets "to the small domestic variety weighing thirty (30) pounds or less at maturity" and the resident's support dog weighed 63 pounds. On 13 March 2024 a unanimous Supreme Court refused to treat the pet policy as the end of the matter, holding that once the resident shows a disability and that the accommodation "may be necessary" for an "equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling," the housing provider carries "the burden to prove the requested accommodation is unreasonable." A weight cap is a rule, and a rule is what an accommodation adjusts.

### Can I take this to a Clifton board or commission?

No. Clifton publishes nine boards and commissions: Action Clifton Committee, Advisory Committee for Individuals with Disabilities, Arts Center Advisory Board, Board of Adjustment, Environmental Commission, Hazardous Material Control Board, Health Advisory Board, Planning Board and Rent Leveling Board, and describes them on its own page as bodies that "act in an advisory role to the Clifton City Council." None is a civil rights or human relations commission, and Passaic County publishes none. The disability advisory committee is genuinely useful for local disability questions, but it is not a complaint intake. Housing discrimination complaints go to the Division on Civil Rights at bias.njcivilrights.gov or 1-833-NJDCR4U, or to HUD at 1-800-669-9777.

### Why is a service dog treated differently from an emotional support animal here?

New Jersey runs two tracks, and the Supreme Court spelled that out. N.J.A.C. 13:13-3.4(c) makes it unlawful to refuse to rent to a person with a disability "who is accompanied by a guide or service dog or animal" and provides that no-pets policies "shall be void" as to that group — a categorical rule with no weighing. An emotional support animal goes through N.J.A.C. 13:13-3.4(f)(2), the general reasonable accommodation clause, where the landlord may argue undue burden. The Court noted in a footnote that the balancing analysis "does not apply to service animals, which are not subject to a balancing test." It is why DCR can say honestly that ESAs "are not automatically exempt from a housing provider's no-pet policies."

### Can my building charge pet rent for an emotional support animal?

No, once the accommodation is granted. In DCR's words, a housing provider "cannot require you to pay an additional security deposit or pet fee, or obtain additional renter's insurance, in exchange for allowing you to keep an ESA," though it "may require you to pay for any actual damage the animal causes." The source is agency guidance the state's highest court chose to follow, not a statutory fee ban, New Jersey has no statute regulating pet fees or pet rent generally. Your ordinary security deposit is a separate matter and is capped at 1 1/2 months' rent by N.J.S.A. 46:8-21.2.

### My landlord has stopped answering. What do I do?

Silence is not a decision, and it does not stop the clock. The Supreme Court expects "a good-faith, interactive dialogue" from both sides, so a landlord that goes quiet is not meeting the standard it will later have to defend. N.J.S.A. 10:5-18 leaves you 180 days from the refusal to bring the matter to the Division on Civil Rights, and 42 U.S.C. § 3610(a)(1)(A)(i) allows HUD a full year. Northeast New Jersey Legal Services covers Passaic County for free civil legal help. For general landlord-tenant questions that are not about discrimination, the NJ Department of Community Affairs' Bureau of Homeowner Protection publishes information on the rights and responsibilities of residential landlords and tenants.

### Does my animal need training, or an official certificate?

No to both. The New Jersey Supreme Court held that "[w]hether the animal has been trained is not a relevant consideration" for an emotional support animal in housing. And there is nothing to certify against: no New Jersey regulation defines an emotional support animal at all: the only animal definitions in the code, at N.J.A.C. 13:13-4.2, require an "individually trained" animal and sit in the public accommodations subchapter, not the housing one. DCR's own warning about purchased documentation is that material "obtained from the Internet that does not come from a treating healthcare professional generally will not be sufficiently reliable to support the need for an ESA."

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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=new-jersey-emotional-support-animal%2Fclifton