# ESA Letter in Old Bridge, NJ: When the Association Holds the Pet Rule

> New Jersey's leading support animal case was brought by a condo board over a weight limit. What that means for an Old Bridge townhouse renter, and where to file.

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

## Key facts

- Population: 70,506
- Households renting: 29.6%
- 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 case that decided this was an association case

Most states settled emotional support animals in housing, if they settled them
at all, through a dispute with a landlord. New Jersey settled it through a
dispute with a condominium board.

*Players Place II Condominium Ass'n, Inc. v. K.P.*, 256 N.J. 472 (2024), reached
the New Jersey Supreme Court from a community whose pet policy limited animals
to "the small domestic variety weighing thirty (30) pounds or less at maturity."
A homeowner there, diagnosed with several mental health conditions, kept a
sixty-three pound dog named Luna as an emotional support animal. Litigation
followed. A unanimous Court, ruling on 13 March 2024, put the homeowner's
dismissed claims back on their feet and spelled out the way requests like hers
must be handled.

That fact pattern is unusually close to home in Old Bridge, where a large share
of the rented housing is townhouse and condominium stock inside communities that
publish their own animal rules.

## Who your housing provider actually is

Of Old Bridge's 25,757 occupied homes, 7,633 are rented: 29.6 percent, on the
2020–2024 American Community Survey. New Jersey's statewide share is 36.2
percent, so this township sits below the state line, among eight of the twenty
largest municipalities that do.

That figure understates how many households the animal question touches. In a
community run by an association, the rule you collide with may not belong to
your landlord at all. Three parties can be involved: the unit owner who signed
your lease, the management company that answers the phone, and the association
board that wrote the pet policy in the first place.

The Supreme Court's answer to that structure was to apply the same duty to the
board. An association that makes and enforces the rules governing a dwelling is
a housing provider, and it carries the same obligations as a leasing office.
Address your request to whoever holds the rule, and copy the others.

## The rule the request is asking to bend

Weight ceilings, breed lists and one-animal limits are not unlawful. They are
ordinary rules. An accommodation is, by definition, an exception to an ordinary
rule.

The duty comes from a regulation rather than from the statute most people reach
for. New Jersey's Law Against Discrimination bars disability discrimination in
housing at N.J.S.A. 10:5-12(g)(2), but that provision says nothing about
accommodations and never mentions an animal. The Division on Civil Rights
supplied the missing piece by rule: N.J.A.C. 13:13-3.4(f)(2) makes it unlawful
to "[r]efuse to make reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, practices or
services … when such accommodations or modifications may be necessary to afford
a person with a disability equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling,
including public and common areas." Scheduled to lapse at the end of 2025, the
chapter was instead readopted by the Division that autumn and now stands until
2032.

Applying that rule to the homeowner's case, the Supreme Court treated it as the
route an emotional support animal request travels, and made clear a weight cap
does not finish the argument. The LAD, it said, does not require a resident to
"establish a specific need for a dog that exceeded the weight limit."

## What each side has to prove

The framework is short enough to keep in your head.

You show two things: that you have a disability under the LAD, and that the
accommodation "may be necessary to afford [you] an 'equal opportunity to use and
enjoy a dwelling.'" The second is a lower bar than people expect. In the Court's
words, 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."

Then it flips. "Housing providers then have the burden to prove the requested
accommodation is unreasonable." The measure of unreasonable is whether allowing
the animal would "fundamentally alter" the provider's operations or impose an
"undue financial or administrative burden." Along the way, both sides "should
engage in a good-faith, interactive dialogue."

One line disposes of the most common objection a board raises: "Whether the
animal has been trained is not a relevant consideration."

That is not the same as saying yes is automatic. DCR's own guidance is careful:
"unlike service or guide animals, ESAs are not automatically exempt from a
housing provider's no-pet policies." Trained guide and service animals get a
categorical rule under N.J.A.C. 13:13-3.4(c), which voids pet restrictions
outright as to them. An emotional support animal gets a balancing test it can
win, and can lose.

## Charges, deposits and damage

For an emotional support animal, the money rules come out of DCR's ESA fact
sheet, and what gives them weight is the Supreme Court's decision to adopt that
guidance. 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." It is guidance, not a promulgated rule, say it
that way when you quote it. The underlying regulation supports the principle in
general terms: 13:13-3.4(e) says people with disabilities "shall not be required
to pay extra compensation or additional security deposits," while leaving them
liable for "any specific damage which may be done to the premises."

That last clause matters in a shared community. Damage to a hallway, a lift or a
common lawn is chargeable if your animal causes it. What is not chargeable is a
fee for the animal's existence.

Do not confuse any of this with N.J.S.A. 10:5-29.2. That section is headed
"Housing accommodations," bars "extra compensation," and strips out lease
clauses prohibiting pets — but its reach stops at "a service or guide dog," and
the LAD defines both by reference to training. Your ESA is not covered by it.

Your ordinary security deposit is separately capped: N.J.S.A. 46:8-21.2 allows
no more than "1 1/2 times 1 month's rental."

## Paperwork that holds, and paperwork that does not

If neither your disability nor your reason for wanting the animal is apparent,
the Division on Civil Rights permits a provider to ask for "reliable
documentation from your treating health care professional." It also stops the
provider demanding that your request arrive in writing, or on any set form.

And it names the weak document directly: "Documentation 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."

Set that beside what the Court said about training and the picture closes. No
class, no test, no vest, and nothing bought online either. What does the work
is a letter from the clinician treating you.

## There is no township door. There is no county door either.

No office in Old Bridge has the legal power to take this complaint, and neither
does any office in any of New Jersey's other municipalities.

The reason is structural. N.J.S.A. 10:5-10 permits a mayor to seat a local civil
rights commission, then spells out the entirety of what such a body does: foster
"good will, cooperation and conciliation," put recommendations to the local
governing body, and run "programs of formal and informal education." Taking in a
complaint, investigating it, or deciding it is absent from that list. Those
functions belong to the Division on Civil Rights under 10:5-8(c) and to the
Attorney General under 10:5-14. The federal roster agrees: among the agencies
HUD partners with on fair housing, New Jersey is represented by the state
Division and by no city or county, in a state with 564 of them.

## Your options, and the clocks on them

DCR is the first door, and the first to shut. N.J.S.A. 10:5-18: "Any complaint
filed in the division or in any municipal office pursuant to this act must be so
filed within 180 days after the alleged act of discrimination." Filing is done
on the NJBIAS system, bias.njcivilrights.gov, or by telephone on 1-833-NJDCR4U
(833-653-2748); the Newark regional office, 973-648-2700, serves this part of
the state.

HUD is a second door, and it stays open twelve months under 42 U.S.C. §
3610(a)(1)(A)(i). New Jersey knitted the two systems together on purpose:
10:5-9.2 requires the LAD to be construed so that the Division counts as a
"certified agency" within the meaning of the federal fair housing amendments.

Court is the third. N.J.S.A. 10:5-13(a)(2) allows suit in Superior Court
"without first filing a complaint with the division or any municipal office,"
and a jury on request, on a two-year limitations period that comes from case law
rather than the statute. You may not run both at once.

If you need a lawyer and cannot pay, the Middlesex programme is Central Jersey
Legal Services, which also takes Mercer and Union.

## What Old Bridge 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 Old Bridge

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

- [NJ Division on Civil Rights, Discrimination in Housing (Know the Law)](https://www.njoag.gov/about/divisions-and-offices/division-on-civil-rights-home/know-the-law/njlad/discrimination-in-housing/) (state agency)
- [NJBIAS complaint portal (bias.njcivilrights.gov)](https://bias.njcivilrights.gov/en-US/) (state agency)
- [Central Jersey Legal Services, free civil legal help in Middlesex County](https://centraljerseylegalservices.org/) (legal aid)
- [HUD, report housing discrimination (one-year federal window)](https://www.hud.gov/reporthousingdiscrimination) (federal agency)

## Frequently asked questions

### My condominium association, not my landlord, is refusing the animal. Does the law reach a board?

Yes. The leading New Jersey case on emotional support animals in housing was brought by a condominium association against a resident, and the New Jersey Supreme Court applied the same accommodation framework to it. Players Place II Condominium Ass'n, Inc. v. K.P., 256 N.J. 472 (2024), decided unanimously on 13 March 2024, required the association to assess the request under N.J.A.C. 13:13-3.4(f)(2). An association that writes and enforces the rules governing your dwelling is acting as a housing provider, and it carries the same burden of proving that an accommodation would be unreasonable.

### The community caps pets at a set weight. Can it apply that cap to my support animal?

Not automatically. A cap like that is exactly the sort of rule an accommodation exists to override. In Players Place II the policy limited pets to "the small domestic variety weighing thirty (30) pounds or less at maturity," and the resident's emotional support dog weighed sixty-three pounds. The Court held the claims should not have been dismissed and noted the LAD does not require the resident to "establish a specific need for a dog that exceeded the weight limit." To keep the cap, the association has to prove that letting the animal stay would fundamentally alter how it runs the community, or saddle it with an undue financial or administrative burden.

### What exactly do I have to prove, and what do they have to prove?

The Supreme Court split it in two. You show that you have a disability under the Law Against Discrimination and that the accommodation "may be necessary to afford [you] an 'equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling.'" That standard is lower than people assume: the Court said 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." Then the burden shifts, "[h]ousing providers then have the burden to prove the requested accommodation is unreasonable", and both sides are expected to engage in a good-faith, interactive dialogue.

### Does an emotional support animal have to be trained in New Jersey housing?

No. The Supreme Court wrote that "[w]hether the animal has been trained is not a relevant consideration," quoting the Division on Civil Rights' own explanation that ESAs, unlike service or guide animals, "are not individually trained to perform specific tasks associated with their owner's disability." That is the housing rule. It differs from the rule for trained guide and service dogs, which get a categorical protection under N.J.A.C. 13:13-3.4(c) and are not subject to any balancing at all.

### Will an online ESA document work?

Generally not, and the state agency that would investigate your complaint says so. DCR's fact sheet states that "[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." Elsewhere in the same fact sheet, DCR permits a request for reliable documentation from the health care professional treating you, while forbidding any demand that the request be written or submitted on a set form. The test is the relationship behind the letter, not the file format it arrives in.

### Old Bridge is a township. Is there a local office that handles this?

There is no local administrative route anywhere in New Jersey. Under N.J.S.A. 10:5-10 a mayor may appoint a local civil rights commission, and the same section limits it to fostering "good will, cooperation and conciliation," making recommendations and running education programmes, nothing about receiving or investigating complaints, which 10:5-8(c) assigns to the Division on Civil Rights and 10:5-14 to the Attorney General. HUD's Fair Housing Assistance Program roster lists only DCR for New Jersey and no localities. File with DCR at bias.njcivilrights.gov, or with HUD.

### Can I skip the agency and sue instead?

You can. N.J.S.A. 10:5-13(a)(2) lets a person "initiate suit in Superior Court … without first filing a complaint with the division or any municipal office," and on application "a jury trial shall be directed." The limitations period for that route is two years, drawn from case law rather than from the statute. What you cannot do is run both: prosecuting a Superior Court suit bars a division complaint while it is pending. Weigh it early, because the DCR window is only 180 days under 10:5-18.

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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%2Fold-bridge