# Long Beach ESA Rules: Seasonal Lets and the Deposit Cap

> Long Beach is 34% renters with seasonal lettings. Where § 7-108's one-month cap has exceptions, and why none of them apply to charging for an assistance animal.

- Source: https://supportanimal.com/blog/new-york-emotional-support-animal/long-beach/
- Publisher: Support Animal (supportanimal.com)
- Updated: 2026-07-29
- License note: informational content; not legal or medical advice.

## Key facts

- Population: 34,777
- Households renting: 34%
- Typical pet deposit (as a pet): $0 for an assistance animal; year-round deposits capped at one month's rent, with § 7-108 carrying limited exceptions for seasonal units
- Typical pet rent (as a pet): $0 for an assistance animal; no seasonal exception applies to charges for the animal
- Breed/weight limits common: yes
- Pet fees, deposits, and breed limits with a valid ESA letter: none (FHA reasonable accommodation)

## A Barrier-Island Rental Market

Long Beach held about 34,777 residents in the 2024 Census Bureau estimate,
and 34.0% of its households rent — below New York's 45.7% statewide share,
across roughly 5,100 renter households.

Its rental market has a shape most New York cities do not: alongside
year-round tenancies there is a genuine seasonal trade, with lettings written
for part of the year and priced accordingly. That distinction shows up in one
place in the law that matters here, and in one place only.

## Where the Seasonal Exception Sits

General Obligations Law § 7-108 provides that no deposit or advance shall
exceed the amount of one month's rent — with limited exceptions, which
include seasonal units and owner-occupied cooperatives.

So a tenant asked for more than a month's deposit has a threshold question
before an argument: is this letting genuinely seasonal? For a year-round
tenancy the cap applies straightforwardly, and an over-collected deposit is
recoverable. For a seasonal unit the analysis is different, and the amount
may lawfully exceed a month.

Everything else in the section applies regardless. The landlord has fourteen
days from the tenant's vacating to return the balance along with an itemized
statement setting out the basis for anything retained; miss that deadline and
the right to retain any part of the deposit is forfeited. A willful violation
carries punitive damages of up to twice the deposit, in addition to actual
damages.

## No Seasonal Exception for the Animal

Here is the distinction worth carrying away. The deposit cap has exceptions.
The rule about assistance animals does not.

New York State Homes and Community Renewal's assistance-animal guidance is
unqualified. Extra charges may not be imposed on a tenant for having an
assistance animal; a pet deposit is prohibited, so is a required insurance
policy, and the prohibition survives even in a building where the landlord
allows pets and charges other tenants for them. Nothing in that guidance
turns on the length of the tenancy or the time of year.

A summer let and a twelve-month lease are treated identically on this point:
no charge attaches to an approved assistance animal in either.

## Short Tenancies Are Still Covered

Executive Law § 296 sets no minimum tenancy length. It makes refusing a
reasonable accommodation in rules, policies, practices, or services
discriminatory where the accommodation may be necessary to afford a person
with a disability equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling, and it
expressly includes the use of an animal to alleviate symptoms or effects of a
disability.

A tenant occupying a unit for four months has the same claim to an
accommodation as one occupying it for four years — and, given how quickly a
short tenancy ends, more reason to put the request in writing on day one.

## Documentation for a Short Let

State guidance keeps the requirement proportionate. Two things may be
confirmed by information and documentation — that the tenant is disabled, and
that the animal relieves the effects of that disability — and the entitlement
stops at whatever is necessary for that determination.

A physician need not write it; a service provider's or a therapist's letter
explaining the need may be enough. Certification and training cannot be
demanded at all, since fair-housing law imposes neither on an assistance
animal, and New York issues no ESA credentials.

For seasonal tenants that matters practically — there is rarely time to
arrange anything elaborate between signing and moving in.

## Requests Made Partway Through a Let

Seasonal tenancies are short, and a tenant whose circumstances change in the
middle of one sometimes assumes it is too late to ask.

It is not. The accommodation duty attaches when the request is made, and
state guidance says a provider may not treat a request differently depending
on whether the tenant is long-standing or newly arrived, nor treat the
absence of an earlier request as evidence that no disability exists. A
request made in week six of a twelve-week let is assessed on the same
documentation as one made at signing.

## Where Two Animals Are Needed

The same proportionality applies to the number of animals. Where the symptoms
associated with a disability call for more than one, and documentation shows
each animal eases those symptoms, more than one may be kept.

For a short letting the practical advice is to raise both animals in the
first written request rather than adding the second later, simply because
there is less time available to work through a second round of correspondence
before the tenancy ends.

## The Rest of the Framework

A landlord's route to limiting an animal is a serious and present health or
safety concern, and state guidance notes that in most circumstances landlords
cannot forbid cats or dogs. Other tenants' allergies are not a ground for
refusal, though relocation is available where a health risk is proven.

The tenant carries the obligations the guidance sets out: care for the animal
including feeding, grooming and housebreaking; preventing a nuisance that
fundamentally alters the habitability of the building; and preventing injury
to other tenants. Where damage occurs, a deduction is permitted only on the
terms that would apply to a tenant without an assistance animal.

## A No-Pets Clause in a Summer Let

Short seasonal leases lean heavily on standard forms, and a no-pets clause is
usually among them.

The clause governs pets. State guidance provides that where a tenant has a
disability and can provide proper documentation that the assistance animal
eases the symptoms of that disability, the landlord must allow a reasonable
accommodation to its no-pets policy — and that any type of animal may
qualify where it alleviates a limitation associated with a disability. The
form the lease came on does not change that analysis.

## Housing, Not the Boardwalk

Civil Rights Law § 47-b defines guide dogs, hearing dogs, and service dogs as
dogs trained or in training to aid a person with a disability, and emotional
support animals fall outside those definitions. Access to beaches, the
boardwalk, or any other public space is governed by its own rules rather than
by Executive Law § 296, which concerns the dwelling.

## Keep the Terms in Writing

Seasonal lettings are often agreed quickly and informally, which makes the
written record thinner exactly where it needs to be thicker. Ask for the
deposit terms in writing, note whether the letting is described as seasonal,
and send the accommodation request as a short message rather than raising it
at handover. Where a tenancy lasts weeks rather than years, a dated exchange
is frequently the only evidence that survives it.

## Filing from Nassau County

Reports go to the New York State Division of Human Rights at (844) 697-3471
or through an online form, free and without an attorney, within the
three-year period in Executive Law § 297(5) for conduct on or after
February 15, 2024.

Legal Services of Long Island provides free civil legal help across Nassau
County, Long Island Housing Services works specifically on fair housing, and
Disability Rights New York advocates statewide for people with disabilities.

Two things are worth doing at the start of a Long Beach tenancy: getting the
accommodation request in writing before the season runs out, and establishing
on paper whether the letting is being treated as seasonal — because that
single fact decides which deposit rules apply. Our guide to
[what a landlord can and cannot do](/blog/articles/can-landlord-deny-emotional-support-animal/) explains how a denial is judged, and the
[New York ESA law overview](/blog/new-york-emotional-support-animal/) sets out the statewide rules.

## What Long Beach landlords can and cannot do

**Cannot:**
- Cannot refuse a reasonable accommodation in rules, policies, practices, or services where it may be necessary for a person with a disability to use and enjoy a dwelling, and Executive Law § 296 names the use of an animal as such an accommodation
- Cannot apply a no-pets policy to a documented assistance animal, according to New York State Homes and Community Renewal's assistance-animal guidance
- Cannot impose extra charges because a tenant has an assistance animal, including a pet deposit or a requirement to carry insurance, even in a building that charges pet fees to other tenants
- Cannot require that the animal hold a certificate or complete training, since fair-housing law imposes no training requirement on an assistance animal
- Cannot refuse the request because another tenant has allergies, though it may relocate a tenant and the animal where a health risk to others is proven
- Cannot collect a security deposit larger than one month's rent, or keep any of it without an itemized statement within fourteen days of the tenant vacating

**Can:**
- May request documentation confirming the disability and that the animal eases its symptoms, which need not come from a physician — a letter from a therapist or service provider may suffice
- May limit an animal where there is a serious and present health or safety concern, although guidance states that in most circumstances cats and dogs cannot be forbidden
- May hold the tenant responsible for damage the animal causes, but only on the same terms applied to a tenant without an assistance animal who caused the same damage
- May expect the tenant to feed, groom, and house-train the animal and to keep it from becoming a nuisance or injuring other tenants

## How to get an ESA letter in Long Beach

1. **Check that you qualify** — Answer a short screening about how your condition affects daily life in Long Beach. 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 York 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. (95% of applicants qualify)
4. **Receive your signed letter** — Your letter arrives on the professional's letterhead with their license number — the documentation New York 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 Long Beach. (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 Long Beach

- [Legal Services of Long Island](https://www.nslawservices.org/) (legal aid)
- [Long Island Housing Services](https://www.lifairhousing.org/) (tenant advocacy)
- [New York State Division of Human Rights — file a report](https://dhr.ny.gov/complaint) (government)
- [Disability Rights New York](https://www.drny.org/) (advocacy)

## Frequently asked questions

### Does the one-month deposit cap apply to a seasonal Long Beach rental?

General Obligations Law § 7-108 caps a deposit or advance at one month's rent, with limited exceptions that include seasonal units. A tenant asked for more than a month should establish first whether the letting is genuinely seasonal, because the answer decides whether the cap applies to that arrangement.

### Can a seasonal landlord charge extra for an assistance animal?

No. Nothing in state assistance-animal guidance turns on the length of the tenancy. A landlord cannot impose extra charges because a tenant has an assistance animal, including a pet deposit or required insurance, whether the letting runs for a summer or a year.

### Is a short tenancy still covered by the accommodation duty?

Yes. The section sets no minimum tenancy length. Executive Law § 296 makes a refusal discriminatory wherever the accommodation refused — a rule, a policy, a practice or a service — may be what a person with a disability needs in order to use and enjoy a dwelling, and it expressly includes the use of an animal.

### When must a Long Beach landlord return the deposit?

Within fourteen days after the tenant vacates, along with an itemized statement of anything retained. Missing that deadline forfeits the right to keep any part of the deposit, and a willful violation carries punitive damages of up to twice the deposit in addition to actual damages.

### What documentation supports the request?

Information confirming the disability and that the animal relieves its effects. State guidance says it need not come from a physician — a letter from a service provider or therapist explaining the need may be sufficient — and that the landlord is entitled only to what is necessary for that determination.

### Where do Long Beach tenants get help?

Legal Services of Long Island and Long Island Housing Services both serve Nassau County, the first for civil legal help and the second for fair housing. Complaints go to the New York State Division of Human Rights within the three-year window in Executive Law § 297(5).

### Does my animal have beach or boardwalk access?

That is outside the housing rules. Civil Rights Law § 47-b covers guide dogs, hearing dogs, and service dogs trained to aid a person with a disability, and emotional support animals fall outside it. Public spaces are governed by their own rules rather than by Executive Law § 296.

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Get evaluated by a licensed provider: https://my.supportanimal.com/qualify?sa_source=blog&sa_medium=referral&sa_campaign=esa-guides&sa_content=markdown&ref=blog&sa_term=new-york-emotional-support-animal%2Flong-beach