# ESA Letter in High Point, NC: Four Counties, One Fair Housing Desk

> High Point's Human Relations Division names accommodation denials as a complaint type, and the city rewrote its fair housing code in 2024. What that gives an ESA.

- Source: https://supportanimal.com/blog/north-carolina-emotional-support-animal/high-point/
- Publisher: Support Animal (supportanimal.com)
- Updated: 2026-08-10
- License note: informational content; not legal or medical advice.

## Key facts

- Population: 118,601
- 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)

## The city office that says it out loud

Most municipal fair housing pages talk in generalities. High Point's names who
its housing intake is for:

> For individuals or their family members who have been treated unequally where
> they live or when trying to buy, rent, lease, sell or finance a home. This is
> also for those who have been denied a reasonable accommodation or modification
> for a qualified disability.

Read the second sentence again. A denied reasonable accommodation is named, in
plain words, as something this office takes complaints about, which is exactly
where a renter stands when a landlord says no to an emotional support animal.

The Human Relations Division sits at 211 S Hamilton Street, Suite 205, and
answers on **336-883-3124** from 9am to 4pm. It "receives citizen complaints of
discrimination in the areas of Fair Housing and public accommodations."

## A fair housing code rewritten in 2024

This is not an inherited chapter gathering dust. High Point's fair housing law
is Title 4, Chapter 3, Article A of the city code, §§ 4-3-1 to 4-3-30. The whole
article was repealed and re-enacted on February 19, 2024, then amended again on
July 15, 2024. One of the newest local fair housing codes in North Carolina.

That matters because of what the drafters put in. Section 4-3-9 lists as
discrimination:

> A refusal to make reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, practices, or
> services, when such accommodations may be necessary to afford such person equal
> opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling

Section 4-3-2 names the classes the article protects, "handicap or disability"
among them, and gives one purpose as "local resolution of housing discrimination
disputes in a timely and effective manner." The state duty is identical, at
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 41A-4(f)(2), as is 24 C.F.R. § 100.204 federally. None of the
three mentions animals. All three govern **rules**, and a no-pets clause, a
weight ceiling and a breed list are rules.

## Four counties, one front desk

High Point spills across county lines, and it does not stop at two. Of its
118,601 residents, roughly 111,038 live in Guilford County, 7,083 in Davidson,
470 in Forsyth and 10 in Randolph.

The city layer ignores all of that. Section 4-3-2 states the ordinance's purpose
as freedom from housing discrimination "for all individuals within the City of
High Point." Your county decides your tax bill; the ordinance decides your
office, and it is the same desk on Hamilton Street either way.

For scale: 19,338 of the city's 45,872 occupied homes are rented. At 42.2%, that
renter share runs well clear of the 33.4% statewide figure in the Census Bureau's
five-year estimates for 2020–2024.

## Where the county line does change something

Free legal help splits, but only two ways. Legal Aid of North Carolina's
Greensboro office (122 N Elm St, Suite 700, (336) 272-0148) covers Davidson,
Guilford, Montgomery, Randolph, Rockingham and Rowan, taking in three of High
Point's four counties. Only the Forsyth sliver, about 470 people, is served from
Winston-Salem at 102 W 3rd St, Suite 460, (336) 725-9162.

The county layer is empty in all four. Guilford County publishes a list of 33
departments and agencies with no human relations, civil rights or fair housing
office on it. Forsyth County says as much openly: a resident living "in Forsyth
County and outside the Winston-Salem City Limits" is told to call the Civil
Rights Division of the Office of Administrative Hearings in Raleigh, on
984-236-1914. No county government here will take your case; the real choice is
city, state or federal.

## Two clocks, and a catch in the second

Section 4-3-15(a) sets the local deadline: an aggrieved person may file with the
director "no later than one (1) year after an alleged discriminatory housing
practice occurred or was terminated." The same sentence lets an authorized
representative, "including an organization," help you file.

Court runs longer. Section 4-3-27(a) allows a private action within two years,
and § 4-3-27(b) pauses that clock while an administrative proceeding is pending,
so using the city process does not eat your court time. Subsection (c) is blunt
about independence: you may sue "whether or not a complaint has been filed under
this article and without regard to the status of any such complaint."

The catch sits at the end of it. Once the director obtains a conciliation
agreement with your consent, you cannot sue on the same practice afterwards,
except to enforce that agreement. Two smaller points: § 4-3-8 neither forces nor
forbids filing elsewhere at the same time, and the director may open a case "on
the director's own initiative."

## Make one call before you rely on the local route

High Point publishes a second page, Fair Housing Information, and under "Where to
File A Fair Housing Complaint?" it lists only HUD and the North Carolina Human
Relations Commission. It never points readers at the city's own Division. The
Human Relations page says the Division receives fair housing complaints, and the
ordinance makes the director the person a complaint goes to.

We are not going to tidy that up. What is certain: the local route exists in the
code, the Division says it takes complaints, and HUD and the state Commission are
both still open. So dial **336-883-3124** and confirm intake before leaning on it
alone.

Do not assume certification, either. Section 4-3-14(b) says only that the city
"may apply for" recognition as having adopted an ordinance substantially
equivalent to federal law. That is an intention, not a credential. But the
ordinance is not decorative: the divestiture rule at
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 41A-7(c) asks whether a unit of government holds "legal
authority equivalent to or greater than" Chapter 41A's, a state-law test that
never mentions HUD. Section 4-3-15(a)(2) also contemplates the federal or state
government referring a complaint down to the Division.

One naming trap. High Point has a human relations **commission** as well as the
**Division**, and § 2-3-10 keeps them apart: the commission "may address fair
housing matters… however the commission shall not function in those areas in
which the city council has expressly legislated." The council legislated Article
A. Section 4-3-4 makes the "Director" of the Division the person who receives
complaints, so ask for the Division by name.

## Market weeks, furnished units, and pet pricing

The furniture trade built this city and still shapes it, filling downtown with
showrooms and periodic short-term demand. Landlords price animals with the same
commercial instinct: a one-time pet fee, monthly pet rent, often a breed and
weight schedule attached to the lease.

North Carolina lets them. The pet fee has express statutory blessing (§ 42-53
allows "a reasonable, nonrefundable fee for pets"), and pet rent is limited by
nothing. The legislature did not merely stay quiet here; it authorised the
charge. Which is why the way out is the accommodation and not a ceiling. Every
one of those charges is written for a pet,
and an animal you keep because of a disability is not being kept as a pet, so the
pricing stops reaching it. The breed and weight rules are policies, and § 4-3-9
is about exceptions to policies.

Damage survives all of it. If your animal wrecks something you owe for it, and
the landlord may charge it against your deposit, which § 42-51(b) holds to two
months' rent on terms longer than month to month.

## The sections your landlord will quote

Expect § 168-4.4 in a reply email. It tells a landlord that where a service animal
accompanies someone with a disability, the tenant "may not be required to pay any
extra compensation for the animal." Section 168-4.2 adds the right to keep that
animal "on any premises the person leases, rents, or uses." On its face it settles
everything.

It is not yours. Section 168-4.2 gives those rights to a person with "a service
animal **trained to assist the person with his or her specific disability**." An
emotional support animal performs no trained task and sits outside them. The
accommodation duty is a different provision, it does reach you, and it lands in
the same place on money.

## What to send, and to whom

Write to your landlord, in the ordinance's own words. You are asking for a
reasonable accommodation: an exception to the pet policy, needed because of a
disability, backed by a current letter from a licensed professional who has
genuinely evaluated you. Section 41A-5(a)(3) makes a refusal to accommodate
unlawful on its own, with no motive to prove, so a dated written request is most
of your record.

Skip anything sold as a registration. North Carolina's one real animal registry,
under § 168-4.3, is free, is optional even for the service animals it covers, and
requires the animal to be trained or in training, which an ESA is not.

If the answer stays no: 336-883-3124 for the Human Relations Division; the Fair
Housing Project of Legal Aid of North Carolina, statewide, on 1-855-797-3247; and
Legal Aid's Greensboro or Winston-Salem office for free civil legal help,
depending on your county.

## What High Point landlords can and cannot do

**Cannot:**
- Cannot refuse to make a reasonable accommodation in a rule, policy, practice or service when it may be necessary for a tenant's equal use and enjoyment of the dwelling: N.C. Gen. Stat. § 41A-4(f)(2).
- Cannot rely on a no-pets clause to refuse an approved assistance animal, because a no-pets clause is a rule and setting a rule aside is what an accommodation is.
- Cannot charge the nonrefundable pet fee that § 42-53 permits for pets, or pet rent, or a pet deposit, for an approved assistance animal. An assistance animal is not a pet.
- Cannot apply a breed list, a weight ceiling or a per-animal limit to an approved assistance animal, since those are rules the accommodation carves into.
- Cannot demand that an emotional support animal be registered, certified, tagged or trained, no North Carolina statute imposes any of those on an ESA.
- Cannot require the North Carolina service animal registration tag issued under § 168-4.3, which is training-gated, free, and optional even for the service animals it covers.
- Cannot escape a violation by arguing about motive: under § 41A-5(a)(3) a refusal to accommodate violates the Act in itself, with no intent to prove and no business necessity defense.
- Cannot coerce, intimidate, threaten or interfere with a tenant for making an accommodation request or helping someone else make one: § 41A-4(e).
- Cannot take a security deposit above two weeks' rent week-to-week, one and one-half months' rent month-to-month, or two months' rent on a longer term: § 42-51(b).
- Cannot withhold any part of a security deposit for normal wear and tear, or keep more than actual damages, § 42-52.
- Cannot keep any part of the deposit at all where the failure to meet the deposit, bond or notice rules was willful, § 42-55.

**Can:**
- May ask for information confirming a disability and the disability-related need for the animal where neither is obvious, because the request is what the accommodation duty is assessed against.
- May refuse where the particular animal is a direct threat to the health or safety of others or would cause substantial physical damage to others' property, § 41A-6(b), judged on that animal's demonstrated conduct, not its breed.
- May hold the tenant liable for any damage the animal actually causes, and may deduct it from the deposit under the § 42-51(a) list.
- May be outside the State Fair Housing Act altogether if the building has four or fewer units and the owner lives in one, or if a room is let in the owner's own house, § 41A-6(a)(1)–(2), though the federal Fair Housing Act draws its exemption differently and may still apply.

## How to get an ESA letter in High Point

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

- [City of High Point Human Relations Division](https://www.highpointnc.gov/1390/Human-Relations) (city agency)
- [High Point Code tit. 4, ch. 3, art. A, Fair Housing Ordinance](https://library.municode.com/nc/high_point/codes/code_of_ordinances) (ordinance)
- [Legal Aid of North Carolina, office directory](https://legalaidnc.org/offices/) (legal aid)
- [Fair Housing Project of Legal Aid of North Carolina](https://www.fairhousingnc.org/) (fair housing)

## Frequently asked questions

### My part of High Point is in Davidson County, not Guilford. Does that change where I go?

Not at city hall. High Point sits in four counties (roughly 111,038 residents in Guilford, 7,083 in Davidson, 470 in Forsyth and 10 in Randolph), but the Fair Housing Ordinance is written for the city, not for a county. Section 4-3-2 gives its purpose as freedom from housing discrimination "for all individuals within the City of High Point," so the Human Relations Division at 211 S Hamilton Street, 336-883-3124, is the same door from any of the four. Free legal help is the piece that does split: Legal Aid of North Carolina's Greensboro office at (336) 272-0148 serves Davidson, Guilford and Randolph among its counties, while the small Forsyth portion of the city is served from Winston-Salem at (336) 725-9162.

### Does High Point's own ordinance protect an emotional support animal?

It carries the duty that an ESA request runs on. High Point Code § 4-3-9 lists as discrimination "[a] refusal to make reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, practices, or services, when such accommodations may be necessary to afford such person equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling." Section 4-3-2 names the classes it protects, including "handicap or disability." That local clause does the same work as § 41A-4(f)(2) of the General Statutes at state level, and as 24 C.F.R. § 100.204 federally. None of the three says a word about animals, because all three regulate rules, and a no-pets clause is a rule.

### How long do I have to complain in High Point, and how long to sue?

One year, then two. Section 4-3-15(a) of the city code lets an aggrieved person file with the director "no later than one (1) year after an alleged discriminatory housing practice occurred or was terminated," and lets an authorized representative, "including an organization," help prepare it. A private court action gets two years under § 4-3-27(a), and § 4-3-27(b) pauses that two-year clock while an administrative proceeding is pending, so using the city process does not burn your court time. One caution from § 4-3-27(c): if the director obtains a conciliation agreement with your consent, you may not later sue over the same practice except to enforce that agreement.

### Is High Point a HUD-certified fair housing agency?

No, and its own ordinance is candid about that. Section 4-3-14(b) says the city "may apply for" recognition by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as having adopted an ordinance substantially equivalent to federal law. That is an intention, not a certification, and nobody should tell you otherwise. It does not make the ordinance ornamental, though. The divestiture rule in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 41A-7(c) asks a different question: whether a unit of government holds "legal authority equivalent to or greater than" Chapter 41A's. That is a state-law test, and it never mentions HUD certification. Which office ends up holding a High Point complaint is a question to settle by phone at 336-883-3124, not by assumption.

### The city's Fair Housing Information page lists only HUD and the state. Is the local route real?

Both things are on the city's own website, and we are not going to pretend they line up. Under "Where to File A Fair Housing Complaint?" the Fair Housing Information page names HUD and the North Carolina Human Relations Commission and does not mention High Point's own office. The Human Relations Division page says the Division "receives citizen complaints of discrimination in the areas of Fair Housing and public accommodations," and the ordinance makes the director the person a complaint is filed with. What follows for you is practical: the local route exists in the code, HUD and the state Commission both remain open, and one call to 336-883-3124 confirms whether the Division is taking intake before you rely on it alone.

### Should I bring my complaint to the High Point Human Relations Commission?

Ask for the Division instead. The city has both a Human Relations Commission and a Human Relations Division, and the code splits their work. Section 2-3-10 says the commission "may address fair housing matters… however the commission shall not function in those areas in which the city council has expressly legislated", and the council expressly legislated Article A when it re-enacted the Fair Housing Ordinance. Section 4-3-4 defines "Director" as "the director of the city's department overseeing the human relations division," and § 4-3-15(a) makes the director the person who receives a complaint. The Division's office is at 211 S Hamilton Street, second floor, Suite 205, open 9am to 4pm.

### My High Point building charges a pet fee and pet rent. Can it charge them for my ESA?

Not after the accommodation is approved. The charges themselves are lawful in this state (§ 42-53 allows "a reasonable, nonrefundable fee for pets," and pet rent is capped by nothing at all), which is exactly why the answer here comes from the accommodation and not from a price ceiling. Those charges are written for pets, and an animal you keep because of a disability is not kept as a pet. The breed and weight rules that often ride along with them are policies, and § 4-3-9 of the city code requires an exception to a policy where one is needed for equal use and enjoyment of a home. You still owe for any damage the animal actually causes, and the landlord may deduct it from the security deposit, which § 42-51(b) limits to two months' rent where the lease term runs longer than month to month.

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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=north-carolina-emotional-support-animal%2Fhigh-point