# ESA Letter in New Town, ND: What the Carve-Out Won't Buy

> NDCC 47-16-07.1(2) keeps the pet deposit off an assistance animal in New Town. Subsection 3(a) still lets a landlord charge for real damage.

- Source: https://supportanimal.com/blog/north-dakota-emotional-support-animal/new-town/
- Publisher: Support Animal (supportanimal.com)
- Updated: 2026-09-05
- License note: informational content; not legal or medical advice.

## Key facts

- Population: 2,735
- Households renting: 67.7%
- Typical pet deposit (as a pet): None for a documented ESA
- Typical pet rent (as a pet): No ND cap on monthly charge
- Breed/weight limits common: sometimes
- Pet fees, deposits, and breed limits with a valid ESA letter: none (FHA reasonable accommodation)

## Two thirds of a town, renting

New Town is one of the most renter-heavy places in North Dakota, and the
figure is solid enough to say out loud. Of its 980 occupied homes, **663 are
rented**: 67.7 percent on the 2020–2024 American Community Survey five-year
estimate, second only to Watford City's 70.7 percent among the state's
twenty largest cities, and nearly twice the 37.1 percent statewide share.
The 2024 Census estimate puts the Mountrail County city at 2,735 people,
eighteenth of the twenty. Median gross rent is $851, a bit over a hundred
dollars under the $954 North Dakota median.

Where two thirds of households rent, deposit rules stop being abstract. And
North Dakota's deposit rule for assistance animals is unusually generous,
which is exactly why the part it does not cover deserves a page of its own.

## What subsection 2 takes away

**NDCC 47-16-07.1(2)** is short and it does its work by description rather than by argument:

> "A lessor may charge a lessee a pet security deposit for keeping an animal **that is not a
> service animal or companion animal required by a tenant with a disability as a reasonable
> accommodation under fair housing laws**. A pet security deposit may not exceed the greater of
> two thousand five hundred dollars or an amount equivalent to two months' rent."

Read what the permission is limited to. A lessor may charge the pet security
deposit for an animal of a particular kind. One that is *not* an
accommodation animal. An assistance animal supported by documentation under
NDCC 47-16-07.5 is the animal the sentence carves out, so the permission
never reaches it.

At New Town's median that is real money. Two months' rent is about $1,702,
so the statutory ceiling for a pet deposit here would be the greater figure,
$2,500. Subsection 2 means a tenant with an accommodation animal is not
asked for any of it at move-in.

## What subsection 3 leaves exactly where it was

Now the sentence people skip. Three subsections down, the same statute lists
what a lessor may take out of a security deposit when the lease ends:

> "3. A lessor may apply security deposit money and accrued interest upon termination of a lease
> towards: a. **Any damages the lessor has suffered by reason of deteriorations or injuries to the
> real property or dwelling by the lessee's pet or through the negligence of the lessee** or the
> lessee's guest. b. Any unpaid rent. c. The costs of cleaning or other repairs which were the
> responsibility of the lessee, and which are necessary to return the dwelling unit to its original
> state when the lessee took possession, **reasonable wear and tear excepted**."

Nothing in that list is switched off by subsection 2. The carve-out removed
a charge collected **in advance**, on the theory that an animal might cause
damage. It did not remove the consequence of damage that actually happens.

So the honest account of a New Town tenancy with an assistance animal looks
like this. You do not pay a pet deposit. You do pay the ordinary security
deposit, capped at one month's rent under 47-16-07.1(1). If the animal ruins
a floor, the cost of the floor can come out of that ordinary deposit, and if
it exceeds the deposit, being an accommodation animal does not make the
balance disappear. No North Dakota provision retrieved for this material
makes a tenant unaccountable for harm an assistance animal actually does.

That is not a weakness in the law. It is the trade that makes the rest of it
defensible: the landlord gives up the pre-emptive charge and keeps the
remedy for the real one.

## The two protections that come with it

The same section gives a tenant something back, and both parts are worth
knowing before a lease ends rather than after.

The first is an accounting. Any part of a deposit not returned "must be **itemized** by the
lessor," and the itemization and the amount due must be delivered or mailed to the last address
the tenant gave, with written notice, **within thirty days after termination of the lease and
delivery of possession**. A lump sum with no breakdown does not meet that.

The second is a consequence. **NDCC 47-16-07.1(4)** makes a lessor "liable for treble damages for
any security deposit money withheld without reasonable justification." Read together, the pair
says: show your work, and be right about it.

One more boundary belongs here for completeness. **NDCC 14-02.5-06(6)** provides that the
accommodation duty "does not require a dwelling to be made available to an individual whose
tenancy would constitute a direct threat to the health or safety of other individuals whose
tenancy would result in substantial physical damage to the property of others." That is about a
specific, evidenced risk from a specific animal, not a general anxiety about pets, and not a
reason to charge a fee in advance.

## Wear and tear is not damage

The statutory phrase is "reasonable wear and tear excepted," and North Dakota does not define the
line any further in the retrieved text. Practically, that puts the burden of characterisation on
the itemization. Carpet at the end of a five-year tenancy wears out whether or not a dog lived on
it; a chewed door frame does not.

Photographs at move-in and move-out are worth more here than any argument
about the statute, because the disagreement that actually happens is factual
rather than legal.

## Why any of this needs the documentation at all

Every sentence above turns on one thing: that the animal is a service animal
or companion animal **required by a tenant with a disability as a reasonable
accommodation**. That is the status subsection 2 keys off, and status is not
self-declared into existence. It comes from what **NDCC 47-16-07.5**
describes, documentation from a physician or medical professional confirming
the tenant's disability and the relationship between that disability and the
need for the accommodation.

Two findings, and neither one is about the animal's behaviour. That is the
piece a lot of readers get backwards: the letter establishes why the animal
is in the home, not that it will never break anything. A landlord's
protection against breakage is subsection 3, and it is intact.

## What has to happen before the file exists

A clinician already treating you is the best starting point, and the
cheapest. Someone with a history with you can address both findings from
what they already know, and nothing else in this process is as strong.

The friction around New Town is worth naming rather than glossing. Mountrail
County has very few independent practices; North Dakota's specialist
mental-health capacity is concentrated in Minot, Bismarck, Fargo and Grand
Forks, and the nearest of those is a drive rather than an errand. Waits run
long. And a clinician who has seen you a couple of times may properly
decline to make a disability finding rather than sign one they cannot
support.

Where that is the situation, a licensed evaluation is the same two findings
sought on purpose: a licensed professional works out whether a disability
exists, works out whether this animal answers it, and writes down what they
concluded, including when the conclusion is no. An outfit that has already
decided the answer is selling paper, and 47-16-07.5's exclusion clause was
written with that trade in mind.

Here is the honest summary a New Town tenant should leave with. Properly
documented, the animal costs you nothing at move-in. It does not cost you
nothing if it destroys something. Those two sentences are both true, and a
page that gives you only the first one is not doing you a favour.

## What New Town landlords can and cannot do

**Cannot:**
- May not refuse a reasonable accommodation in rules, policies, practices or services where the accommodation may be necessary to afford an individual with a disability equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling: NDCC 14-02.5-06(3)(b).
- May not discriminate because of disability in the terms, conditions or privileges of the rental, or in the services and facilities provided with it: NDCC 14-02.5-06(2).
- May not charge a pet security deposit for a service animal or companion animal required by a tenant with a disability as a reasonable accommodation under fair housing laws, NDCC 47-16-07.1(2) excludes that animal by name.
- May not demand or receive security, however denominated, in excess of one month's rent, except for a felony-conviction incentive or where a judgment has been entered for violating a previous rental agreement: NDCC 47-16-07.1(1).
- May not require that the documentation come from a North Dakota clinician. The statute excludes a provider who operates in this state solely to provide certification for service or assistance animals; it does not require an in-state one, NDCC 47-16-07.5.
- May not claim the thousand-dollar damage fee or the eviction right in NDCC 47-16-07.6(2) on suspicion alone. Both arise only if the tenant pleads guilty to or is convicted of the subsection 1 infraction.

**Can:**
- May require reliable supporting documentation where the dwelling is subject to a no-pets policy (but not where the disability or the disability-related need is readily apparent or already known), NDCC 47-16-07.5.
- Must itemize any part of a deposit kept and deliver or mail it within thirty days after termination of the lease and delivery of possession, and is liable for treble damages for money withheld without reasonable justification, NDCC 47-16-07.1(3)–(4).
- May still apply the deposit to damage actually caused by an animal or by the tenant's negligence, NDCC 47-16-07.1(3)(a). The carve-out removes the charge in advance, not the bill for real damage.
- May decline where the tenancy would constitute a direct threat to the health or safety of others or would result in substantial physical damage to the property of others, NDCC 14-02.5-06(6).
- Is outside the state accommodation duty only in the narrow cases NDCC 14-02.5-09 describes: an owner-occupied dwelling of not more than four families, or a single-family house let by an owner of no more than three, without a broker, once in twenty-four months. The federal Fair Housing Act and chapter 47-16 are unaffected by that exemption.

## How to get an ESA letter in New Town

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

- [City of New Town](https://www.citynewtownnd.com/) (city government)
- [Mountrail County](https://www.co.mountrail.nd.us/) (county government)
- [Community Action Partnership Region II (Minot)](https://www.capnd.org/programsandinitiatives/regions/minot/) (community action agency)
- [Fort Berthold Housing Authority (tribal housing authority)](https://www.fbha.org/) (housing authority)
- [MHA Nation (Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation, tribal government)](https://www.mhanation.com/) (tribal government)

## Frequently asked questions

### If the pet deposit does not apply to my animal, am I off the hook for damage?

No. NDCC 47-16-07.1(3)(a) lets a lessor apply security deposit money toward damages suffered by reason of deteriorations or injuries to the dwelling by the lessee's pet or through the negligence of the lessee or the lessee's guest. Subsection 2 removes a charge collected in advance against the possibility of damage. It says nothing about damage that actually happens, and no provision retrieved for this material makes a tenant unaccountable for it.

### What else can a New Town landlord take out of the ordinary security deposit?

Three things, listed in NDCC 47-16-07.1(3): damage of the kind described in paragraph a, any unpaid rent, and the costs of cleaning or other repairs that were the lessee's responsibility and are necessary to return the unit to its original state when the lessee took possession, reasonable wear and tear excepted. The ordinary deposit itself is capped at one month's rent by subsection 1, with two narrow exceptions that allow two months.

### Where is the line between wear and tear and animal damage?

The statute excepts reasonable wear and tear and does not define the boundary any further in the text retrieved for this material. In practice the disagreement is factual rather than legal, which is why dated photographs at move-in and move-out are worth more than any reading of the section. The itemization the lessor must produce is where the characterisation has to be defended.

### How do I find out what I am being charged for at the end of a lease?

By statute. Application of any part of a security deposit not returned must be itemized, and the itemization together with the amount due must be delivered or mailed to the lessee at the last address furnished to the lessor, with written notice, within thirty days after termination of the lease and delivery of possession. A single unexplained figure does not meet that requirement.

### What happens if the landlord keeps the deposit without a good reason?

NDCC 47-16-07.1(4) makes a lessor liable for treble damages for any security deposit money withheld without reasonable justification. That is a real remedy and it is why the thirty-day itemization matters so much: a lessor who cannot explain a deduction is exposed on it. Note also that subsection 6 applies the section to the state and to political subdivisions that lease dwellings and take deposits.

### Can damage caused by my animal put the accommodation itself at risk?

That is a different question from the deposit, and it is governed by NDCC 14-02.5-06(6), which provides that the section does not require a dwelling to be made available to an individual whose tenancy would constitute a direct threat to the health or safety of other individuals whose tenancy would result in substantial physical damage to the property of others. That turns on evidenced risk from a particular animal, not on a general policy about pets or a single repair bill.

### New Town has one of the highest renter shares in North Dakota. Does the law differ here?

The law is statewide, but the exposure is not. 663 of the city's 980 occupied homes are rented on the 2020-2024 ACS five-year estimate, 67.7 percent, second only to Watford City among the twenty largest cities and nearly double the 37.1 percent state figure. Where two thirds of households rent, a deposit rule that most states leave to argument, and that North Dakota wrote down, reaches a much larger share of the town.

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