# ESA Letter in Akron, OH: Two Forums, One Set of Money Rules

> Akron runs its own Civil Rights Commission, so a Summit County tenant has two places to complain. What that adds, and what state law says it can never add.

- Source: https://supportanimal.com/blog/ohio-emotional-support-animal/akron/
- Publisher: Support Animal (supportanimal.com)
- Updated: 2026-08-09
- License note: informational content; not legal or medical advice.

## Key facts

- Population: 189,664
- Households renting: 49.3%
- 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)

## Akron gives you somewhere else to go

Most Ohio tenants have exactly one administrative option: the state. Akron
tenants have two.

The Akron Civil Rights Commission investigates complaints of unlawful
discrimination under Title 3, Chapter 38 of the city's code, and housing is
named in its remit: home sales, leases, rentals and financial transactions.
That sits alongside the Ohio Civil Rights Commission, which takes housing
charges from anywhere in the state and runs its Akron Regional office on South
Broadway for Summit, Stark and Mahoning County intake.

Two forums is a real advantage. It is also the thing most likely to be
misunderstood, so it is worth being precise about what the second one is for.

## What a city ordinance is allowed to change

Ohio settled this in one sentence. R.C. 5321.19 tells the state's political
subdivisions that they may not adopt, keep or enforce a charter provision,
ordinance, resolution or rule which either clashes with Chapter 5321 or sets
the terms of the bargain between landlord and tenant that the chapter already
governs. Rent control is named as an example of what is barred. Housing,
building, health and safety codes are carved out; landlord-tenant economics
are not.

Anti-discrimination law is a different body of law, which is why Akron's
ordinance is lawful and why several Ohio cities run bodies like it.

So the split is clean. A city can create a place to complain, a process, an
investigator, sometimes a hearing. A city cannot give you a better rule about
money. If someone tells you an Akron ordinance caps your pet rent or your
deposit, they are describing something Ohio law does not permit a city to do.

## Where the money rules do come from

The state, and the state declines to set most of them. Ohio caps no security
deposit, and pet fees and pet rent are unregulated outright.

What R.C. 5321.16 does regulate is the back end. Whatever a deposit exceeds
fifty dollars or a month's rent by, whichever of those is larger, accrues five
per cent annually once the tenancy has run six months. At the end, from the
day possession goes back, the landlord has thirty days to hand over an
itemised written statement of deductions together with the balance. One
condition catches people out: without a written forwarding address from you,
damages and attorney fees are unavailable no matter how the deposit was
handled. Send the address in writing when you move.

## Which is why the accommodation, not the ordinance, removes the charge

Since neither Akron nor the General Assembly caps an animal charge, the only
thing that takes one off is the accommodation itself.

R.C. 4112.02(H)(19) treats the refusal itself as the unlawful act: an
accommodation in rules, policies, practices, or services, refused although it
was needed before a disabled tenant could use and enjoy the unit and its
shared spaces on the same footing as everyone else. The Commission's own
regulation then settles the money side outright. Ohio Admin. Code 4112-5-07(C)
lets an animal assistant stay on the rented premises, forbids requiring any
extra charge for it, and still sends the bill for damage to the tenant.

Read together, those two provisions do not discount the pet programme. They
take you out of it. An approved animal is not a cheap pet; it is not a pet
transaction at all.

## The organisation that investigates without being a government

Fair Housing Contact Service works in what it describes as the Akron
metropolitan area. It names disability among the bases it covers, it
investigates claims of housing discrimination, and it helps people file
discrimination complaints.

That last function is the useful one if you are unsure which forum to use. An
organisation that regularly prepares complaints knows how a refusal needs to
be described, and a well-drafted complaint survives being passed between
offices better than a note written in frustration.

It publishes no county list, only that regional description, so do not assume
it covers a particular township because the township feels close to Akron. Ask
first. The same caution applies in reverse: being outside its area costs you
nothing at the state level, because the Ohio Civil Rights Commission takes
housing charges from every county regardless of which office processes them.

## Summit County, and the neighbour with the confusing name

Akron has 84,734 occupied homes, 41,805 of them rented: a 49.3% renter share.
That is just under half, and just under the majority-renter line that
Cincinnati, Cleveland and Columbus all cross, though far above Ohio's 32.8%
statewide figure on the 2020-2024 American Community Survey five-year
estimate. The city's 189,664 residents are all in Summit County, whose seat it
is.

One local trap is worth naming. Cuyahoga Falls, immediately to the north, is
in Summit County too, despite the name. A Cuyahoga Falls tenant searching for
a county office in Cuyahoga County is in the wrong place, and the venue for a
civil action there is the same Summit County Court of Common Pleas an Akron
tenant would use. Akron's own city commission, though, is Akron's: a city body
enforces a city ordinance within city limits.

## The sentence that stops one subdivision short

Whichever forum you use, one argument travels with you, and it is worth
knowing before it is made.

A landlord will sometimes answer that Ohio law does not require a higher
degree of care for a person with a disability. That language is real. It is
R.C. 4112.024(F), and it opens by naming its own scope: nothing in divisions
(H)(1) to (18) of R.C. 4112.02. Count forward. The accommodation duty is
(H)(19). The limitation ends immediately before the provision being relied on.

The Commission's regulation mirrors that structure at 4112-5-07(D), reciting
the same limit and then adding, in a sentence of its own, that reasonable
accommodations in rules, policies, practices, or services shall also be made.

## Free civil legal help in Summit County

Community Legal Aid Services covers eight north-east Ohio counties, Summit
among them, and provides free civil legal assistance to people who qualify. It
does not publish an itemised practice list naming housing discrimination, so
ask when you contact them whether your matter is one they handle rather than
assuming it.

Between the three, the division of labour is roughly this: Fair Housing
Contact Service for investigation and help filing, Community Legal Aid for
free civil legal help if you are eligible, and the Akron or Ohio Civil Rights
Commission for the complaint itself.

## Three clocks, and only two of them written down

The Ohio Civil Rights Commission gives one year from the discriminatory
practice for a written, sworn charge under R.C. 4112.05(B)(1) (double the six
months the same statute allows most other non-employment complaints), and then
works to a hundred-day target for finishing the preliminary housing
investigation. R.C. 4112.055(A)(1) offers the same twelve months for a suit in
the Summit County Court of Common Pleas, where either party may put the case
to a jury.

The Akron Civil Rights Commission publishes no filing deadline. Do not read
that as unlimited time. Some Ohio cities run windows far shorter than the
state's, and the safe approach is to treat the local route as something to use
early rather than something held in reserve.

Nothing in either forum runs on paperwork you can buy. Ohio maintains no
register of assistance animals, and a certificate, ID card or online listing
means nothing to an Akron investigator, to the state Commission, or to a judge
in Summit County. What does the work is a recent, individual assessment by a
licensed professional who knows your condition and is prepared to state why
this animal is part of managing it. Put the request in writing before the
animal moves in, and hold on to every reply.

## What Akron landlords can and cannot do

**Cannot:**
- Cannot refuse to make reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, practices, or services when necessary to afford a person with a disability equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling unit, including associated public and common use areas, under R.C. 4112.02(H)(19)
- Cannot require a tenant with a disability to pay any extra charge for an animal assistant kept on leased premises, under Ohio Admin. Code 4112-5-07(C)
- Cannot rely on the no-higher-degree-of-care limit in R.C. 4112.024(F) against an accommodation request, because that limit reaches only divisions (H)(1) to (18) and the accommodation duty is (H)(19)
- Cannot ask whether an applicant, a prospective occupant or an associated individual has a disability, or ask about its nature or severity, outside the five inquiries listed at R.C. 4112.02(H)(17) and only where those are put to every applicant
- Cannot claim a small-landlord or owner-occupied exemption, because R.C. 4112.024 grants none that reaches disability
- Cannot condition permission for a reasonable modification on a security deposit larger than the one customarily required of all tenants, under R.C. 4112.02(H)(18)(b)
- Cannot segregate the placement of a tenant with a disability in a particular unit, floor, building or complex without that tenant's request or consent, under Ohio Admin. Code 4112-5-07(A)(1)(d)
- Cannot discriminate because of the disability of a household member or of an individual associated with them, rather than of the person signing the lease, under R.C. 4112.02(H)(15) and (16)
- Cannot keep any part of a deposit without an itemised written notice and the amount due within thirty days of termination and delivery of possession, under R.C. 5321.16(B)
- Cannot coerce, intimidate, threaten or interfere with a tenant exercising a right granted by division (H), under R.C. 4112.02(H)(12), or retaliate against someone who opposed a discriminatory practice or filed a charge, under R.C. 4112.02(I)

**Can:**
- May decline where the specific tenancy would be a direct threat to the health or safety of others or would cause substantial physical damage to the property of others, under R.C. 4112.024(D), but bears the burden under Ohio Admin. Code 4112-5-07(E), and speculative evidence will not suffice under 4112-5-07(F)
- May ask for information establishing the disability and the disability-related need for the animal where neither is obvious, that being the enquiry the accommodation analysis actually calls for
- May hold the tenant liable for damage the animal actually causes, which Ohio Admin. Code 4112-5-07(C) states in the same sentence that bars the extra charge
- May set the security deposit at any amount, Ohio imposing no cap, but must pay five per cent annual interest on the excess over fifty dollars or one month's rent, whichever is greater, where the tenant stays six months or more, under R.C. 5321.16(A)

## How to get an ESA letter in Akron

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

- [Ohio Civil Rights Commission](https://civ.ohio.gov/) (state agency)
- [Akron Civil Rights Commission](https://www.akronohio.gov/government/boards_and_commissions/akron_civil_rights_commission.php) (city agency)
- [Fair Housing Contact Service](https://www.fairhousingakron.org/about-us) (fair housing)
- [Community Legal Aid Services](https://www.communitylegalaid.org/locations) (legal aid)

## Frequently asked questions

### Should I file with the Akron Civil Rights Commission or the state?

Both are open to you. The Akron Civil Rights Commission investigates complaints of unlawful discrimination under Title 3, Chapter 38 of the city code, and housing, including leases and rentals, is expressly within its remit. The Ohio Civil Rights Commission takes a sworn charge within one year under R.C. 4112.05(B)(1) and processes Summit County intake through its Akron Regional office. The city route is an extra forum, not a different set of rules, so choosing it does not improve your position on charges or deposits.

### Does the Akron Civil Rights Commission have a filing deadline?

It does not publish one, and silence is not the same as generosity. Some Ohio cities operate windows much shorter than the state's year. The safe course is to work to the state deadlines you can verify. One year to file a sworn charge with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission under R.C. 4112.05(B)(1), and one year to sue in the Summit County Court of Common Pleas under R.C. 4112.055(A)(1), and to approach the city route early rather than holding it in reserve.

### Can an Akron ordinance cap my pet rent or my security deposit?

No Ohio city can. R.C. 5321.19 stops every political subdivision from adopting or enforcing anything that fixes what parties to a rental agreement owe each other under Chapter 5321, rent control expressly among the things barred. Housing, building, health and safety codes are carved out; deposits and animal charges are not. What Akron may lawfully do is run an anti-discrimination body, which is a forum. Anyone telling you a city rule limits your pet fee is describing something outside municipal power.

### So what actually removes the pet fee for my assistance animal?

The accommodation itself. R.C. 4112.02(H)(19) makes the refusal unlawful where the accommodation (in rules, policies, practices, or services) is what a disabled tenant needs before they can use and enjoy the home on equal terms. Ohio Admin. Code 4112-5-07(C) then lets the animal assistant stay on the rented premises, forbids requiring an extra charge for keeping it there, and still leaves damage at the tenant's door. It is not a discount; it is an exit from the pet programme.

### My landlord says Ohio does not require a higher degree of care for disabled tenants.

That sentence exists at R.C. 4112.024(F), and it names the divisions it limits: (H)(1) to (18) of R.C. 4112.02. The reasonable accommodation duty is division (H)(19), one place beyond the limitation's own boundary. The Ohio Civil Rights Commission's regulation is written the same way, Ohio Admin. Code 4112-5-07(D) recites the limit and then adds a separate requirement that reasonable accommodations be made in rules, policies, practices, or services.

### What does Fair Housing Contact Service actually do for me?

It works in what it describes as the Akron metropolitan area, names disability among the bases it covers, and states that it "investigates claims of housing discrimination and assists clients with filing discrimination complaints." That filing help is the practical value when you have two possible forums and are unsure how to describe a refusal. It publishes no county list, so confirm coverage for your address rather than assuming it. It does not replace filing with a commission or bringing a civil action.

### I live in Cuyahoga Falls, not Akron. Which county am I in?

Summit, despite the name, Cuyahoga Falls is not in Cuyahoga County. That matters because a civil action under R.C. 4112.055(A)(1) goes to the court of common pleas for the county where the practice occurred, which is Summit for both cities, and because the Ohio Civil Rights Commission routes Summit County intake through its Akron Regional office. What does not carry across is Akron's city commission: a municipal body enforces a municipal ordinance inside its own city limits.

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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=ohio-emotional-support-animal%2Fakron