# ESA Letter in Woodburn, OR: Say It in Writing, in Any Language

> Oregon's accommodation statute sets no form and no language requirement. Its enforcement route needs a record, which is a different problem entirely.

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

## Key facts

- Population: 30,449
- Households renting: 35.8%
- Typical pet deposit (as a pet): Barred as accommodation
- Typical pet rent (as a pet): $25-$50/mo for pets
- Breed/weight limits common: sometimes
- Pet fees, deposits, and breed limits with a valid ESA letter: none (FHA reasonable accommodation)

## A city where the tenancy is a conversation

Woodburn rents 3,450 of its 9,640 occupied homes, 35.8 percent on the 2020–2024
American Community Survey five-year estimate, just under Oregon's 36.7 percent.
Median gross rent is $1,489, close to the $1,525 statewide figure and high against
local incomes. The 2024 Census estimate puts the city at 30,449, nineteenth in
Oregon.

Woodburn sits on I-5 in Marion County between Salem and Portland, and it is the
most heavily Latino city in the state. Its economy runs on agriculture, nursery
stock and food processing. More than half its residents speak Spanish at home.

Its rental market has a shape that follows from all of that. A large share of
units are let by individual owners rather than companies. Seasonal and shared
occupancy is common. And a great deal of the tenancy is conducted verbally (the
viewing, the terms, the rent increase, the complaint about the dog), while
whatever paper exists is in English.

That gap is where accommodation requests go to die, and it is not because Oregon
law is unhelpful.

## The statute asks nothing about how you ask

ORS 659A.145(2)(g) makes it unlawful to discriminate because of a disability by
refusing "to make reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, practices or
services when the accommodations may be necessary to afford the individual with a
disability equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling."

Read it for what is absent. There is no form. There is no required wording. There
is no language requirement. There is nothing about English, nothing about a
landlord's own paperwork, and nothing about how the request must be delivered.

A request made in Spanish, at the door, is a request. A landlord who understood it
and refused it has refused an accommodation.

Nor does a signature close the door. ORS 659A.145(11) provides that "any violation
of this section is an unlawful practice," which is not something a lease term
waives, and an accommodation request can be made at any point in a tenancy, not
only at signing. A no-pets clause in an English lease you signed quickly is a
**rule**, and subsection (2)(g) is precisely about accommodations to rules.

One more piece of scope worth knowing in a city with shared and multi-family
occupancy: subsection (2) protects a disability of "an individual residing in or
intending to reside in a dwelling" as well as of the person renting it, and ORS
659A.421(1)(b) defines the protected person to include "an occupant, prospective
occupant, renter, prospective renter, lessee." Whose name is on the lease is not
the whole question.

## The problem is not the statute. It is the record.

Where the difficulty actually appears is at the other end, if the request is
refused.

ORS 659A.820(2) requires a verified written complaint to the Commissioner of the
Bureau of Labor and Industries, signed by you, stating "the name and address of the
person alleged to have committed the unlawful practice" and setting forth "the
acts or omissions alleged to be an unlawful practice," filed "no later than one
year after the alleged unlawful practice."

Setting forth the acts is easy when the refusal came by email. It is hard when the
refusal was a sentence in a driveway that both people remember differently, ten
months ago.

So the single most valuable habit in a Woodburn tenancy is this: **after any
conversation that matters, send a short message repeating what was said.**

- *Yesterday I asked you about my assistance animal and you said no. I am writing
  to confirm that.*
- *You said the deposit would go up by $400 because of the animal.*
- *Confirming that you agreed the animal can stay.*

Write it in whatever language the conversation happened in. Oregon does not care
which language it is in, and neither does the evidence. What it does is convert a
conversation into an act with a date, a sender and a recipient, and it works
whether the landlord replies, denies it, or says nothing at all.

## The rules about money, which help here

Two provisions matter a great deal in a market where charges are agreed verbally
and appear later.

ORS 90.302(1) requires that "**a fee must be described in a written rental
agreement**," and permits only the fees the section lists. A charge that was
mentioned once and never written down fails that requirement before anybody has to
argue about your animal.

ORS 90.300(4) removes the pet deposit outright: a landlord "may not charge a tenant
a pet security deposit for keeping a service animal or companion animal that a
tenant with a disability requires as a reasonable accommodation under fair housing
laws." An ordinary security deposit remains lawful provided it is not larger
because of the animal, and ORS 90.300(3) requires a written rental agreement to
list it.

And the point every Oregon city needs restated: **training is not the housing
test.** ORS 659A.143(1)(a)'s trained-animal definition opens with "As used in this
section," and that section covers shops, restaurants and government offices.
Housing is ORS 659A.145, and it defines no animal at all.

## Where to get help

Filing under ORS 659A.820(2) does not require a lawyer. It requires a written,
verified complaint naming the person and setting out what happened, within a year.

The Fair Housing Council of Oregon takes intake statewide. Legal Aid Services of
Oregon handles housing matters. Mid-Willamette Valley Community Action serves
Marion County including Woodburn. None of them needs you to have characterised the
problem legally before you get in touch. A dated account of what was said is
worth more than a citation.

## And the fact underneath it all

Beneath all of it sits a fact that no written record creates. Oregon's
provisions protect an individual with a disability for whom an accommodation may
be necessary, and an animal the tenant requires. There is no roster of approved
professions, no state registry and no form. The assessment is what makes the
sentence true.

Ask your own clinician if you have one. Someone who has treated you can speak to a
disability-related need with real authority, and it costs nothing beyond the
appointment. Marion County's frictions are sharper here than in Salem: outpatient
waits run to months, agricultural work schedules make daytime appointments
genuinely difficult, bilingual clinicians are in short supply, and some practices
decline housing documentation as policy.

Where that is not possible, a licensed evaluation does the same work on purpose.
A clinician licensed in Oregon considers whether there is a disability and
whether the animal accommodates it, and either writes that down or tells you
they will not. A guaranteed answer means the question was never asked.

The two halves of this page fit together. A determination is the fact that makes
the request true. Writing things down is what makes it provable. In a city where
almost everything about a tenancy is spoken, having both is what turns a
conversation into a right.

## What Woodburn landlords can and cannot do

**Cannot:**
- May not refuse to make a reasonable accommodation in rules, policies, practices or services where it is necessary to give a disabled tenant equal opportunity to use and enjoy the dwelling: ORS 659A.145(2)(g). A no-pets policy is a rule, and the accommodation is an exception to it.
- May not charge a pet security deposit for a service animal or companion animal the tenant requires as a reasonable accommodation, ORS 90.300(4), which names the companion animal in the statute itself.
- May not charge any fee at the beginning of the tenancy for an anticipated expense, and may charge only the fees ORS 90.302 lists, each described in a written rental agreement.
- May not make a distinction or restriction against a renter in the price, terms, conditions or privileges of the tenancy because of disability: ORS 659A.145(2)(c).

**Can:**
- May still charge a noncompliance fee for failure to clean up a service or companion animal's waste from common areas, but only after a written warning notice, only for a second or later occurrence within a year, and capped at $50 under ORS 90.302(3).
- May still hold the tenant liable for damage the animal actually does, and may still take an ordinary security deposit, provided it is not larger because of the animal.
- Faces a disparate-impact claim under ORS 659A.425 where a facially neutral policy hits disabled tenants harder than tenants generally, weighed against the policy's business purpose and any less discriminatory alternative.

## How to get an ESA letter in Woodburn

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

- [Mid-Willamette Valley Community Action](https://www.mwvcaa.org/) (community action agency)
- [Fair Housing Council of Oregon](https://www.fhco.org/) (fair housing nonprofit)
- [Legal Aid Services of Oregon](https://lasoregon.org/) (legal aid)
- [Oregon Housing and Community Services, Renter Resources](https://www.oregon.gov/ohcs/housing-assistance/Pages/renter-resources.aspx) (state agency)

## Frequently asked questions

### Does my accommodation request have to be in English?

Nothing in ORS 659A.145 requires a request to be made in any particular language, in any particular form, or on any particular document. The subsection asks whether an accommodation "may be necessary to afford the individual with a disability equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling". It says nothing about how the asking is done. What matters practically is that the request is understood and that it is recorded.

### My whole tenancy is verbal. Does that leave me unprotected?

Not unprotected, but harder to protect. ORS 659A.145 applies to the tenancy however it was formed. The difficulty is at the enforcement end: ORS 659A.820(2) requires a complaint that sets forth "the acts or omissions alleged to be an unlawful practice," and a conversation nobody wrote down is the hardest kind of act to set out. Sending a short message afterwards confirming what was said is the fix, and it can be in whatever language the conversation happened in.

### The lease is in English and I signed it without reading it closely.

A signature does not waive ORS 659A.145. Subsection (11) provides that "any violation of this section is an unlawful practice," and an accommodation request can be made at any point in a tenancy, not only at signing. A no-pets clause you agreed to is a rule, and subsection (2)(g) is specifically about accommodations to rules.

### Several families share the house. Does that affect the request?

The statute protects "a disability of an individual residing in or intending to reside in a dwelling" as well as the person renting it, so an accommodation can be necessary for someone in the household rather than the named tenant. ORS 659A.421(1)(b), which supplies the definition, includes "an occupant, prospective occupant, renter, prospective renter, lessee" and others. Who signed the lease is not the whole question.

### Can a Woodburn landlord charge a pet deposit for my assistance animal?

No. ORS 90.300(4) provides that a landlord "may not charge a tenant a pet security deposit for keeping a service animal or companion animal that a tenant with a disability requires as a reasonable accommodation under fair housing laws." ORS 90.302(1) also requires that any fee "must be described in a written rental agreement," which is a useful rule where charges are agreed verbally and appear later.

### Does my animal need training to qualify in Woodburn?

No. The training requirement you may have read about belongs to Oregon's public-accommodation section, ORS 659A.143. Housing is ORS 659A.145, a provision that never mentions an animal and never asks whether one has been trained.

### Where can I get help in a language other than English?

The Fair Housing Council of Oregon takes intake statewide, Legal Aid Services of Oregon handles housing matters, and Mid-Willamette Valley Community Action serves Marion County including Woodburn. Filing under ORS 659A.820(2) does not require a lawyer. It requires a verified written complaint naming the person and setting out the acts, filed within one year of the practice.

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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=oregon-emotional-support-animal%2Fwoodburn