# ESA Letter in Aberdeen, SD: Read the First Six Words

> SDCL 43-32-33 names the emotional support animal — but only for three sections. Where that definition stops is the argument Aberdeen tenants lose most often.

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

## Key facts

- Population: 27,919
- Households renting: 38.3%
- Typical pet deposit (as a pet): Barred as accommodation
- Typical pet rent (as a pet): $20-$40/mo for pets
- Breed/weight limits common: yes
- Pet fees, deposits, and breed limits with a valid ESA letter: none (FHA reasonable accommodation)

## The lowest rents of the state's twenty largest cities

Aberdeen has 4,781 renting households out of 12,469 occupied homes, a 38.3
percent renter share on the 2020–2024 American Community Survey five-year
estimate. That is eighth of South Dakota's twenty largest municipalities and
nearly seven points above the 31.4 percent statewide figure.

Median gross rent is **$762**, the lowest of those twenty. It is about
nineteen percent below the $946 state median and barely half what Box Elder
charges. The 2024 Census estimate puts Aberdeen at 27,919, third in the
state.

Cheap rent does not mean easy tenancies, and it does not change the law.
What it changes is the arithmetic of every number below.

## The sentence Aberdeen tenants over-read

SDCL 43-32-33 is genuinely remarkable. Almost no state legislature names the
emotional support animal in a statute at all, and the ones that do (Montana,
in 2019), usually do it to exclude the animal. South Dakota did the opposite
in 2018:

> "**For the purposes of §§ 43-32-34 to 43-32-36, inclusive,** the term, service animal,
> refers to any animal that serves a role for an individual with a disability **as an
> emotional support animal**, any therapy animal, or any assistance animal, and the term,
> disability, is a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more
> major life activities of a person."

Tenants quote the middle of that sentence and drop the opening. It is an
easy thing to do (the good part is in the middle), and it is the mistake
that loses Aberdeen requests.

Those first six words are a limiter, and they are doing exactly what they
look like they are doing. The definition governs sections 43-32-34, 43-32-35
and 43-32-36 and nothing else in the South Dakota code.

## What is inside the fence, and what is outside

**Inside**, the three sections the definition serves (all of them about rental paperwork:

- **43-32-34**), when a landlord may require reliable supporting documentation, and when
  they may not because the need is readily apparent or already known.
- **43-32-35**, what the documentation must confirm, and what kind of provider it must
  come from.
- **43-32-36**, eviction and a damage fee of up to a thousand dollars for a knowingly
  false claim or knowingly fraudulent documentation.

Within that field, an emotional support animal counts as a "service animal" and there is
nothing to argue about.

**Outside** it, the phrase means whatever the other statute means by it. The place this
bites is SDCL 20-13-23.4, the housing section a tenant reaches for next:

> "No landlord may prohibit by lease or otherwise the keeping of a service animal by a
> person who is **totally or partially physically disabled, totally or partially blind,
> or totally or partially deaf** in an apartment or other rented or leased residential
> property."

Two independent problems. First, 43-32-33's definition does not reach into chapter 20-13
at all. Second — and this one is decisive regardless — the list of covered people has no
psychiatric or mental disability in it. In 2020 the legislature amended the parallel
*public accommodations* provision, SDCL 20-13-23.2, to add "or has a psychiatric
disability or mental disability," and left 20-13-23.4 untouched. It has stood unamended
since 1995.

So a tenant arriving at an Aberdeen landlord's office holding 43-32-33 and
20-13-23.4 stapled together has an argument that fails twice over, and a
landlord who has taken advice will say so.

## Where the right does come from

Sections 43-32-34 to 43-32-36 regulate proof, not entitlement. 43-32-34 says as much on
its own face: it applies where a tenant asserts a disability requiring an animal
**"under any provision of law."** A section that points outward for the right is not the
source of it.

The source is **42 U.S.C. § 3604(f)(3)(B)**, the federal Fair Housing Act's
reasonable-accommodation duty, which applies to Aberdeen rentals on its own terms; and
SDCL 20-13-23.7, which requires that "good faith efforts shall be made to reasonably
accommodate the disabled person" in housing "unless the accommodation would impose undue
hardship."

That is a thinner state provision than 20-13-23.4 looked like it was going
to be. It is also the one that actually applies to you, and SDCL 20-13-35.1
puts punitive damages behind it.

## Used properly, 43-32-33 is a good section

None of the above makes it a dead letter. Inside its field it does real work, because it
settles a question that most states leave open: whether documentation about an emotional
support animal is documentation about a "service animal" at all for the purposes of the
rules a landlord may invoke.

In South Dakota it plainly is. An Aberdeen landlord cannot say "these documentation
rules are about service animals and yours is not one", 43-32-33 forecloses that. What
they can say is that 43-32-35 sets the bar: the paperwork has to establish the disability,
has to establish why that disability creates the need for this animal, and has to come from a
licensed health care provider whose South Dakota activity is not confined to issuing animal
certificates.

## The money, at Aberdeen prices

SDCL 43-32-6.1 caps a residential deposit at one month's rent "however denominated," so
at $762 median rent the ceiling in Aberdeen is lower in dollars than anywhere else in the
state's twenty largest cities. The clause "however denominated" is what stops a pet
charge being added on top of a full deposit under a different name.

Where the animal is a genuine accommodation the charge should not appear at all — not
because South Dakota bans it, but because SDCL 20-13-20(2) makes disability
discrimination in "the terms, conditions, or privileges" of a rental an unfair or
discriminatory practice.

Damage stays with the tenant. SDCL 43-32-24 lets a lessor keep back the
reasonable cost of putting the unit back as it was when the tenancy began,
ordinary wear and tear aside, and gives them twenty-one days to return the
balance or set out reasons in writing, failing which they may withhold
nothing at all.

## If Aberdeen says no

SDCL 20-13-31 allows 180 days from the practice, with no discovery language,
filed with the Division of Human Rights in the Department of Labor and
Regulation.

## What a landlord's adviser will do with 43-32-33

Worth anticipating, because it takes ten seconds.

They will read the section aloud from the first word. The opening clause
names the three sections it serves, and everything after it is qualified by
that clause. If the argument on your side is that the definition applies
generally, it ends there.

What does not end there is the definition's actual work. Inside sections
43-32-34 to 43-32-36 it settles that documentation about an emotional
support animal is documentation about a "service animal" for those purposes,
which forecloses an argument a landlord in most states could still make.
Used inside its field it is a strong provision. Used outside it, it is a
correction waiting to happen.

## Getting the determination

A therapist, counsellor or prescriber you already see is the cheapest route
and meets the source requirement without a conversation about it. In
northeastern South Dakota that route is thinner than the population would
suggest: Aberdeen serves as the clinical centre for a large rural catchment,
new-patient waits run into months, and several practices decline to write
housing documentation as a matter of standing policy.

Where it is not open, a licensed evaluation is that same examination
performed deliberately, someone licensed deciding whether a disability
exists and whether this animal answers it, then setting the conclusion down
or saying they cannot. Both outcomes are real ones.

The thing worth carrying out of Aberdeen's particular argument is this.
South Dakota gave you a definition that names your animal, and it gave it to
you for three sections about documents. What those sections then ask for is
a real assessment by a real clinician. The state that wrote you into the
statute wrote the standard in the same breath.

## What Aberdeen landlords can and cannot do

**Cannot:**
- May not require documentation at all where the disability or the disability-related need is readily apparent or already known to them, SDCL 43-32-34, second sentence.
- May not discriminate because of disability in the terms, conditions or privileges of the rental, SDCL 20-13-20(2). A pet deposit or monthly pet charge on a required accommodation is caught here.
- May not take a security deposit above one month's rent "however denominated", SDCL 43-32-6.1, so a pet fee cannot be stacked on top of a full deposit by renaming it.

**Can:**
- May require reliable supporting documentation where a tenant asserts a disability requiring an assistance animal, SDCL 43-32-34. This is an express statutory right and arguing that a South Dakota landlord may not ask is simply wrong.
- May insist the documentation confirm both the disability and the relationship between the disability and the need for the animal, and that it come from a licensed health care provider who does not operate in South Dakota solely to certify animals, SDCL 43-32-35.
- Must make good faith efforts to reasonably accommodate a person with a disability in housing, unless the accommodation would impose undue hardship, SDCL 20-13-23.7, with punitive damages available under SDCL 20-13-35.1.
- Must return the deposit or give written reasons within twenty-one days of termination, and forfeits all right to withhold anything by failing to, SDCL 43-32-24.
- May evict and claim a damage fee of up to one thousand dollars where a tenant knowingly makes a false claim of disability or knowingly supplies fraudulent documentation, SDCL 43-32-36.
- Is not required by the chapter to modify the property, incur additional expenses or exercise a higher degree of care, SDCL 20-13-21.1. Waiving a no-pets rule asks for none of those things.

## How to get an ESA letter in Aberdeen

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

- [Aberdeen Housing Authority](https://aberdeenhousing.com/) (local housing authority)
- [City of Aberdeen](https://www.aberdeen.sd.us/) (city government)
- [GROW South Dakota](https://www.growsd.org/) (housing nonprofit)
- [SD Division of Human Rights](https://dlr.sd.gov/human_rights/default.aspx) (state civil rights agency)

## Frequently asked questions

### Does South Dakota classify my emotional support animal as a service animal?

For three sections, yes. SDCL 43-32-33 provides that "for the purposes of §§ 43-32-34 to 43-32-36, inclusive, the term, service animal, refers to any animal that serves a role for an individual with a disability as an emotional support animal, any therapy animal, or any assistance animal." Those three sections are the rental documentation rules. Outside them the definition does not apply, and quoting it as a general reclassification is the commonest Aberdeen mistake.

### So which sections does 43-32-33 actually govern?

SDCL 43-32-34, which lets a landlord require reliable supporting documentation and bars the request where the need is readily apparent or already known; SDCL 43-32-35, which sets what that documentation must contain and where it must come from; and SDCL 43-32-36, which deals with knowingly false claims. Three sections, all about paperwork in a rental. That is the field the definition covers.

### Why does SDCL 20-13-23.4 not help me in Aberdeen?

Because 43-32-33's definition does not travel there, and because of who the section covers. SDCL 20-13-23.4 bars a landlord from prohibiting a service animal kept by a person "totally or partially physically disabled, totally or partially blind, or totally or partially deaf." Psychiatric and mental disability are absent from that list. The legislature added those words to the public-accommodations section in 2020 and left this one alone; it has not been amended since 1995.

### Then what gives me the right in the first place?

The federal Fair Housing Act's reasonable-accommodation duty at 42 U.S.C. § 3604(f)(3)(B), and SDCL 20-13-23.7, which requires good faith efforts to reasonably accommodate a disabled person in housing unless the accommodation would impose undue hardship. SDCL 43-32-34 confirms this by its own wording: it applies where a tenant asserts a disability requiring an animal "under any provision of law," which is a section pointing away from itself.

### Aberdeen rents are low. Does that change anything?

Only the arithmetic. At $762, Aberdeen has the lowest median gross rent of South Dakota's twenty largest cities, so the one-month deposit cap in SDCL 43-32-6.1 caps a smaller number here than anywhere else in the state. The legal position is identical: a pet deposit or monthly charge on a required accommodation is caught by SDCL 20-13-20(2) as discrimination in the terms and conditions of the rental.

### How much time do I have to complain?

180 days from the refusal, under SDCL 20-13-31, filed with the Division of Human Rights in the Department of Labor and Regulation. South Dakota's provision contains no discovery language, so the clock starts when the practice occurred rather than when you understood it was unlawful.

### What does the documentation have to come from?

A licensed health care provider "who does not operate in this state solely to provide certification for service or assistance animals," under SDCL 43-32-35, and it must confirm both your disability and the relationship between that disability and the need for the animal. The clause is aimed at the business model, not at where the clinician practises.

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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=south-dakota-emotional-support-animal%2Faberdeen