# ESA Letter in Spokane Valley, WA: House Rentals & Written Approvals

> Spokane Valley rents at 41.8%, much of it detached houses. Why a verbal approval is the weak point, and what a no-pets rule cannot do to an assistance animal.

- Source: https://supportanimal.com/blog/washington-emotional-support-animal/spokane-valley/
- Publisher: Support Animal (supportanimal.com)
- Updated: 2026-08-02
- License note: informational content; not legal or medical advice.

## Key facts

- Population: 108,267
- Households renting: 41.8%
- Typical pet deposit (as a pet): Varies by building
- Typical pet rent (as a pet): Varies by building
- Breed/weight limits common: sometimes
- Pet fees, deposits, and breed limits with a valid ESA letter: none (FHA reasonable accommodation)

## Where the lease is a conversation

Spokane Valley rents at 41.8%: around 17,900 of 42,775 occupied units on the
2020-2024 American Community Survey five-year estimate. That is fractionally
above the city of Spokane at 41.2%, and between them the two cities hold
roughly 58,000 renter households, the largest such concentration east of the
Cascades.

The housing itself is suburban. A substantial part of it is detached houses
and small multiplex buildings let by individual owners, not managed
complexes with policy manuals. Applications are shorter, decisions are
faster, and almost everything of consequence happens verbally.

That informality is the defining feature of an assistance animal request
here, and it cuts both ways.

## The approval nobody wrote down

An owner who says "that's fine, bring the dog" has granted an accommodation.
Nothing in WAC 162-38 requires it to be in writing to be effective.

The difficulty is evidentiary and it arrives later. Properties change hands.
Owners retire and hand the keys to a relative or a management agent. A new
person reads a no-pets line in an old lease and starts a conversation the
tenant thought had finished two years earlier.

WAC 162-38-040 is helpful here, because it defines a landlord broadly enough
to catch whoever turns up: anyone other than the occupant controlling the use
of the property under a claim of right from an ownership interest, expressly
including owners of rental property, trustees, receivers, and agents or
others acting in the interest of such persons. The obligation transfers. What
does not transfer, unless someone wrote it down, is the proof.

An email confirming the conversation, sent the same day, is the cheapest
insurance available in this market.

## A no-pets rule does not decide it

Small landlords often assume that a no-pets clause is theirs to enforce
absolutely because the property is theirs.

WAC 162-38-100(3) says otherwise, in plain terms and without any exception
for the size of the operation: it is an unfair practice for a landlord to
refuse to rent to a person with a disability because that person uses an
assistance animal, and a no-pet policy cannot be applied to that animal.

The pricing follows the same logic. Under WAC 162-38-100(5) an
animal-specific deposit may not be added to whatever cleaning or damage
deposit the tenant is already being asked for. Subsection (4) leaves that
ordinary deposit alone, on the condition that the owner charges it to every
tenant rather than selectively.

## Training is not part of the test

The state does maintain a trained-animal definition: a dog or miniature
horse individually trained to do work or tasks, with comfort and companionship
expressly excluded from what counts as a task.

RCW 49.60.040(25) then disposes of it for present purposes, providing that
the subsection does not apply to RCW 49.60.222 through 49.60.227 with respect
to housing accommodations or real estate transactions. Since those sections
are Washington's fair housing law in full, the training test has no
application to a tenancy at all. The duty that does apply is the
accommodation duty in RCW 49.60.222(2)(b).

## No deposit without a checklist

The single most useful provision in a market of privately owned houses has
nothing to do with animals, and it is routinely overlooked by owners.

RCW 59.18.260 forbids collecting any deposit unless the rental agreement is
in writing and a written checklist or statement, specifically describing the
condition and cleanliness of the premises (walls and wall paint, carpets and
other flooring, furniture, appliances) is signed and dated by the landlord
and the tenant at the start of the tenancy. The tenant must be given a copy,
and may request one free replacement.

Skip the checklist and the owner owes the tenant a sum equal to the deposit,
with costs and reasonable attorneys' fees recoverable by whichever side
prevails.

When an animal is later blamed for damage that may or may not predate the
tenancy, the absence of a move-in record is the owner's difficulty, not the
tenant's.

## Thirty days at the other end

RCW 59.18.280 requires a full and specific written statement of the basis for
retaining any part of a deposit, together with copies of estimates received or
invoices paid to substantiate damage charges, within 30 days of the tenancy
ending and the premises being vacated. Ordinary wear cannot be charged for.

A landlord who lets that period pass becomes liable for the entire deposit,
and is barred from asserting any claim to it in an action the tenant brings.

## What can happen to the rent

Washington now limits increases as well as deposits, which matters in a
market where the landlord is a neighbour and the negotiation is personal.

For a tenancy's opening year RCW 59.18.700 freezes the rent outright. Beyond
that, no twelve-month stretch may carry a rise above the lesser of ten
percent or seven percent plus the consumer price index. RCW 59.18.710 lists
the exemptions, and any landlord invoking one must put the facts behind it in
the written notice. Commerce publishes the governing percentage each June.

A rise appearing shortly after an accommodation is granted deserves reading
against that ceiling.

## Removal takes more than irritation

WAC 162-38-105 sets two conditions on any demand that the animal leave, and
both have to hold. Something the animal does must expose people or property
to unreasonable risk, and a sensible earlier attempt to deal with it must
already have failed.

Risk must be immediate or reasonably foreseeable rather than remote or
speculative, and the regulation states that annoyance on the part of staff or
other tenants does not amount to a qualifying risk. Nor may risk of harm to
the animal be used to exclude it, that being a decision for the person who
relies on it.

## The clause an owner cannot ask you to sign

Where a landlord does produce paperwork for the animal, it tends to be a
short addendum drafted from a template, and one clause in those templates is
unenforceable in Washington.

WAC 162-38-120 prohibits requesting or requiring any person to waive rights,
or to hold anyone harmless, as a condition of entering into or continuing a
real estate transaction, where the reason is that the property will be
occupied by a disabled person or by someone using an assistance animal.

The distinction is worth holding clearly. Accepting responsibility for damage
the animal genuinely causes is an ordinary lease term and binds in the normal
way. Surrendering rights, or absolving the owner in advance, because the
animal is present is the thing the regulation forbids, and signing it does
not make it good.

## Where to take a complaint

There is no city office here. The Northwest Fair Housing Alliance, a private
organisation at 35 W Main Avenue in Spokane, publishes guidance on reasonable
accommodation requests and is the nearest local expertise.

Formal complaints go to the Washington State Human Rights Commission.
RCW 49.60.230(2) allows six months for discrimination complaints generally,
but housing is treated separately: a real estate matter under RCW 49.60.222
through 49.60.225 may be filed within a year of the practice occurring or
terminating. Filing is through the commission's online portal, and it
publishes a toll-free line at 1-800-233-3247.

For the statutes behind these rules, see the
[Washington ESA law guide](/blog/washington-emotional-support-animal/), and our
[guide to getting an ESA letter](/blog/articles/how-to-get-esa-letter/) for what
a defensible letter contains.

## What Spokane Valley landlords can and cannot do

**Cannot:**
- Cannot apply the trained-task definition of a service animal to a housing request, because RCW 49.60.040(25) states that the subsection does not apply to RCW 49.60.222 through 49.60.227 for housing accommodations or real estate transactions
- Cannot refuse to make reasonable accommodation in rules, policies, practices or services where that accommodation may be necessary to afford a person with a sensory, mental or physical disability equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling
- Cannot apply a no-pet policy to the assistance animal of a person with a disability, under WAC 162-38-100(3)
- Cannot charge a pet deposit on top of any standard cleaning or damage deposit, which WAC 162-38-100(5) makes an unfair practice outright
- Cannot demand that the animal be removed unless its presence, behaviour or actions pose an unreasonable risk of injury or harm and a reasonable attempt to correct that behaviour has already failed, under WAC 162-38-105
- Cannot treat staff or neighbour annoyance at the animal as the kind of risk that justifies removal, and cannot exclude it from the whole property over a risk confined to part of it
- Cannot inquire into matters personal to a disabled applicant beyond what is necessary and appropriate to the landlord-tenant relationship, under WAC 162-38-110
- Cannot require a waiver of rights or a hold-harmless as a condition of the transaction because a disabled person or a person with an assistance animal will occupy the property, under WAC 162-38-120
- Cannot collect any deposit at all without a written agreement and a signed move-in checklist, or keep any of it without a documented statement within thirty days

**Can:**
- May charge its standard cleaning or damage deposit, provided the same deposit is enforced equally on every tenant, which WAC 162-38-100(4) expressly permits
- May ask for information supporting the disability and the disability-related need for the animal where neither is readily apparent
- May hold the tenant responsible for damage the animal actually causes, substantiated at move-out by invoices or estimates like any other charge
- May fall outside the accommodation duty entirely in two narrow cases under RCW 49.60.222(2): an unadvertised single-family house let by an owner holding no more than three, and an owner-occupied dwelling of no more than four units, though the section's other prohibitions still apply

## How to get an ESA letter in Spokane Valley

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

- [Northwest Fair Housing Alliance](https://www.nwfairhouse.org/) (fair housing)
- [Washington State Human Rights Commission](https://www.hum.wa.gov/fair-housing) (state agency)
- [Northwest Justice Project](https://nwjustice.org/get-legal-help) (legal aid)
- [Washington Law Help](https://www.washingtonlawhelp.org/) (self help)

## Frequently asked questions

### My landlord agreed to the animal verbally. Is that enough?

Legally the approval counts; practically it is fragile. Nothing in WAC 162-38 requires an accommodation to be granted in writing, but disputes surface long after the conversation, and owners change, sell or hand management to an agent. Since WAC 162-38-040 defines a landlord to include agents and others acting in the owner's interest, whoever takes over inherits the obligation, but only a written record makes that straightforward to establish.

### Does a no-pets house rule defeat an assistance animal here?

No. WAC 162-38-100(3) provides that a landlord's no-pet policy cannot be applied to the assistance animal of a person with a disability, and it is not qualified by the size of the operation. The same subsection makes refusing to rent to a disabled person because they use such an animal an unfair practice in itself.

### Can rent go up right after my accommodation is approved?

Not without limit. RCW 59.18.700 prohibits any rent increase during the first twelve months of a tenancy and caps increases in later twelve-month periods at seven percent plus the consumer price index, or ten percent, whichever is less, subject to the exemptions in RCW 59.18.710. Where a landlord relies on an exemption it must state the supporting facts in the written notice, and the Department of Commerce publishes the maximum percentage each June.

### Who can help with a fair housing problem out here?

The Northwest Fair Housing Alliance operates from 35 W Main Avenue in neighbouring Spokane and publishes material on reasonable accommodation requests. It is a private organisation, so a formal complaint still goes to the Washington State Human Rights Commission, which allows a year for housing matters under RCW 49.60.230(2)(a) against six months for other discrimination complaints.

### Does my animal need to be a trained dog?

Not for housing. RCW 49.60.040(25) sets out a trained dog-or-miniature-horse test and excludes comfort and companionship from the meaning of work or tasks, and then removes that entire subsection from RCW 49.60.222 through 49.60.227 wherever housing or a real estate transaction is at issue. Those sections are the whole of the state's fair housing law, so the training test never governs a tenancy.

### The owner kept my deposit and sent nothing. What now?

RCW 59.18.280 requires a full and specific written statement of the basis for retaining any deposit, with copies of estimates or invoices substantiating damage charges, delivered within 30 days of the tenancy ending and the unit being vacated. A landlord who fails to do so is liable to the tenant for the full amount of the deposit and is barred from asserting any claim to it in an action the tenant brings.

### How much of Spokane Valley rents?

About 41.8%, or roughly 17,900 of 42,775 occupied housing units, on the 2020-2024 American Community Survey five-year estimate. That is a little above the city of Spokane at 41.2% and around five and a half points above the statewide 36.2%.

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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=washington-emotional-support-animal%2Fspokane-valley