# ESA Letter in Spokane, WA: Small Landlords, Deposits & Local Help

> Spokane rents at 41.2% and much of its stock is owned by individuals. What the pet-deposit rule requires of a small landlord, and who helps in eastern Washington.

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

## Key facts

- Population: 230,609
- Households renting: 41.2%
- 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)

## A different kind of landlord

Spokane rents at 41.2%: roughly 40,100 of 97,446 occupied units, on the
2020-2024 American Community Survey five-year estimate. That is above the
36.2% state figure and a long way below Seattle's 56.3%, but the number
matters less here than the composition behind it.

Eastern Washington's largest city has an older, smaller-grained rental
stock: converted houses, duplexes, and small walk-up buildings, a great deal
of it owned by individuals rather than by management companies. Tenants meet
their landlord instead of a portal.

That changes which problems arise. Corporate pet policies are written by
someone who has read the rules; a cash pet deposit taken by an owner with
three houses generally is not.

## The rules do not scale down

The most common misconception in a small-landlord market is that the
regulations are for apartment complexes.

WAC 162-38-040 defines a landlord as anyone other than the occupant of real
property who attempts to control the use of that property under a claim of
right arising out of an ownership interest, expressly including owners of
rental property and agents acting for them. An individual renting out one
house is inside that definition.

So is the deposit chapter. RCW 59.18.260 and RCW 59.18.280 draw no
distinction based on the number of units an owner holds.

## Pet deposits, taken in cash

WAC 162-38-100(5) carries the heading "Pet deposits unfair," and its effect
is blunt: where a disabled tenant uses an assistance animal, a pet deposit
cannot be stacked on whatever cleaning or damage deposit the owner already
takes.

Subsection (4) of the same regulation is equally clear about what remains
lawful: the standard cleaning or damage deposit may be enforced on a tenant
with an assistance animal, so long as the same deposit is enforced equally on
all tenants. The test is comparative. What does everyone else pay?

Where the money changes hands informally, RCW 59.18.285 becomes useful. No
money that is nonrefundable may be designated a deposit, and a fee that the
written agreement fails to identify as nonrefundable must be treated as a
refundable deposit.

## No checklist, no deposit

This is the provision that most often decides an eastern Washington deposit
dispute, and it has nothing to do with animals.

RCW 59.18.260 bars a landlord from collecting any deposit unless the rental
agreement is in writing and a written checklist or statement, specifically
describing the condition and cleanliness of the unit (walls, flooring,
furniture and appliances among them) is signed and dated by both the
landlord and the tenant at the start of the tenancy.

A landlord who collects a deposit without providing that checklist is liable
to the tenant for the amount of the deposit, and the prevailing party may
recover court costs and reasonable attorneys' fees. A tenant is entitled to
one free replacement copy of the checklist on request.

When an animal is later blamed for damage, the absence of a move-in record is
the landlord's problem rather than the tenant's.

## What a landlord may ask, and what it may not

The trained-task question does not arise in Washington housing.
RCW 49.60.040(25) defines a service animal narrowly and says emotional
support is not work or a task, then provides that the subsection does not
apply to RCW 49.60.222 through 49.60.227 with respect to housing
accommodations or real estate transactions. That range is the entire state
fair housing law.

What governs instead is RCW 49.60.222(2)(b), which obliges an owner to bend a
rule, policy, practice or service where that is what it takes to give a
disabled tenant the same use and enjoyment of the home anyone else would
have.

Where the disability and the disability-related need are not readily
apparent, a landlord may seek information supporting them. Beyond that,
WAC 162-38-110 makes it an unfair practice to inquire into matters personal
to a disabled applicant past what is necessary and appropriate to the
tenancy. A boundary that is easier to cross in a face-to-face conversation
on a porch than in a leasing office.

## When the neighbours complain

Small buildings put people close together, and WAC 162-38-105 governs what a
landlord may do about it. A demand to remove the animal requires both an
unreasonable risk of injury or harm to property or other persons arising from
the animal's presence, behaviour or actions, and a failed reasonable attempt
to eliminate that behaviour.

Risk must be immediate or reasonably foreseeable, not remote or speculative.
The regulation's own example is a manager who barred a dog guide because a
different dog had bitten a child at the property some time earlier, not
foreseeable risk, and not a lawful basis. Annoyance on the part of staff or
other tenants does not qualify either.

## Where to take it in eastern Washington

Spokane has something the rest of eastern Washington does not: a private fair
housing organisation on the ground. The Northwest Fair Housing Alliance
operates from 35 W Main Avenue and publishes guidance on reasonable
accommodation requests, including requests for an additional bedroom made for
disability-related reasons.

It is not a government agency, so it supplements the state route rather than
replacing it. Formal complaints go to the Washington State Human Rights
Commission, and the deadline is generous by comparison with most states:
RCW 49.60.230(2) allows six months for discrimination complaints generally
but gives real estate transactions a full year from the date the practice
occurred or terminated.

## The rent increase rule, and why it matters here

Affordability drives more Spokane tenancies than policy does, and since 2025
Washington has capped what a landlord may do about it.

RCW 59.18.700 bars any rent increase during the first twelve months of a
tenancy. After that, an increase in any twelve-month period may not exceed
seven percent plus the consumer price index, or ten percent, whichever is
less. The Department of Commerce calculates the maximum percentage each June
and publishes it. Exemptions exist under RCW 59.18.710, and a landlord
relying on one must state the supporting facts in the written notice of the
increase.

The connection to an assistance animal is indirect but real. Where a monthly
pet charge is unlawful under WAC 162-38-100(5), it cannot be reintroduced as
a rent increase that exceeds the cap, and a rise arriving shortly after an
accommodation request is granted is worth reading against both provisions at
once.

## Getting it in writing

The advantage of a small landlord is that decisions are quick. The
disadvantage is that they are verbal, and a verbal approval is worth very
little eighteen months later when the animal is suddenly a problem.

Make the request in writing after the application is approved and before
signing, describing the disability-related need rather than producing
credentials, Washington's rules ask about necessity, and no agency here
registers or certifies these animals. Keep the reply. If it comes by text
message, screenshot it.

At the end of the tenancy, watch the 30-day clock in RCW 59.18.280: that is
how long the landlord has to deliver a documented statement of anything
retained from the deposit, with the invoices or estimates to back it, or
become liable for the whole amount.

For the full statutory picture, 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
belongs in the supporting documentation.

## What Spokane 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

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

- [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)
- [Tenants Union of Washington State](https://tenantsunion.org/) (tenant advocacy)

## Frequently asked questions

### My Spokane landlord owns three houses. Do these rules still apply?

The regulations are written around the landlord's conduct, not the landlord's size. WAC 162-38-040 defines a landlord as anyone other than the occupant who attempts to control use of the property under a claim of right arising from an ownership interest, which reaches an individual renting out a single house. The deposit rules in RCW 59.18.260 and 59.18.280 apply to small landlords in the same terms as to management companies.

### Can a Spokane landlord ask for a pet deposit for my ESA?

No, not in addition to the standard deposit. WAC 162-38-100(5) makes it an unfair practice to enforce a pet deposit on a tenant with a disability using an assistance animal on top of any standard cleaning or damage deposit. Subsection (4) of the same regulation permits the ordinary cleaning or damage deposit, provided the landlord enforces it equally on all tenants, so the question to ask is what every other tenant in the building pays.

### Who helps with a fair housing problem in eastern Washington?

The Northwest Fair Housing Alliance is based in Spokane, at 35 W Main Avenue, and publishes guidance on reasonable accommodation requests including additional-bedroom requests made for disability-related reasons. It is a private organisation rather than a government agency, so it works alongside rather than instead of the Washington State Human Rights Commission, which takes housing complaints statewide.

### How long do I have to file a housing complaint?

A year. RCW 49.60.230(2) runs a six-month clock on discrimination complaints as a class, then lifts housing out of it: anything arising from a real estate transaction under RCW 49.60.222 through 49.60.225 gets twelve months, counted from when the practice happened or stopped. The Human Rights Commission states the same one-year rule on its fair housing page, and the carve-out is carried into the version of the statute effective July 1, 2027.

### My landlord took a cash deposit with no paperwork. Where does that leave me?

In a stronger position than it feels. Under RCW 59.18.260 no deposit may be taken at all unless there is a written agreement and a move-in checklist, describing how clean the place was and what was already damaged, signed and dated by tenant and owner alike. Skip that step and the owner owes the tenant the deposit's full value, with costs and reasonable attorneys' fees available to whoever prevails.

### Does my animal have to be trained to qualify in housing?

No. RCW 49.60.040(25) does set out a trained-animal test, and does say comfort and companionship are not tasks, but it finishes by lifting the entire subsection off RCW 49.60.222 through 49.60.227 wherever housing or a real estate transaction is concerned. Those sections are Washington's fair housing law in full, which leaves the training test with nothing to do in a tenancy.

### How does Spokane compare with the rest of Washington on renting?

Spokane rents at 41.2% against 36.2% statewide, on the 2020-2024 American Community Survey five-year estimate, higher than the state as a whole but well below Seattle's 56.3%. Its neighbour Spokane Valley sits close behind at 41.8%, so the two cities together account for roughly 58,000 renter households in eastern Washington.

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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