# ESA Letter in Rawlins, WY: The Deposit Fight Worth Avoiding

> W.S. 1-21-1208(c) hands a Rawlins renter the full deposit and court costs, and nothing more. An ESA letter in Rawlins pays off before the charge is taken.

- Source: https://supportanimal.com/blog/wyoming-emotional-support-animal/rawlins/
- Publisher: Support Animal (supportanimal.com)
- Updated: 2026-09-10
- License note: informational content; not legal or medical advice.

## Key facts

- Population: 7,952
- Households renting: 29%
- Typical pet deposit (as a pet): Uncapped; court costs only
- Typical pet rent (as a pet): Varies; no legal ceiling
- Breed/weight limits common: yes
- Pet fees, deposits, and breed limits with a valid ESA letter: none (FHA reasonable accommodation)

## A month here is $741, and the deposit has no ceiling

Rawlins sits in Carbon County, a city of 7,952 in which **999** of the
**3,446** occupied homes are rented. That is **29.0 percent** on the Census
Bureau's 2020–2024 American Community Survey five-year estimates, a shade
above the **28.2 percent** Wyoming figure. Median gross rent is **$741**,
give or take **$65**, well under the **$992** state median. Only one of
Wyoming's twenty largest cities reports a lower median: Worland, at $703.

Low rent does not make a deposit small. It makes the deposit large *relative
to a month*. Wyoming sets no cap on what a landlord may collect, so a
Rawlins office may ask for one month's rent, two, or more, and a pet deposit
stacked on top of that. Whatever they hold, the amount in dispute when the
tenancy ends is measured in months of housing.

What Wyoming gives a renter to fight over it is the narrowest part of the
whole arrangement.

## W.S. 1-21-1208(c) is the entire remedy

Where an owner "unreasonably fails to comply" with the deposit-return duty, the renter "may
recover the **full deposit and court costs**."

Read it for what is not there. No double damages. No treble damages. No
penalty for the weeks the money sat in someone else's account. No provision
for attorney's fees on this section.

The best outcome of a successful Rawlins deposit case is that you hold the
$741 you already owned, with your filing fee covered: a remedy designed to
make you whole, and only that.

## What the same $741 is worth in North Dakota

Other states wrote the remedy differently. North Dakota's deposit statute, **NDCC 47-16-07.1(4)**,
makes a lessor "liable for treble damages for any security deposit money withheld without
reasonable justification." Three times the money. A wrongly kept $741 is worth $741 in Rawlins and
as much as $2,223 under that provision.

The comparison is about landlord-tenant remedies, not about Wyoming's disability protections, which
run the other way: for a discriminatory housing practice, **W.S. 40-26-140** puts "actual and
punitive damages, reasonable attorney's fees, court costs" in front of a district court. The lesson
is about which book your argument belongs in, and an animal charge does not belong in the rental
act.

## "Unreasonably fails" has no definition in the statute

The remedy only opens if the owner's failure is unreasonable, and W.S.
1-21-1208 never says what that word means. What the section does supply is a
timetable: subsection (a) runs thirty days from termination or fifteen days
from receipt of your new mailing address, whichever is later, with another
thirty added where there is damage, and one duty that falls on the renter:
within thirty days of termination you must tell the owner where payment and
notice may be sent.

That duty is where a Rawlins case most often dies. A renter who moves out
and never sends a forwarding address has not started the clock the owner is
then supposed to miss. Sending it (in writing, dated, keep a copy) is the
cheapest thing on this page.

## The half of the subsection that points back at you

The same sentence carries a second rule, and it is the one nobody quotes: if the owner "is the
prevailing party and the court finds the renter acted unreasonably in bringing the action, the
owner may be awarded court costs."

So the exposure runs both ways over a sum this size. Win and you recover
what was already yours. Lose, on a claim the court thinks you should not
have brought, and you pay the other side's costs too. Wyoming repeats that
structure in **W.S. 40-26-143** for fair-housing cases, but here it lands in
a dispute small enough that a costs award can swallow the claim.

Put the arithmetic together and the conclusion writes itself. In Rawlins,
the deposit fight is worth avoiding. Which means the charge is worth never
letting onto the ledger.

## The charge that should not have been taken in the first place

An assistance animal is not a pet charge waiting to be argued about later. **W.S. 35-13-201(c)**
says a person "shall not be discriminated against in the leasing or rental of residential property
because the person has an assistance animal, which shall be permitted in leased or rented
residential property in accordance with the federal Fair Housing Act."

The Wyoming Fair Housing Act supplies the rest. **W.S. 40-26-107(c)(ii)** makes discrimination
include "a refusal to make a reasonable accommodation in rules, policies, practices or services if
the accommodation may be necessary to afford the individual equal opportunity to use and enjoy a
dwelling": a no-pets policy is a rule, and the deposit is charged under it. **W.S. 40-26-107(b)**
reaches the terms, conditions and privileges of the rental, where a monthly premium sits, and
**42 U.S.C. § 3604(f)** runs beneath both.

Two limits belong in the same breath. The second sentence of W.S. 35-13-201(c) leaves you "liable
for any damage done by his assistance animal to the premises": actual damage, billed afterwards,
like any tenant's. And **W.S. 1-21-1207** lets a Rawlins agreement make part of a deposit
nonrefundable if it says so and written notice comes with the money, exactly the kind of charge
you do not want attached to an animal.

## Ask before the keys, not after the move-out letter

Timing is the whole of it. A charge waived at application never enters the
deposit, never has to be itemised, and never becomes a claim under
1-21-1208(c).

Make the request in writing before signing. Say what the animal is, say what
you are asking to have removed, the animal deposit and any monthly premium,
and name the provisions: W.S. 35-13-201(c), W.S. 40-26-107(b) and (c)(ii),
and 42 U.S.C. § 3604(f). Keep the dated copy and any reply. If the answer is
no, that file is your case; if it is yes, there is no case to bring, the
better result where the remedy stops at your own money.

## Where a Rawlins renter goes for help

Nowhere in state government, which is worth knowing before you spend a week looking. In January
2025 the **U.S. Commission on Civil Rights**' Wyoming Advisory Committee reported that the
Governor "has not yet assigned enforcement authority of the Wyoming Fair Housing Act to any state or
local entity," and that Wyoming residents "are required to submit their complaint to the HUD's
Denver Regional Office in the neighboring state of Colorado."

Closer to home, the **City of Rawlins** and **Carbon County** handle
municipal and county services, and **Legal Aid of Wyoming** runs a housing
programme. One naming point, because voucher paperwork confuses it: the
Housing Choice Voucher office serving Rawlins, at **(307) 328-4580**,
belongs to the **Cheyenne Housing Authority**. There is no Rawlins housing
authority to write to.

The state-law route that still functions is judicial: **W.S. 40-26-139**
allows a civil action in district court within two years, with no complaint
to exhaust first.

## What "unreasonably fails" is worth

Not much on its own: the deposit and the filing fee, in a city where the
deposit is a month of a $741 rent, with a costs risk running the other way.
Every dollar of value in this subject sits earlier, at the desk, before the
money is taken.

Getting there takes documentation, and documentation takes an assessment. **W.S. 35-13-205(a)(iv)**
defines an assistance animal as one that works or performs tasks for a person with a disability "or
provides emotional support that alleviates one (1) or more identified symptoms or effects of a
person's disability." No training on that branch, but two findings all the same: that a disability
exists, and that this animal alleviates identified symptoms or effects of it.

Start with a clinician who already treats you if you have one. That is the
first call, and often the best document. Say out loud what usually happens
next, though: Wyoming's supply of mental-health specialists falls away
outside Cheyenne, Casper and Laramie, a new patient in Carbon County can
wait a long time for an appointment, and a provider two visits into knowing
someone may decline a disability finding rather than sign one they cannot
stand behind. None of that makes the route a bad one. It makes it uncertain,
and a move-in date is not.

The other route is a licensed evaluation booked for this purpose: a licensed
professional works through whether a disability exists and whether this
animal answers an identified part of it, then records both findings, or
declines, on the record. Both endings are real, which is precisely what
gives the first one weight when a leasing office in Rawlins reads it, and
why **W.S. 35-13-203(b)** treats a knowing and intentional misrepresentation
as a misdemeanor rather than paperwork. In a city where the courtroom hands
back only what was yours, the document that keeps the charge off the ledger
is the one that is actually worth money.

## What Rawlins landlords can and cannot do

**Cannot:**
- Cannot refuse a reasonable accommodation in rules, policies, practices or services where it may be necessary to afford a person with a disability equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling: W.S. 40-26-107(c)(ii).
- Cannot discriminate in the leasing or rental of residential property because the person has an assistance animal, W.S. 35-13-201(c). Wyoming defines that animal to include one that provides emotional support, at W.S. 35-13-205(a)(iv).
- Cannot treat an assistance animal as a pet for the purpose of a deposit or a monthly charge. Wyoming's landlord-tenant statute says nothing about animals at all, so the charge comes off under W.S. 40-26-107(b) and (c)(ii) and 42 U.S.C. § 3604(f) rather than under a deposit rule.
- Cannot discriminate in the terms, conditions or privileges of a rental, or in the services and facilities provided with it, because of disability: W.S. 40-26-107(b). This is the provision that reaches recurring pet rent.
- Cannot require training, certification or registration of an assistance animal. W.S. 35-13-205(a)(iv)'s emotional-support branch has no training element, and no Wyoming registry exists.
- Cannot interfere with the rights in W.S. 35-13-201(a) through (c), doing so is a misdemeanor under W.S. 35-13-203(a), with a fine of up to $750.
- Cannot keep a deposit without delivering a written itemization within thirty days of termination, or fifteen days after receiving the renter's new mailing address, whichever is later: W.S. 1-21-1208(a).
- Cannot take a nonrefundable deposit silently. W.S. 1-21-1207 requires the rental agreement to state that a portion is nonrefundable and requires written notice when it is taken.

**Can:**
- May hold the tenant liable for damage the assistance animal actually does to the premises, W.S. 35-13-201(c) says so expressly. That is a bill for real damage, not a charge in advance.
- May take a further thirty days to return a deposit if there is damage to the unit, making sixty days lawful in that case, W.S. 1-21-1208(a).
- May decline where the tenancy would be a direct threat to the health or safety of others or would result in substantial physical damage to the property of others, W.S. 40-26-107(f).
- May be outside the Wyoming Fair Housing Act's disability duty if the building holds four families or fewer and the owner lives in one of them, W.S. 40-26-110(b) exempts sections 40-26-105 through 40-26-109. W.S. 35-13-201(c) and the federal Act are not switched off by it.
- May charge a nonrefundable pet deposit to a tenant with an ordinary pet, with no cap in dollars or months, provided it is disclosed. Wyoming sets no deposit ceiling anywhere.

## How to get an ESA letter in Rawlins

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

- [City of Rawlins](https://www.rawlinswy.gov/) (city government)
- [Carbon County](https://www.carboncountywy.gov/) (county government)
- [Cheyenne Housing Authority - Housing Choice Voucher office serving Rawlins](https://www.cheyennehousing.org/contact-us) (local housing authority)
- [Legal Aid of Wyoming - Housing](https://www.lawyoming.org/housing) (legal aid)

## Frequently asked questions

### If a Rawlins landlord keeps my deposit, what can I actually recover?

The deposit and your court costs. W.S. 1-21-1208(c) provides that where the owner unreasonably fails to comply with the return duty, the renter may recover the full deposit and court costs. There is no double-damages provision, no treble-damages provision and no penalty for the delay. A successful case leaves you holding the money you already owned, with the filing fee covered.

### Other states give treble damages. Does Wyoming?

Not for a deposit. North Dakota's deposit statute, NDCC 47-16-07.1(4), makes a lessor liable for treble damages for security deposit money withheld without reasonable justification; W.S. 1-21-1208(c) stops at the deposit plus court costs. That is a difference in landlord-tenant remedies only. On the fair-housing side Wyoming is not thin at all - W.S. 40-26-140 lets a district court award actual and punitive damages, reasonable attorney's fees and court costs for a discriminatory housing practice.

### Can the landlord recover costs from me?

Yes, and it is in the same subsection. W.S. 1-21-1208(c) provides that if the owner is the prevailing party and the court finds the renter acted unreasonably in bringing the action, the owner may be awarded court costs. So the risk runs in both directions in a dispute that, at a Rawlins median rent of $741, is small-claims sized. Wyoming uses the same two-way structure in fair-housing cases under W.S. 40-26-143.

### What does 'unreasonably fails to comply' mean?

The statute does not define it. What W.S. 1-21-1208 does set out is the timetable it attaches to: the balance and a written itemization are due within thirty days after termination or fifteen days after the owner receives your new mailing address, whichever is later, extended by thirty days where there is damage. Because the word is undefined, the safer plan is to remove the disputed charge before it is ever collected rather than to argue afterwards about whether a failure was unreasonable.

### Is there anything I have to do myself after moving out of Rawlins?

Yes. W.S. 1-21-1208(a) requires the renter, within thirty days of termination, to notify the owner or designated agent of the location where payment and notice may be made or mailed. A renter who leaves Rawlins without sending a forwarding address has not started the clock the owner is supposed to meet. Send it in writing, date it, and keep a copy.

### Why is a pet deposit for my assistance animal a fair-housing question and not a deposit question?

Because the words pet and animal do not appear anywhere in W.S. 1-21-1201 through 1-21-1211. There is no pet-deposit rule in Wyoming's rental act, so there is no exception in it either. The charge comes off under W.S. 35-13-201(c), which says an assistance animal shall be permitted in leased or rented residential property, under W.S. 40-26-107(b) and (c)(ii), and under 42 U.S.C. § 3604(f). You are still liable under the second sentence of W.S. 35-13-201(c) for actual damage the animal does.

### Is there a Rawlins housing authority?

No. The Housing Choice Voucher office serving Rawlins, reachable at (307) 328-4580, is run by the Cheyenne Housing Authority, which lists voucher offices for several Wyoming communities from its Cheyenne base. There is no separate Rawlins authority, so voucher paperwork asking for the name of your housing authority is asking about the Cheyenne Housing Authority. For a discrimination complaint there is no Wyoming state agency at all; the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights reported in January 2025 that Wyoming residents must file with HUD's Denver Regional Office in Colorado.

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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=wyoming-emotional-support-animal%2Frawlins