r/EmotionalSupportDogs

So I'm unsure if this is an odd case or not. My psych and I have been discussing having me adopt an ESA to help manage stress to keep my schizophrenic tendencies from popping up as often. My problem comes from the fact that my fiance and I recently got our first apartment together which has a 2 pet policy. I had 2 cats and she had a our dog and a cat. Because one property manager told us the amount of pets would be fine when it wasn't allowed, the property owner ended up deciding to make an exception and allow all 4 pets in the home. We recently rehomed one of my cats because she was handling the move really badly and basically hated everyone/everything for weeks. (Shes with a family friend now). But even then I am still over the limit by 1 animal. My question is if I adopt an ESA can they force me to get rid of one of my other pets even if they are already on the lease?

I moved into an apartment in April of 2025 and registered my ESA with their vendor pet screening and was approved. It is stated in the lease 0.00 monthly pet fee. All good. I renewed my dogs status in pet screening when they said to and again all good.

My lease was up in July. I signed a new lease in June that again stated no monthly pet fee. Then at the beginning of August a new management company took over, although ownership didn’t change. They triple charged me for past months rent and this months rent and junes rent, 5k in charges all itemized. So I contacted them and asked them to correct the charges which includes pet rent for the month before they took over, the current month and the next month. They asked me if I could send them my lease and asked how long my lease was for. Lol I thought that was ridiculous, this is an apartment complex with over 300 apartments, I would think this management company had an online database of current leases.

Anyway, I send it to them 2 separate times because they didn’t respond for 8 days. They finally get back to me and say they removed the charges. I look and they took the charges off except the monthly 50.00 pet fee. I reached out 3 times over 7 days and on the 11th day they responded by saying thank you for letting us know And asking me to show them my approval from the previous company.

I sent them the profile on pet screening, emails of them confirming it, and my lease showing no charge. They said they would forward it to their management and then 2 days later I get a letter that says they are rejecting the accommodation because although it is valid and shows a nexus of the accommodation and the disability, the letter is no longer valid because it was written in April of 2025 when I moved in.
The next part of the letter says that they need supplemental information to make a decision but don’t want medical records or details of my disability and I need to sign a new pet addendum in my portal.

My question is, the lease states 0 monthly pet charge for my dog, lists her as an accommodation, describes her breed, name, and age. can I refuse to sign this new addendum that this new management company is telling me too? Isn’t the lease the binding agreement? And it states that nothing can be added or removed from the agreement while it is in effect. It doesn’t make sense to me that the only thing that has changed is they took over management but isn’t the lease with the owner of the property and not the management company?

I can get another letter from my psychiatrist, who I have to see in person every month anyway. but in the meantime the charges stayed on my account and I have had to pay them to keep my account current. Am I thinking about this clearly or is this valid on their part?
Keep in mind, I was never told the accommodation was being questioned, that my current letter wasn’t recent enough or to give more information until the rejection letter .

The Va said they can’t write me an ESA letter, my wife tried going to the our local hospital and they said the same thing. Is there any reputable sources that I can use for my pupper.

Hey everyone, I’m dealing with an issue regarding my ESA and wanted to see if anyone else has dealt with this and/or knows of any (legal) resources!

Long story long, applied for this apartment and was approved. Provided ESA paperwork, signed a lease, and paid a security deposit. Was set to move in July 31st but the condos HOA and their attorney have denied me once again. Each time it’s been over the phone with no official denial letter. The first was because of the ESA’s weight. When I told them that’s not a thing with ESA’s they approved me again and then a day later came back and denied me once again stating they wanted a letter directly from my provider. I then provided a letter to them (which I didn’t need to do to my knowledge) and they once again approved me. They’ve now come back a third time stating that they need to know my exact diagnosis in order to let me move in. This is also illegal under fair housing and HUD for them to ask for this information. They have said that they will not give me the keys to the apartment until I let them speak to my attorney (I don’t have one) and are insisting they are within their rights.

Has anyone dealt with this, do you know of any ESA/disability attorneys? I’ve already contacted so many and haven’t found anything. I’ve also reported this issue to HUD, Chicago discrimination organizations, and the attorney general with no luck. It’s August 10th and my lease was supposed to start July 31st and they’re still holding my security deposit that I paid.

Thanks for any help or advice!

I suffer from anxdep (anxiety & depression) and multiple chronic health issues, and recently my family and I were discussing whether getting a pet would help me. In particular, we’ve been looking into service animals due to the amount of stress managing stuff on my own gives me. However, we’ve learned how much service animals cost and how long the process can be, both non-profit and privately. We’ve also seen how many different things service animals can help with, which could be beneficial for me in the future. However, for now we’re considering saving up for an ESA to help with my mental health first, then moving onto training a service animal when we can afford one more. My therapist believes I can overcome these obstacles in my mental health without medication (I don’t react well to them), and it’s made me think of whether I could have one dog to help with my mental health and another who can medically alert. Has anyone ever done this?

Also, my anxiety is pretty bad where it’s hard to go outside much and do things. I can usually handle people fairly well, same with certain tasks like shopping, but my flair ups are part of what’s caused my anxiety to get so bad. We’re thinking if I’m more accompanied, I’ll be more comforted. Especially for any future travel.

Now that I say this, maybe one PSA and one medical alert service animal would work… thoughts on everything? 😅

Thank you in advance!

During my gap year, I adopted a dog to help me with my depression which has truly benefitted me so much. I’m living with my family right now, and he has grown attached to them all of course, but I’m planning on going back to college with him.

He’s already registered and good to go, but I’m worried on how he’ll react to no longer being with my family or at home. Typically when I’m gone running errands, he just sleeps and isn’t as energetic when we’re out, which leads me to imagine he’ll handle it okay when I’m gone in classes and such.

However, I’m worried his behaviors will change if I don’t make this transition as smooth as possible for him. I think what’ll make it easier is that we’ll be staying at a house this year with a backyard. We also have a large field where my dog can be on, only with a long leash though. He usually is off leash as his recall has gotten better but we also plan on going hiking and to a few forests nearby the place.

I think physically he’ll be fulfilled, but I’m worried he’ll be confused and miss home. Thankfully home is just three hours away.

If you have experienced moving with your ESA, please let me know how it went, what you wish you did differently, etc. I would appreciate college specific situations most!

I've been on medical leave for 3 months due to a mental health spiral, and the idea of leaving my dog for long periods of times makes me anxious. Because of my trauma, my therapist says he is my emotional support foy.

I'm currently undergoing TMS treatment and am about to start an intensive Outpatient program. They recommended a partial hospital program but I just couldn't deal with the idea of being away from my dog for that long so I am starting with 3 hours instead of 8.

I've gone the last 4 years working only 2 or 3 days a week simply because I don't want to be away from my dog. I'm thinking about leaving my job just because with the commute I am away from my dog 11 hours of the days I work. But also I think maybe finding a hybrid or online job would help me.

I have ptsd and social anxiety. And I'm trying to find a mental ground where I stop having spirals that take me out of work. It feels a bit silly that I "can't be away from my dog".

Has anyone had luck finding a middle ground. Like I want to be a part of society and be functional but I also don't want to be away from my dog.