What is and ESA?

We get a lot of calls throughout the day and many people we talk to have emotional support animals (ESA). What is an ESA you might ask? An ESA is household pet which is classified as a cat or a dog. With an ESA we need a letter or certificate from a certified medical professional stating that the cat or dog is an emotional support animal and why it is needed.

How does this apply to renting an apartment through us? As a prospective renter, we hope you would still consider our pet-friendly options since pets are already allowed there (ESA’s included) when looking for an apartemnt. When looking at non pet friendly apartments, we do accept ESA’s by law, but they need to comply to the above guidelines. When someone has an ESA we look at is as a reasonable accommodation for a non-pet friendly apartment. What is a reasonable accommodation? Well try looking at it from this perspective; when a resident moves in and has a disability and wants to build a handicap ramp, we cannot deny the building of this ramp, but we can require them to purchase materials and pay for the instillation and uninstallation if they were to move out. ESA’s are the same thing, by being classified as a reasonable accommodation, we cannot deny you if you want a non-pet friendly apartment and your ESA goes by the guidelines, but you also have to meet our other rental criteria in order to have your application approved. To find out more information about what our rental criteria is, visit https://stonebrowningpm.com/residential-rentals.