Emotional Support Animals: The Biggest BS in Rental Housing Law

Let’s talk “Emotional Support Animals”. These laws were put on the books to protect vulnerable people, and when most people hear the phrase “service animal,” they think of something legitimate. They think of a blind person being led by a trained dog. They think of a shell-shocked combat veteran who needs an animal to prevent serious PTSD episodes. They think of someone with a real disability who needs a real accommodation.

That is not what I’m talking about.

What I’m talking about is every soft, manipulative, freeloading tenant who wants a pet, does not want to pay for a pet, goes online for five minutes, prints out a magic certificate, and now somehow the landlord is the bad guy if he asks a single follow-up question.

And this happens all the time.

Property owners have a million good reasons to not want pets in a rental property. Pets bring liability. They bring added risk. They wear flooring, scratch doors, chew trim, stink up carpets, clog filters, make noise, create allergy issues for other residents, and add wear and tear to basically every part of the property. So when an owner does allow pets, of course they charge pet rent or pet fees. The animal creates more risk and more cost, so the owner should be compensated for that.

But emotional support animals blow a giant hole right through that entire system.

I once had a tenant apply for a property and then reveal they had certification for THREE emotional support dogs. Three. Not one trained service dog. Not one animal tied to some obvious, serious, life-altering disability. Three dogs. And the owner is supposed to sit there and pretend this is all completely normal, because the second you push back, now you are not talking about a pet anymore. Now you are talking about fair housing. Now you are talking about lawyers, regulators, complaints, and the possibility of getting dragged through a federal case because someone found a website that will call their pets medical equipment.

So property owners have no choice but to roll over, like a good boy.

The tenant gets to hide behind disability law, the online certificate mill gets paid, and the property owner gets stuck holding the bag. And everyone involved knows exactly what is happening. The tenant knows it. The landlord knows it. The website selling the paperwork knows it. But the system is built in a way where the landlord has no reasonable choice except to roll over, because the risk of questioning obvious nonsense is usually greater than the cost of just accepting it.

And the worst part is that this hurts the people the law was actually meant to protect. Every bogus emotional support animal claim makes owners more skeptical of the next one. Every fake certificate erodes trust between landlords and renters. Every tenant who games the system makes it harder for the person with a legitimate need to be taken seriously.

There needs to be accountability for people who abuse this. There need to be stricter qualifiers. There needs to be a way for property owners to challenge obvious fraud without being treated like they hate disabled people.

Because right now, this is not compassion. This is not fair housing. This is a cheat code for tenants who want pets and do not want to pay for them.

And in my video below, I show exactly how ridiculous the whole thing is: I qualified for an emotional support animal by doing nothing more than drinking four beers in one day.

NOTE: On Friday May 22, 2026 HUD released updated guidance as to Emotional Support Animals. They are starting to dial back the protections. More on this in coming issues.

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April has moved our 12 mo trendline up for Average Apartment Rent. Average rent is up 2% over last year. Still below inflation- but the trend since November hints at continued upward pricing pressure for rents.

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Do you remember the “Eviction Moratorium” from the COVID days? Well a group of affected property owners is going after the government for those losses. Can you imagine a ‘gas payment moratorium’ or a ‘grocery payment moratorium’ where those providers were obligated to provide services without payment?

I mentioned this above. Funny timing with my rant. HUD is starting to change some of the rules around ESA. More to come on this in a future issue.

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Two simple lease provisions can help Pennsylvania landlords avoid common compliance issues.

First, include a waiver of the Notice to Quit requirement under 68 P.S. § 250.501. Pennsylvania law allows the notice period to be shortened or waived if the lease says so. This does not prevent an owner from sending reminders or courtesy notices. It simply helps avoid a procedural issue if a tenant becomes delinquent and the owner later needs to file for possession.

Second, clearly identify where the tenant’s security deposit is being held. Pennsylvania law limits residential security deposits under 68 P.S. § 250.511a and, when applicable, requires escrow treatment and written notice of the banking institution under 68 P.S. § 250.511b.

Waiver of Notice to Quit. Tenant waives any notice to quit permitted to be waived under the Pennsylvania Landlord and Tenant Act, 68 P.S. § 250.501. In the event of nonpayment of rent, holdover, or other lease default, Landlord may proceed to recover possession without first providing statutory notice to quit, to the fullest extent permitted by law.

Security Deposit. Tenant has paid a security deposit of $____. The deposit will be held in accordance with Pennsylvania law, including 68 P.S. §§ 250.511a and 250.511b, as applicable. The deposit is held at: Bank Name: ____; Bank Address: ____; FDIC: ____.