If you submitted an ESA accommodation request with proper documentation from a licensed healthcare provider and your landlord responded by charging you a "pet screening fee" or directing you to pay a third-party screening company like PetScreening, the answer is unambiguous: that fee is illegal under the Fair Housing Act. No exception, no gray area, no matter what your lease says or what the property management company tells you.
The Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. § 3604(f)(3)(B), requires housing providers to make reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, practices, or services when necessary to afford a person with a disability equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling. An emotional support animal is a form of reasonable accommodation. The statute prohibits housing providers from charging fees, deposits, or other payments as a condition of granting an accommodation.
HUD's guidance FHEO-2020-01 (Note: HUD withdrew this guidance document on September 17, 2025. The underlying Fair Housing Act statute, 42 U.S.C. § 3604, remains in effect and unchanged, and federal courts continue to enforce it.) made this explicit. HUD stated that housing providers "may not require applicants or residents to pay a fee or a deposit as a condition of considering or granting a reasonable accommodation request" and "may not require persons with disabilities to pay any fees for the processing or consideration of requests for reasonable accommodations."
This includes fees charged directly by the landlord and fees charged by third-party companies that landlords outsource the screening process to. It does not matter if the landlord calls it a "processing fee," a "verification fee," a "pet screening fee," or a "service charge." If the fee is a condition of your ESA accommodation, it violates federal law.
Despite the clarity of the law, tens of thousands of landlords continue to charge ESA screening fees every year. The reasons are both structural and financial:
— Many corporate landlords use property management software (Yardi, RealPage, AppFolio, Buildium) that integrates with third-party pet screening platforms. These platforms generate revenue by charging tenants fees that landlords are not legally permitted to collect. The landlords benefit from outsourcing a compliance burden they do not want to manage themselves, and the screening companies benefit from a business model that depends on tenants not knowing their rights.
— PetScreening alone reported processing more than 2.6 million pet and assistance animal screenings in 2023 and generated $84 million in fee revenue from tenants in a single year. A significant portion of that revenue came from illegal fees charged to ESA owners. The company's own data, released in its 2026 Year in Review report, showed that approximately 1 in 3 assistance animal requests submitted through its platform were ESAs — meaning millions of dollars in fees were collected from tenants seeking disability accommodations.
— Landlords often assume that tenants will not challenge the fee. Many ESA owners pay the fee because they need housing and do not realize the charge is illegal. Even when tenants do object, landlords may refuse to process the accommodation request until the fee is paid, effectively coercing tenants into waiving their rights to avoid losing their housing.
When a tenant submits a request for an ESA accommodation, the landlord's obligations are straightforward:
1. Accept the request and review the documentation provided by the tenant's healthcare provider.
2. If the disability and the disability-related need for the animal are not readily apparent from the documentation, request additional information in writing.
3. Approve or deny the request based on whether the accommodation is reasonable and necessary, not based on whether the tenant has paid a fee.
4. Do not charge any fee, deposit, or payment related to the accommodation process or the presence of the approved ESA.
If the landlord uses a third-party platform for ordinary pet screening, the landlord may not require ESA applicants to use that platform as a condition of accommodation. The tenant has the right to submit documentation directly to the landlord in writing, and the landlord must process the request without requiring the tenant to pay a third party.
If your landlord or property management company charged you a fee to process your ESA accommodation request — whether directly or through a third-party platform — you should take the following steps:
1. Document the charge. Save receipts, emails, screenshots of payment portals, and any written communication from the landlord or screening company that references the fee. If you paid the fee through PetScreening, Yardi, AppFolio, or another platform, preserve the transaction record.
2. Send a written objection. Email or send a letter to your landlord stating that you submitted a request for reasonable accommodation for an emotional support animal under the Fair Housing Act and that the fee you were charged violates 42 U.S.C. § 3604(f)(3)(B). Request a full refund of the fee and confirmation that your ESA accommodation has been approved without conditions.
3. File a HUD complaint. Go to hud.gov/fairhousing and file a complaint online. Include the date you submitted your ESA request, the date and amount of the fee you were charged, and copies of your documentation. HUD will investigate and may pursue enforcement action against the landlord.
4. Consult a fair housing attorney. You have the right to file a private lawsuit under 42 U.S.C. § 3613 within two years of the discriminatory act. Prevailing plaintiffs can recover damages (including the amount of the illegal fee, plus compensation for emotional distress and other harms), injunctive relief, and attorneys' fees. Many fair housing attorneys work on contingency, meaning you do not pay unless you win.
Federal enforcement of the FHA's prohibition on ESA fees has increased significantly in recent years. Notable cases include:
— United States v. PetScreening, filed by the Department of Justice in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California in 2024, alleging that PetScreening and its landlord clients violated the Fair Housing Act by charging fees to tenants seeking ESA accommodations. The case is ongoing as of March 2026.
— Multiple settlements between HUD and corporate landlords in 2024 and 2025, in which landlords agreed to refund illegal ESA fees, pay civil penalties, adopt new FHA-compliant policies, and provide fair housing training to staff. These settlements consistently confirm that third-party screening fees violate the FHA when imposed as a condition of ESA accommodation.
— State-level enforcement actions in California under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) and California's Unruh Civil Rights Act, which provide additional remedies for tenants subjected to housing discrimination. California tenants can file complaints with the California Civil Rights Department (calcivilrights.ca.gov) in addition to federal HUD complaints.
If your landlord conditions your ESA accommodation on payment of a fee, that conditioning itself is a violation of the Fair Housing Act. You should:
— Refuse to pay the fee and state in writing that you are exercising your rights under the FHA.
— File a HUD complaint immediately, explaining that the landlord is refusing to process your accommodation request unless you pay an illegal fee.
— Contact a fair housing attorney or legal aid organization for assistance. Coercing a tenant with a disability into paying an illegal fee as a condition of housing access is a serious FHA violation with significant liability exposure for the landlord.
Do not let a landlord's insistence on payment deter you from asserting your rights. The law is on your side, and federal enforcement agencies and courts have consistently ruled that these fees are prohibited.
To avoid being coerced into paying illegal fees, submit your ESA accommodation request in writing directly to your landlord or property manager. Do not use a third-party screening platform unless you want to voluntarily use it for convenience — but know that you are never required to do so.
Your written request should include:
— A letter from a licensed healthcare provider (psychologist, psychiatrist, therapist, physician, or other LMHP) stating that you have a disability and that the ESA is necessary to afford you equal opportunity to use and enjoy your housing.
— A brief description of the animal (species, name, approximate age).
— Your contact information and willingness to provide additional information if the landlord has legitimate follow-up questions about your disability-related need.
Send the request via email with read receipt or certified mail with return receipt requested. Preserve copies of everything you send. If the landlord responds by directing you to a third-party platform or requesting payment, reiterate in writing that your accommodation request was submitted under the Fair Housing Act and that you are not required to pay any fee.
For a free HUD complaint template and state-specific ESA enforcement resources, visit tenantpetrights.org/report.
TenantPetRights.org is an independent educational resource. Nothing on this site constitutes legal advice or creates an attorney-client relationship. All case information is sourced from publicly available federal court records, DOJ press releases, and official HUD publications. If you need legal assistance, contact a licensed fair housing attorney in your state.