Virginia ESA Housing Letter

What Virginia law says about emotional support animals

Virginia's Fair Housing Law speaks to emotional support directly. Its definition of an assistance animal includes one that provides emotional support, and Va. Code §36-96.3:1 and §36-96.3:2 set the rules for asking to keep one, alongside the state's general reasonable accommodation rule and the federal Fair Housing Act.

• Under the Virginia Fair Housing Law, discrimination includes refusing to make reasonable accommodations in rules, practices, policies or services when they may be necessary to give a person with a disability an equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling. (Va. Code §36-96.3(B))

• Virginia law defines an assistance animal as one that works, provides assistance or performs tasks for a person with a disability, or provides emotional support that alleviates one or more identified symptoms or effects of the disability. It isn't required to be individually trained, and the statute says an assistance animal is not a pet. (Va. Code §36-96.1:1)

• Unless your disability or your need for the animal is obvious or known, the landlord may ask for reliable documentation of the disability and the need, including from any person with whom you have or had a therapeutic relationship. If your disability is obvious but the need isn't, the landlord may ask only about the need. A therapeutic relationship means care given in good faith by, among others, a mental health service provider, a term that includes clinical social workers, professional counselors, marriage and family therapists and psychologists. (Va. Code §36-96.3:1(B), (C), (E); §54.1-2400.1)

• You can't be required to pay a pet fee, pet deposit or any additional rent to keep an assistance animal. You do have to follow rental rules that apply to all residents and don't interfere with your equal opportunity to use and enjoy the home, and you're responsible for physical damage to the dwelling if residents with pets are responsible for such damage under the rental documents or state law. (Va. Code §36-96.3:1(A))

• A request that is necessary and imposes neither an undue financial and administrative burden nor a fundamental alteration of the landlord's operations is reasonable and shall be granted. A landlord may deny a request, case by case, on those grounds or if there's no disability or no disability-related need. The animal also must not pose a clear and present threat of substantial harm to others or to the dwelling itself that is not solely based on breed, size, or type or cannot be reduced or eliminated by another reasonable accommodation. (Va. Code §36-96.3:2(A), (D))

• Virginia's definition has no training test. Under its May 2026 memo, HUD will find reasonable cause and recommend charges only where the animal is trained to provide disability-related assistance, but the Virginia text still says an assistance animal is not required to be individually trained, and the section's history shows no change since 2023. (Va. Code §36-96.1:1)

• Some homes sit outside the Virginia Fair Housing Law: a single-family house rented by an owner of no more than three such houses, without a real estate broker or agent and without a discriminatory ad, and rooms or units in a building for up to four families where the owner lives in one of them. The single-family exemption never applies to a Real Estate Board licensee or a Fair Housing Board regulant. (Va. Code §36-96.2(A), (B))

• Virginia has two fraud rules. A person listed as a source of therapeutic-relationship documentation, such as a mental health service provider, who provides fraudulent supporting documentation commits a prohibited practice under the Virginia Consumer Protection Act. Separately, knowingly and willfully fitting a dog with a harness, collar, vest or sign, or using an identification card commonly used by a person with a disability, to represent it as a service or hearing dog and fraudulently gain public access is a Class 4 misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of up to $250. (Va. Code §36-96.3:1(F); §51.5-44.1; §18.2-11(d))

Checked November 2026 at the sources listed at the end of this page. More on Virginia ESA laws.

If your Virginia landlord says no

1. Ask in writing and keep your own copy of the request, your letter and every reply.
2. Ask for the reason in writing, and send any information your landlord didn't consider.
3. Describe your animal accurately, as an emotional support animal, not a service animal.

• File a written complaint with the Virginia Fair Housing Office within one year after the discrimination happened or ended. The Fair Housing Board and the Real Estate Board can investigate, try to resolve it by conference and conciliation and, if that fails, issue a charge and refer it to the Attorney General. (Va. Code §36-96.9(A); §36-96.8(A))

• Court is another option. The Virginia Fair Housing Law lets you sue in a state or federal court within two years after the discrimination happened or ended, or within 180 days after a complaint's administrative process ends if that is later, whether or not you filed a complaint, unless you agreed to a conciliation agreement the Board or a federal agency such as HUD obtained (except to enforce it). The federal Fair Housing Act also allows two years. (Va. Code §36-96.18(A), (B); 42 U.S.C. §3613(a)(1)(A))

• You can also file with HUD within one year (42 U.S.C. §3610). Under its May 2026 memo, HUD will find reasonable cause and recommend charges only where the animal is trained to provide disability-related assistance. The memo says it doesn't affect anyone's right to bring a private lawsuit in court.

If your landlord denies your request in writing, you may also be eligible for a refund: see our refund policy.

Renting in Virginia

• 32.7% of occupied homes in Virginia are rented US: 34.8%
• 1,099,123 renter households
• $1,579 median gross rent a month US: $1,413

About a third of occupied homes in Virginia are rented (32.7%), a little below the US share of 34.8%, while the median gross rent of $1,579 a month is $166 above the US median. That's 1,099,123 renter households, though not every rental falls under the Virginia Fair Housing Law: some owner-rented houses and small owner-occupied buildings are exempt.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table DP04, 2020–2024: Virginia, United States.