I’ve never paid a pet fee and I’ve done it at every apartment I’ve ever lived at. I’ve lived in probably 8 different apartments over the course of 15 years. It is incredibly easy.

Absolutely possible, I’ve done it multiple times. Get a letter from your psychiatrist/other doctor, sign lease, give letter to landlord after lease has been signed.

Letter should say you need an animal to help your condition (shouldn’t have to specify the condition) and ideally should name the law that requires they allow it, the Fair Housing Act (depending on your state there may also be a relevant state law.

They’re not allowed to prohibit pets or charge pet rent or pet “deposits” (pet deposits aren’t usually refundable, they’re just fees). You are responsible for the cost of damages your pets do, but that’s always the case.

May be more difficult for 2 cats, but when you already have one it’s not hard to hide a second one.

If I was in your situation I would lie and say I didn’t have a pet, sign the lease and smuggle them in. Put their crates inside cardboard boxes to carry them in. Then after a few weeks approach management and try to get permission to bring your emotional support cats in.

Worse case scenario you’ve bought yourself some time to save up to find a better place. Just make sure that if they find out to start looking for a place as soon as they give you notice to move because it’s super hard to find an apartment with an open eviction case. Look into your state’s laws, most states they require longer notice periods when the eviction isn’t for non-payment of rent.

Normally I’d say be honest from the start so you can find a landlord that will accept them, but it seems like you’re in a tough situation right now.

I’ve had a cat classified as an ESA for about seven years now. My partner has some legitimate anxiety issues and we were given an official notice from a therapist and a second one from a medical doctor that we need to renew every few years. Funny enough we actually only had him classified as an ESA at the suggestion of a leasing agent in the first place to avoid pet rent which has been awesome. We’ve avoided all pet deposits, extra pet rent, and have had him in “no pets allowed” apartments. Honestly, in the beginning it was as simple as asking our primary doctor for it outright and they wrote a hilariously simple - “I’m a doctor and I recommend this person have an animal” letter. It was genuinely one sentence.

I have also lived in 4 different states in managed apartment complexes during this period. Some complexes have not given even the slightest fuck and some have called our doctors to verify the legitimacy of the paperwork (HIPPA is a thing and they get told to fuck off if they do😂). It’s all going to depend where you’re trying to move to and the type of place. In every case we’ve let the agents know we have an ESA classified animal at lease signing and submitted whatever they’ve requested.

No way a landlord that already has banned pets is going to allow emotional pets.