Language is not a barrier

Minnesota: you may ask in whatever words you have

Nothing in this area rewards good English. A request written imperfectly, or through a relative, or by someone using a translation app, obliges a housing provider exactly as much as one drafted by a lawyer.

What actually triggers the duty

The obligation starts the moment a provider understands that a disability makes this creature necessary. No particular phrase, no form, no language requirement. Someone who grasps what you meant has been put on notice, and a provider cannot escape that by saying the grammar was poor.

The Minneapolis skyline at dusk seen from street level
Photo: Tony Webster, CC BY-SA 2.0

Four sentences, and what each one does

Copy these. Translate them. Send them however you like.

The whole request, in plain words
“I have a disability.”
That is the entire first step. You owe no explanation, no medical word, and no detail about what happened to you.
“My animal helps me because of it.”
The line most often missing. Omit it and your note merely reports an animal instead of requesting anything.
“Please let me keep the animal, with no extra charge.”
Names what you want changed. Being specific about the money prevents a yes that arrives with a monthly fee attached.
“Please answer me before [date].”
Fixes a reference point you can cite afterwards. Requests without a date are the ones that sit unanswered for a season.

Send it by text message if that is easier than email. A text is written, dated and keeps a copy on your own phone, which is all that matters.

What you can expect during a complaint

None of this costs money, and none of it requires fluent English.

Interpretation is normal, not a favourPublic bodies handling these matters arrange interpreters routinely. Ask when you first make contact and say which language you need.
Somebody may speak for youA relative, a friend, a community worker or an advocate can make the request and deal with the correspondence. What matters is whose need it concerns.
Write in your own language if you preferA provider who receives a letter they must translate has still been put on notice. Difficulty reading it is their problem to solve, not a reason to ignore it.
Your status is not the subjectAnyone occupying the dwelling carries these entitlements. An owner who responds to an impairment-based ask by querying your papers has moved the conversation somewhere else entirely.
Community organisations will help freeRenter organisations in the metro are unusually well funded, a number of them operating in particular languages, and they will approach an owner for you.

Four things worth avoiding

Each of these weakens a request that would otherwise succeed.

Explaining too much Long accounts of your health invite questions nobody was entitled to ask. Two short sentences are stronger than two pages.
Relying on a spoken conversation A discussion at the office door, even a warm one, leaves nothing behind. Send a short summary of the exchange by message before the day ends.
Paying a fee to keep the peace Money handed over quietly is much harder to recover later. Challenge it by message the moment it shows up, not twelve statements later.
Buying a letter online Paperwork bought from a seller with no idea where you live gives you the weakest possible base. Whoever provides your care can supply something sturdier at no charge.

How the picture varies across the state

Minneapolis and Saint Paul The largest concentration of renters, a deep stock of older buildings, and both cities operating their own civil rights offices alongside the state body. Local first is usually the faster route.
Inner-ring suburbs Growing more varied by the year, dominated by sizeable complexes applying one standard vetting script. Denials arrive as head-office policy and get reversed well above the leasing desk.
Rochester and Saint Cloud Medical and university employment producing steady turnover, plus growing immigrant populations and a mix of corporate and private owners.
Meatpacking and food-processing towns Worthington, Austin and similar places, where accommodation is sometimes connected to the employer. Both residential and employment rules then bear on the same set of facts.
Northern counties and the Iron Range Thin supply, private owners, long distances. Denials arise from not knowing rather than from any settled stance, and a polite note ends the majority.

Questions from Minnesota

My landlord says he did not understand my letter.
Ask him in writing to confirm that, then resend with the four sentences above. A provider who understood enough to reply understood enough to be on notice, and that exchange is now on the record.
Can my daughter send the email for me?
Yes. Nothing requires the request to come from your own address or in your own handwriting. It concerns your need, and that is what matters.
Which office should I contact?
Minnesota Department of Human Rights reaches every corner of the state; Region V - Chicago handles the federal side. If you live in Minneapolis or Saint Paul, the city office is closest and often quickest.
Will complaining affect my lease renewal?
Payback for insisting on these rights is unlawful in its own right, and because dates tell the story it is often easier to show than the refusal was. Preserve every message.

Minnesota Department of Human Rights

The state agency that receives and investigates housing discrimination complaints in Minnesota, alongside HUD.

Agency guidance

42 U.S.C. §§ 3601-3619

The federal statute prohibiting housing discrimination, including on the basis of disability. Refusing a reasonable accommodation that a person with a disability needs to use and enjoy a dwelling is a form of discrimination under this Act.

Federal law

24 CFR § 100.204

HUD's regulation implementing the reasonable accommodation duty, including the example of waiving a no-pets rule for a person who needs an assistance animal.

Federal law

24 CFR § 100.202

Sets out the general prohibitions on disability discrimination in housing and limits inquiries into whether a person has a disability.

Federal law

HUD Notice FHEO-2020-01

HUD's central guidance on assistance animals in housing: the difference between a service animal and a support animal, what information a housing provider may request, and how requests should be assessed.

Federal law