Landlord trying to deny ESA over allergies

Location: Virginia

Girlfriend and I lost an apartment we really liked because the condo board was hemming and hawing over her ESA (cat) and the condo owner ended up going with other applicants, so when we found another condo we liked, we signed the lease first then informed the agent about the ESA after. Suddenly the agent calls my girlfriend and says the landlord/unit owner says he is deathly allergic to cats and wants to move into this unit when he retires so we either need to terminate the lease or get rid of the cat. This is like an 80 unit building and the landlord is not living with us. My girlfriend’s current lease ends in a few days (the new one starts tomorrow) and we do not have time to find another place, so my sense is just to dig in our heels and say “Provide a legal defense for your insistence that we get rid of the cat or F off.” GF has an ESA letter from her psychiatrist of 5 years, not an online letter mill. She offered to have the place professionally cleaned or fumigated or whatever when we move out to remove any allergens, and the agent brushed this off.

It’s a 24 month lease so starting it off on this foot is not ideal at all, but it’s a great apartment for the location and price, and I just don’t think they have a legal leg to stand on.

Also the apartment is 100% hardwood, 0 carpet.