How to Get Your Emotional Support Animal Letter For Housing?
How to Get Your ESA Letter for Housing?
Fill out an Online ESA Evaluation form in which you will summarize your medical condition and your personal information.
We’ll help you with any extra housing forms you need to have signed, and our therapists are available to speak with your landlord at any time.
**If you are a California resident, you will need to establish a client-provider relationship with a doctor for at least 30 days before getting documentation, as per AB 468 (effective January 1, 2022). If your Pet is trained, you can get a PSD Letter in Just 24 Hours.
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What is an ESA Letter for Housing?
An ESA letter for Housing is an official document written and signed by a state-licensed health professional on official letterhead. This document is proof that the pet is part of the treatment plan for the person claiming reasonable accommodation for their emotional or mental sickness. It is also known as reasonable supporting documentation that specifically offers the following benefits to the ESA owners;
- It allows owners to Stay with ESA in a no-pet apartment, building, house, etc.
- It exempts them from paying extra pet or security fees to the landlord.
- It offers the owners with the liberty to stay with any animal irrespective of its breed, size, or weight. A Housing ESA letter restricts the landlord from rejecting the request for making reasonable accommodation based on the parameters of assistance animal.
Emotional support animals are not like ordinary pets. Under both federal laws and state laws, the U.S. government provides emotional support animals with legal rights to stay with their owner. Now, here comes the question; how to differentiate an Emotional support animal from a regular pet?
To differentiate between both you should remember that,
“Every ESA is a pet, but Not every pet is an ESA.”
Also, individuals claiming their pet is eligible for reasonable accommodation requires a document named ESA letter for Housing to prove that their pet is an emotional support animal. It also helps the individual to describe the objective of requiring reasonable accommodation for the pet.
What Does an ESA Letter For Housing Look Like?
A legitimate ESA letter should contain all the information and clearly describe the intent that it is serving. Before getting an ESA letter, you should ask for ESA letter sample. The following details should be mentioned:
- Name and specialty of health professional
- Health professional’s License number, License issue date, and expiry date
- Address and contact details of health professional.
- Name of the Patient.
- Recommendation for the emotional support animal.
- Name, Breed, and weight of the emotional support animal.
- Issue Date and Expiry date of ESA letter.
KEY BENEFITS OF A HOUSING ESA LETTER
AVOID
Pet Policies
Live
What Laws support ESA Letter for Housing?
Fair Housing Act
As per the history of Fair Housing Act;
“On April 11, 1968, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1968, which was meant as a follow-up to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The 1968 Act expanded on previous acts and prohibited discrimination concerning the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on race, religion, national origin, sex, (and as amended) handicap and family status. Title VIII of the Act is also known as the Fair Housing Act (of 1968).“
As per this, after certain amendments, the Fair housing law transformed to Federal Fair Housing Act (FHA), which further mentioned; it is illegal to;
“refuse to make reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, practices, or services, when such accommodations may be necessary to afford a handicapped person equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling unit, including public and common use areas.”
Here, the handicap term is for anyone who suffers from a physical or mental disability that limits them from performing regular major life activities.
Explicitly talking about discrimination based on disability, housing providers must treat disabled individuals equally and not, in any case, deny their request for reasonable accommodation just because of their disability needs.
Hence, Dwelling providers are obliged to make reasonable accommodation for people who have some disability. In this case, we are talking about accommodation, describing it as animals or pets.
Here these animals could be emotional support animals or service animals.
Emotional support animals (any breed, size, or weight) assist their owners who suffer from emotional or psychiatric disabilities listed under DSM-V.
Service animals are the animals(mainly dogs or miniature horses) that help their owners who suffer from psychiatric, emotional, or physical disabilities listed under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) makes sure that the fair housing act is followed adequately in every state of America and landowners accommodate emotional support animals on their property.
Rehabilitation Act
The Fair Housing Act protects disabled individuals of America against discrimination under both public and private housing authorities, whereas “section 504 of the rehabilitation act” solely covers housings that receive federal financial assistance.
After 1988, under section 504 of the rehabilitation act, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) started considering discrimination against disabled individuals unlawful. Hence, Section 504 of the rehabilitation act covers discrimination as illegal under housing authorities that receive federal financial assistance.
As per above, a qualified person who has some kind of disability can’t be restricted or discriminated against with the benefits under any scheme under federal financial assistance.
Although section 504 of the rehabilitation act hasn’t clearly mentioned the landlord to make reasonable accommodation (which, in this case, we are talking about, is an emotional support animal for disabled citizens); however, HUD guidelines obligate the landlords to make reasonable accommodation for disabled citizens.
Along with this, this act obligates the housing authorities that receive financial assistance to abandon the No-Pet policy. However, for a No-Pet waiver, an individual must have a disability for which assistance of an emotional support animal is necessary.
Only a document named “ESA letter for housing” can offer the privileges under the Fair Housing Amendment Act and Rehabilitation Act to an emotionally or mentally person.
How Many ESA Can I Get Certified With An ESA Letter?
With legitimate ESA letters, you can certify as many pets as you want as your ESA. Many house providers and landlords do not allow pets or limit tenants to keep one or two pets in their building. However, landlords cannot apply the same rule for emotional support animals. See, if a landlord implies a policy like a specific type of animal is not allowed in their building, this rule also doesn’t work in the case of emotional support animals.
Therefore, landlords can not limit the number, breed, weight, or even size of emotional support animals as long as you have an ESA letter to prove your pet as your ESA. Therefore, you can have more than one pet as your ESA. As per laws, Disability accommodations can be extended if they seem “reasonable.”
However, it would be best to ensure that you have enough space and finances to keep the desired number of ESA with you in your apartment. Consider you would go to your landlord for permission to keep ten dogs in a one-room apartment; the landlord can surely raise an issue in that case. Here, your pets can affect the landlord’s property, and further, they can count them as a threat to their property. Therefore, the Housing ESA letter would be useless in this scenario.
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Who can Write an ESA Letter for Housing?
- A Licensed Behavioral Therapist
- A Licensed Addiction Therapist
- A Licensed Cognitive-Behavioral Therapist
- A licensed psychiatrist
- A licensed psychologist
- A Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist
- A licensed Professional Counselor
- A licensed doctor qualified to conduct mental health assessments
- A Licensed Clinical Social Worker
- Any Licensed Mental Health Professional
We offer our Customers a 100% Money-back Guarantee
If not qualified, we offer a 100% Money-Back Guarantee. No Appointments are Required.
How to get an ESA Letter for Housing?
Let’s walk you through the step-by-step process to get an emotional support animal letter. Here are the steps that you should follow;
- Look for an ESA letter service provider
- Fill up the pre-evaluation form
- Health practitioner evaluation
- Download your ESA letter online
Look for an ESA letter service provider
- The first and foremost step is to look out for a legitimate ESA letter service provider. Many websites on the internet claim to certify your pet as an emotional support animal.
- Not, in any case, fall for websites that promise to certify your pet with some ESA registration, vest, badge, etc. Only an ESA letter can prove your pet as an emotional support animal.
- Now, if you find a website that provides an ESA letter, check out their website and their reviews on the Internet. Have people used their service before, and are they happy with their service?
- If reviews are good, check out the website and their rates for an ESA letter. A Legitimate ESA letter will have a reasonable price. Any website that provides ESA letters more than that might be after poor customer’s money.
- Don’t choose a website that promises to give you an ESA letter soon after paying them. A legitimate service must take an appropriate amount of time to check whether a person fulfills all the ESA letter requirements to be a qualified person for ESA certification.
Fill up the Pre-evaluation Form
Now, if you are satisfied with the cost and have checked their experience with past customers, apply by filling out their evaluation form to get ESA letter online.
A legitimate ESA letter provider must ask you to fill out a detailed form. You have to fill in your essential identification and residential details.
The form must also contain a column where you can mention details regarding your pet like breed, type, and the number of pets.
There is no use of the ESA evaluation form if it won’t ask you to explain your need for an ESA letter, i.e., a medical condition that requires pet assistance. So, before submitting the form, there should be a complete questionnaire regarding the mental or emotional illness of the person applying for an ESA letter.
Health Practitioner Evaluation
After the form submission, the website would ask you to pay for their service to continue the further process. As mentioned earlier, rates should be genuine. You will have to choose the ESA letter you want, which in this case is the ESA letter for Housing, and pay for it.
After paying for the service, your form will reach out to your state’s licensed health practitioner, who will evaluate your form, as per the questions you have answered in the form.
Here, the health practitioner will take their time to evaluate whether your mental illness qualifies to have an ESA letter. In case you haven’t filled in the form properly, the health practitioner can contact you. They will ask you to explain the missing details for an honest evaluation.
If your application qualifies for an ESA letter, the health practitioner will approve you for an emotional support animal letter online. As per the email address you mentioned in your form, the health practitioner will send an ESA letter soon after your approval at that email address.
Double-check all the details mentioned in the ESA letter. Basically, A legitimate ESA letter must be written and approved by your state’s licensed health professional citing your mental illness. It will be regarded as your ESA prescription letter for an emotional support animal to heal your mental or emotional illness.
You can download it from your email and show this emotional support animal letter to the landlord.
If you don’t qualify for an ESA letter, an honest emotional support dog letter service provider will pay your money back. That’s what makes Fast ESA Letter the best and most trustable ESA letter service provider on the Internet.
Frequently Asked Question
What is an emotional support animal?
Animals that offer therapeutic benefits to people by alleviating symptoms of their psychiatric disability are called emotional support animals. Studies have shown that psychiatrically disabled individuals can cure with companionship and comfort of an animal. For that very reason, these animals are called Emotional Support Animals.
What Medical Conditions Qualifies for an ESA Letter for Housing?
- Depression
- Phobias
- Anxiety
- Panic Attacks
- PTSD
- Acute Stress Disorder
- Eating Disorders
- Learning Disorders
- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity disorder
- Substance-related disorder (alcohol, drugs)
- Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
- Personality Disorders
- Bipolar Disorder
- Sexual disorder
- Developmental coordination disorder
- Schizophrenia
- Autism and many more
These illnesses disable the person from properly carrying out daily life activities; that’s why an emotional support animal can help them.
Can a Badge, Vest, ID Card, or Registration Alternate for an ESA Letter?
No doubt badges, Vests, ID can highlight your pet as an emotional support animal among people around you, but a landlord will only approve your pet if you submit an ESA letter for dog to them.
Do I require ESA registration to certify my pet as an emotional support animal?
Do ESA letters expire?
Does a pet require special training to certify as an emotional support animal?
Being a depression patient, can I apply for an ESA letter for Housing?
Can I get an ESA letter Online?
What is the cost of a Housing ESA letter?
Can I Get an ESA Recommendation for More Than One Pet?
As required by the Fair Housing Act, if your request for accommodations is reasonable, a landlord cannot deny your request. You can adopt as many emotional support animals as you want and get ESA letters for each.
However, unreasonable accommodation requests may be denied. For example, if you want to keep 8 emotional support dogs in a one-room rental apartment, the landlord can deny your ESA letters as these animals may be unsuitable to fit in a small room and may cause harm to the Landlord’s property.
How Long Can My Landlord Take to Accept My ESA Request?
However, if your landlord disapproves your application even after providing a legitimate ESA letter or doesn’t respond within 10 days, you can opt following options;
- Reach the Department of Housing and Urban Development and file a complaint against your landlord.
- Hire a Lawyer to write a letter to the landlord regarding the landlord’s ignorance and state consequences the landlord can face if they won’t respond to your ESA request.
- Reach out to a specialized ESA advocate for a better suggestion.
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Can my landlord kick out my ESA even after having an ESA letter?
No, a landlord has no right to remove an ESA from the building if its owner submits an ESA letter to prove that their pet is an emotional support animal.
However, if the ESA damages the building or harms other tenants, the landlord can deny the ESA request and give a 10-day notice to remove the pet from the building. Similarly, the landlord can also demand extra charges from the tenant to cover the destruction expenses caused by the ESA’s misbehavior.
How Many ESA Can I Get Certified With An ESA Letter?
With legitimate ESA letters, you can certify as many pets as you want as your ESA. Many house providers and landlords do not allow pets or limit tenants to keep one or two pets in their building. However, landlords cannot apply the same rule for emotional support animals. See, if a landlord implies a policy like a specific type of animal is not allowed in their building, this rule also doesn’t work in the case of emotional support animals.
Therefore, landlords can not limit the number, breed, weight, or even size of emotional support animals as long as you have an ESA letter to prove your pet as your ESA. Therefore, you can have more than one pet as your ESA. As per laws, Disability accommodations can be extended if they seem “reasonable.”
However, it would be best to ensure that you have enough space and finances to keep the desired number of ESA with you in your apartment. Consider you would go to your landlord for permission to keep ten dogs in a one-room apartment; the landlord can surely raise an issue in that case. Here, your pets can affect the landlord’s property, and further, they can count them as a threat to their property. Therefore, the Housing ESA letter would be useless in this scenario.
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