ESA Housing Letter

Certify your Emotional Support Animal Nationwide USA!

ESA Housing Letter

Our animal companions have proven to be an easy, safe, and natural remedy to depression, anxiety, panic attacks, PTSD, and more. Unfortunately, housing and travel restrictions often make it difficult for you to live your life to its fullest.

By receiving a prescription from one of the top recommended therapists for an Emotional Support Animal Letter, you’ll never have to compromise where you live or where you travel again. Signing up for an Emotional Support Animal Letter assessment with one of the top recommended therapists is quick, easy, and applies to animals of all shapes and sizes. Get a legitimate emotional support animal letter from a certified therapist, and be on your way to living stress and worry free with your Emotional Support Animal.

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Emotional Support Animal Nationwide USA

ESA Housing Letter

This is the most important document you need to attest that your pet is an ESA and its presence in your life is part of a treatment prescribed by a licensed mental health provider. This letter can only be issued by a mental health professional, such as a psychiatrist, psychologist or licensed therapist. The letter is issued according to the Fair Housing Act and Air Carrier Access Act.

The letter is an important document that allows persons with an Emotional Support Animal to rent an apartment despite any “no pet policy” and to travel by air accompanied by their ESA. This document will attest your mental or emotional disorder and the necessity of your ESA along side.

* The letter should be issued by a licensed medical professional and printed on an official letterhead. The patient receiving this letter needs to find himself under the current care of the health professional signing the document.

The letter needs to include the following mentions:

  • the passenger’s mental disability, which needs to be mentioned in the DMV-IV, and limit substantially one or multiple major life activities of the patient

  • the role played by the ESA in the treatment, health and well-being of the patient

  • details about the physician’s or mental health professional’s license, including date, state, type

* The letter should be dated no longer than 12 months from the departure date.

Who Needs an ESA Housing Letter?

Obviously, an ESA letter is useful for persons who need to prove that their animal is an important part of their mental disability’s treatment. As expected, this letter is issued by licensed physicians to persons who have a mental disability included in DMV-IV: mental retardation, learning disorders, motor skills disorders, communication disorder, developmental disorder, ADD or disruptive behavior disorder, eating disorders, feeding disorders, tic disorders, elimination disorder, delirium, dementia, amnesia, cognitive disorders, substance related disorders (alcohol, drugs, and others), schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, mood disorders, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, somatoform disorder, factitious disorders, dissociative disorders (DID), sexual dysfunctions, paraphilia, gender identity disorder, sexual disorder, sleep disorders, adjustment disorder, impulse control disorders, and others.

Who Can Issue The ESA Housing Letter?

This letter can only be issued by a licensed mental health specialist, such as a psychologist, psychiatrist or therapist.

What about Housing Letters and Requirements for Emotional Support Animals?

We connect you with the top provider for an ESA letter valid for both housing and traveling by air. An ESA letter guarantees that no landlord can forbid your ESA to live with you, even if they have a “no pet policy”. Your ESA is not required to respect any species, breed or size restrictions.

* The landlord is not allowed to:

  • ask for a deposit for your ESA

  • require that your ESA has special training

  • require that your ESA has special identification tags

  • ask questions about your disability or medical records related to your condition

  • ask for insurance coverage for your ESA

If the property manager or landlord refuses to comply with the law, they can be reported to the US Justice Department or sued for discrimination.

What Do You Need to Be Issued an ESA Letter?

Your daily activity must be affected by a mental or emotional disability, and your ESA needs to be part of a treatment prescribed for a mental health conditioned diagnosed by a licensed mental health professional.

Tags, vests or any other forms of online emotional support animal registration are not required for an ESA. However, if you wish, you can make your emotional support dog wear a tag for identification or a vest, if you don’t want other people to touch it.

You don’t need to give too many details about your disability to the landlord or the airline company. The Emotional Support animal letter includes all the necessary information.

Legitimate ESA Housing Letter Nationwide USA

No hassle Emotional Support Animal Letters for housing, travel, or any other situation. Certification from the nation’s top provider.

The Fair Housing Act (FHA)

The Fair Housing Act is a regulation that stops landlords from discriminating against residents based on their age, gender, religion, race, and disabilities. According to the Fair Housing Act policies on emotional support animals, occupants suffering from trauma or emotional disabilities are given the opportunity to alleviate anxiety or depressive symptoms through the usage of a support animal.

Landlords are required by the Fair Housing Act to make practical accommodations for emotional support animals. The laws under the FHA prohibit the restrictions of an animal’s breed, species, or weight. Even landlords who offer a “cats only” policy must accommodate any emotional supporting or service animal regardless of the animal’s breed or weight. Actually, if the occupant’s ESA is part of the housing’s restricted breed or weight, the landlord is required to make a modification to the rules in order to accommodate the tenant to the best of their ability.
The Fair Housing Act blocks discrimination against leaseholders because of any disabilities.

The Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA)

The Air Carrier Access Act is a law that stops air carriers (airlines) from discriminating against travelers because of their age, gender, religion, race, and disabilities. Due to the Air Carrier Access Act rules for emotional support animals, passengers who are diagnosed with any DSM IV or DSM V emotional disability are allowed to ride in the cabin of the plane with their support animal with no extra fee but you must produce your esa letter.

Under the laws set forth by the Air Carrier Access Act, air carriers must make adequate accommodations for emotional support animals. Also, this act cannot prohibit a certain breed or make weight restrictions for a majority of animal species. While dogs and cats have no problems getting on board with their owner, there are selective kinds of animals, such as snakes and other reptiles, which have previously not been permitted to board international and domestic flights. Due to this ability of restriction, airlines request that the passenger checks ahead of time to make sure their animal is allowed on board.

How Does One Qualify for an Emotional Support Animal?

The FHA laws for ESA’s states that a certified mental health expert must believe a person to be emotionally disabled in order for that person to qualify for an emotional support animal. The practicing therapist or psychiatrist must compose a prescription for the animal, which must include the following information:

  • The patient under the care of said therapist

  • The patient is currently being treated for their mental or emotional disability

  • That there is at least one daily activity that is limited by the disability

  • That the treatment is being prescribed by the aid of an ESA

In order for the prescription to be deemed legitimate, the document must: be on the doctor’s letterhead, be signed and dated, and include these following items:

  • Type of license

  • State of license

  • Date of license

  • State that issued the license

If a person does not have a certified mental health therapist, you can find one online in order to determine if they need a support animal.

Can Landlords and/or Airlines Charge Pet Fees?

Under the laws stated by the FHA and ACAA, occupants and airline passengers who require the aid of an emotional support animal cannot be charged pet fees. Also, landlords and airlines cannot legally charge deposits or any other charges to a person because of their support animal.

A Person’s Legal Rights to Housing

Thanks to the Fair Housing Act, any property that prohibits any type of animal must accommodate a tenant’s emotional support animal. Any person who owns a service dog prescribed by a mental health professional has rights concerning anti-discrimination. The FHA allows the acceptance of emotional support animals in different homes. This law applies to all public housing, despite excluding the following types of properties:

Rental housing with less than four units, in which one is occupied by the owner; single family homes that are rented or sold with no aid from a broker; and privately owned housing by a club or religious organization that restricts occupancy to group members.

A letter or document from a therapist or physician is required for a person to own a dog, cat, or any other animal classified as a support animal. Even if a landlord or property supervisor has a “no pets” rule, the FHA states that the service or support animal must be allowed. Due to the differences in lawful classification of assistance animals and pets, any and all pet fees and limitations are waived.

Examples of different support animals include a dog that helps its owner deal with the symptoms of depression, a cat that notifies its owner of approaching seizures, and a bird that alarms its hearing compromised owner to surrounding sounds.

Despite the excess of laws requiring landlords to provide an ESA with reasonable accommodations, these laws do not extend to the use of hotels, motels, stores, and/or restaurants. That is because these places are not considered as dwellings by the FHA for the function of laws protecting the usage of emotional animals. Instead, these places treat the support animal as a pet and do not grant it any further rights.

Rules Concerning The Training of Emotional Support Animals

Emotional support animals are not required by the FHA to be trained. This is due to the fact that the animal’s company alone acts as an alleviating factor in aiding the owner deal with emotional impairments, including depression and anxiety.

Documents to be Provided to Landlords for your ESA

The patient is required by law to provide a letter by a physician to the landlord that states that the animal is prescribed as a treatment program that aids in lessening the person’s symptoms. If the landlord does not receive such letter, the patient displaying said animal as an emotional support animal in order to go around pet restrictions will be violating federal law.
Every landlord and property manager has the legal right to verify the disability with the mental health professional. If the landlord does verify the disability, he or she must accommodate the occupant’s application to have an emotional support animal. Failing to accommodate such animal is a violation of federal law because the landlord would be discriminating against a disabled person.

The Abilities of Landlords Pertaining to ESA

Under the laws of the Fair Housing Act, landlords are not permitted to perform certain actions including the following:

  • They cannot ask the tenant to pay any pet fees since the animal is not considered as a pet

  • They cannot request that the emotional support animal have any training to be considered as an animal

  • They cannot require the ESA to wear an identifying harness

  • They cannot ask specific questions pertaining to the person’s disability or ask for their medical records

  • They cannot refuse accommodations due to insurance policies

  • They cannot use the fear of a specific breed as a way to deny the applicant’s need for said animal

Landlords rights:

  • Charge fees for any damage caused by the support animal

  • Evict a disabled person with a support animal if said person is unable to manage the animal

  • Determine if a certain breed of dog is a direct threat to other residents based on the animal’s conduct and not general statements of said breed

If the landlord’s insurance company places restrictions on certain breeds, the accommodation must then be made on a case-specific basis. If the insurance company would increase the landlord’s rates or cancel the policy, the Department of Housing and Human Development (HUD) states that it may give the landlord a financial burden. If the insurance company does not have any regulations that allow emotional support animals, it is possible that they will be investigated for discriminating against people with disabilities.

Proper Clean up Following Occupancy

People with emotional support animals must comply if their landlord requires a deposit from all tenants. Occupancy with all landlords requires that the property is maintained with regard to clean up. In the case of damage by the ESA, the landlord is allowed to retrieve the cost of damages through the tenant’s security deposit.
All owners of emotional support animals are legally required to clean up after their animals just like any pet owner. Cost of repairs may be taken if the animal has damaged the house or area more than what is deemed to be normal wear and tear.

Filing ESA Complaints

If an occupant feels that their rights pertaining to their request of an emotional support animal has been violated, they are able to seek legal counsel. They must first make sure that the landlord is fully aware of the laws for emotional support animals since many landlords are unfamiliar with said laws. In many cases, landlords violate the law from simple ignorance, however, that is not taken into consideration by the Justice Department.
If a landlord refuses to obey the law, the complaint should be filed with the United States Justice Department. In order for the complaint to be filed, the person with the claim must report the landlord to the Justice Department along with filing a discrimination complaint. Also, the person may seek a lawsuit against the landlord for discrimination, which could end with disciplinary damages.

If the client does not want to file with the Justice Department, they can file a complaint through the HUD. A HUD discrimination form must be printed and sent into the department in order to bring a complaint against the landlord.

Closing Statements

A large amount of mental health professionals see the need for patients to have an emotional support animal. Thanks to the FHA, landlords are not allowed to discriminate against any persons with disabilities. People with the aid of ESA are not given pet fees. Federal law prevents landlords from rejecting applications to a person with an Emotional Support Animal. Violation of the federal law is punishable by legal action against the landlord.

Since ESA’s bring countless benefits to patients, they should not be punished with any extra fees. Landlords may place limitations on certain public areas accessible to emotional support animals, however, they are prohibited from discriminating against a person’s need to request such an animal.

Registering for an ESA Housing Letter

Do you need an ESA Housing Letter quickly for your Emotional Support Animal? Quick and easy registration here!