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ESA Letters for Housing and How to Use Them
The letter is half the job. The other half is sending a proper accommodation request, to the right person, with a documented record. The full sequence is set out below.
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Find Out Whether You Qualify
- 10 minutes of questions, nothing to pay
- Reviewed by a clinician licensed in your state
- Signed letter within 15 minutes of approval
- Declined? You are not charged for a letter
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The Sequence That Works
Most rejected requests are not rejected on the merits. They are rejected because a tenant emailed a PDF to a maintenance address with no covering request, or sent an undated letter, or sent it to the previous property manager. Do it in this order.
1. Identify Who Decides
The property manager or the management company's compliance address — not the front desk and not your superintendent. If the building is professionally managed, there is usually a named person or a designated email for accommodation requests. Ask for it in writing.
2. Send the Request and the Letter Together
Two attachments, one email. The request explains what you are asking for and under what law; the clinical letter supplies the verification. Sending only the second is the most common mistake we see.
3. Ask for a Written Decision by a Date
Something like: "Please confirm receipt, and let me know your decision in writing by the 30th." It is polite, and it creates a timeline you can point to later.
4. Answer Verification, Not Interrogation
They may verify your clinician's license and that the letter is genuine — your clinician will handle that without disclosing your diagnosis. They may not demand your records, a diagnosis, or a fee.
5. Keep Everything
Every email, every notice, every phone call with a date and a name. If this ever reaches a HUD complaint or a lawyer, the file you kept is the case.
What We Send You
- The clinical letter, signed and dated, with license details
- An accommodation request letter you can edit and send
- A one-page explainer addressed to your leasing office
- A short script for the phone call, if they ring you
- Clinician support for verification requests for 12 months
Situations
Where Housing Letters Usually Come Up.
A Notice After Move-In
Someone saw the cat. You have 10 or 14 days to respond. Send the accommodation request immediately, even before the letter arrives, and say documentation is being prepared — that alone often pauses the clock.
Pet Rent You Cannot Sustain
$40–$75 a month plus a deposit, on an animal that is genuinely part of how you manage a condition. Fees do not apply to assistance animals; ask for the charge to stop and for improperly collected pet fees to be returned.
A Breed or Weight Ban
Blanket bans generally give way to a valid request. A provider needs evidence about your particular animal, not a policy about its breed.
A New Lease or a Move
Disclose and request early, in writing, before signing. It is far easier than renegotiating after you are in.
Campus Housing
Goes through disability services, not the residence desk, and deadlines fall months before term. Start in the spring for a September move.
A Condo Board or HOA
Association rules are subject to the same accommodation analysis. Submit to the board in writing and request minutes of the decision.
If you have received an eviction notice
Documentation helps, but it moves at clinical speed and eviction moves at court speed. Send your accommodation request in writing today, and contact a tenants' rights organization or legal aid office in your state in parallel. Do not let a filing deadline pass while you wait for a PDF.
Client stories
Verified Client Reviews
Verified feedback from clients who completed a screening with a clinician licensed in their own state.
★★★★★
4.7 out of 5 · 2,914 verified reviews
★★★★☆
Honest about what it does not cover — I had assumed my dog could fly with me and they told me plainly that changed in 2021. The housing side worked exactly as described.
★★★★★
University housing was the difficulty, not the letter. Their disability services office wanted a specific process and my clinician answered their verification email the same day.
★★★★★
Breed restriction on a 60-pound mixed dog. The management company reversed within ten days of receiving the accommodation request and the letter together.
★★★★★
My building sent a notice about my cat eleven days after I moved in. The clinician actually asked about my panic attacks rather than just my pet, and the letter ended the whole dispute in one email to the management company.
★★★★★
I had already paid for a $39 certificate elsewhere and my landlord's attorney rejected it in a day. Healify was slower and asked far more questions, which turned out to be the entire point.
★★★★★
Pet rent was $65 a month plus a deposit, on an animal I need in order to sleep. The fees stopped the week after I sent the request with the letter attached.
Licensed provider
The Physician Behind Your Evaluation
Every ESA and PSD assessment is conducted by a licensed clinician. The professional who signs your documentation is identified below, with the means to verify the license.
Licensed provider
Dr. Jonathan Chance Miller, MD
Licensed Physician · Telehealth · ESA & PSD evaluations
An evaluation should feel like a conversation, not an interrogation. My job is to understand what you are living with and document it accurately — or to tell you plainly if an assistance animal is not the right answer.
Related Reading
Questions
About Housing Specifically.
My Lease Says No Pets and I Already Signed It. Is It Too Late?
No. A reasonable accommodation request can be made at any point in a tenancy, including after you have signed and after the animal has moved in. A signed no-pets clause does not waive your rights under the Fair Housing Act. Do act quickly if you have received a notice, and keep everything in writing.
Can They Make Me Pay a Pet Deposit Anyway?
Not for an assistance animal — pet rent, pet fees and pet deposits do not apply, refundable or otherwise. You are still liable for actual damage the animal causes, which they may pursue like any other damage.
The Leasing Office Insists I Use Their Own Form. Must I?
They may not require a specific form as the only acceptable documentation. In practice, if their form is harmless — name, animal, clinician contact — filling it in alongside your letter costs nothing and speeds things up. If it demands your diagnosis or your records, that is where to push back.
How Long May a Housing Provider Take to Decide?
The standard is a reasonable time. There is no fixed number of days in federal law, but weeks of silence after a written request starts to look like constructive denial. Ask for a written response by a specific date, and keep the timeline.
What About a Homeowners Association or Condo Board?
HOAs and condo associations are generally covered by the Fair Housing Act too, and the same accommodation analysis applies to their rules and by-laws.
Who Exactly Should I Send the Request To?
The property manager or the management company's compliance address. Ask in writing who handles accommodation requests if it is not obvious.
Should I Send the Letter by Email or Post?
Email, so you have a timestamp and a record. Ask for confirmation of receipt.
What Should the Accommodation Request Actually Say?
That you are requesting a reasonable accommodation under the Fair Housing Act for an assistance animal, which animal it is, and that you would like a written decision by a specific date. We include an editable template.
Can My Landlord Meet My Animal First?
In most circumstances they may not require it as a precondition of granting the accommodation.
What if the Building Has Already Refused Verbally?
Put the request in writing anyway. A verbal refusal is hard to act on; a written request and a written response create the record you would need later.
Does This Work for a Room in a Shared House?
It depends on the property. Owner-occupied buildings with four or fewer units are among the federal exemptions, though state or local law may still cover them.
How Soon Before Moving Should I Start?
As early as you can, and before signing where possible. Campus housing in particular runs on deadlines months ahead of term.
Get a Housing Letter Your Provider Can Verify
Screened and signed by a clinician licensed in your state, with the accommodation request template included.