ESA Letters: How to Tell a Legitimate One From a Scam

A legitimate emotional support animal (ESA) letter comes from a licensed health professional who actually knows you and your situation. A scam sells “registration,” certificates, ID cards or instant approval after a quiz. There is no official ESA registry, and those products prove nothing on their own. The rules also changed recently: HUD rescinded its federal assistance-animal guidance in September 2025, and a May 2026 memo says HUD will now pursue housing cases only for trained animals, while states such as California say their own laws still protect ESAs.

This is general information, not legal advice. Housing law in this area is changing fast, and it differs from state to state.

What an emotional support animal is (and isn’t)

An ESA provides comfort or emotional support to a person with a disability through its presence. It isn’t task-trained. Under the ADA, a service animal is a dog individually trained to do work or perform tasks related to a person’s disability, and a dog whose only job is comfort doesn’t qualify. That’s why ESAs don’t have public-access rights in stores or restaurants. The service dog vs ESA vs therapy dog guide and the free service dog or ESA tool explain the differences.

ESA protections have mainly been about housing, under the Fair Housing Act and state laws. That’s where the recent changes matter.

What changed at the federal level

For years, many ESA letter sites pointed to a 2020 HUD notice on assistance animals. That notice said websites selling certificates or registrations to anyone who answered a few questions and paid a fee were not, by themselves, reliable documentation, while a note from a health professional with personal knowledge of the person could be.

On September 17, 2025, HUD rescinded its 2013 and 2020 assistance-animal notices. A May 22, 2026 enforcement memo from HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO) confirmed this and set a new standard:

• FHEO will find reasonable cause and recommend charges in animal-related cases only for animals trained to provide disability-related assistance.
• The memo says more than 20% of FHEO’s fair-housing complaints involve untrained ESAs.
• It also states that a person can still file a civil action under the Fair Housing Act in federal or state court within two years, and that nothing in the guidance affects private lawsuits.
• HUD says it intends to start formal notice-and-comment rulemaking on animal-related accommodations.

So any site still presenting the 2020 notice as current federal policy is out of date.

State laws still matter, and vary

States can offer more protection than federal law. California is a clear example. In an August 2026 FAQ, the California Civil Rights Department said California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act and Unruh Civil Rights Act “remain in full effect” despite HUD’s action, and that California law still requires housing providers to accommodate people with disabilities who need an ESA, whether or not the animal is trained. The same FAQ says:

• There is no legal requirement that an ESA be registered or certified, and businesses claiming to register or certify ESAs are charging for something unnecessary.
• Online certificates, ID cards, tags and vests don’t by themselves establish a disability-related need.
• Housing providers may not charge pet deposits, pet rent or other fees because of an ESA.

Several states also regulate who can write ESA documentation:

• California (AB 468, 2022): a health practitioner writing documentation for an emotional support dog must hold an active license (with license details on the letter), be licensed where the client lives, have a client relationship of at least 30 days, and complete a clinical evaluation, according to the California Board of Behavioral Sciences.
• Montana: the letter must come from a Montana-licensed mental health professional with a client relationship that began at least 30 days earlier.
• Iowa: the provider must state whether a relationship of at least 30 days exists, and whether a separate fee was paid only for the letter.
• Florida (SB 1084): an online registration, ID card or certificate isn’t enough on its own, out-of-state practitioners count only after at least one in-person visit, and falsifying ESA documentation is a misdemeanor.

Check your own state’s rules, or ask a fair-housing organization in your area.

Red flags of an ESA letter scam

• Approval after a quiz and a payment, with no real clinical relationship.
• “Registration,” “certification,” ID cards or vests sold as giving your animal legal status.
• Promises of a letter within hours or “guaranteed approval.”
• A writer not licensed in your state, or a letter with no license number, type or date.
• Promises of public access or in-cabin flights for an ESA. Those rights belong to trained service dogs.
• Sites citing HUD’s 2020 notice as current law, which tells you they haven’t kept up.

What a legitimate path looks like

Start with a professional who already treats you: a therapist, psychiatrist, doctor or other licensed provider. If that isn’t possible, a licensed telehealth professional can be legitimate when there is a genuine clinical relationship and they’re licensed where you live. Keep in mind that, under the current federal approach, an untrained ESA may not be protected in housing everywhere; state law decides much of it now.

If a housing provider denies a request, California residents can contact the Civil Rights Department, and anyone can talk to a fair-housing attorney or local fair-housing organization about their options.

If you actually need task help

If your dog does, or could, perform specific trained tasks for a disability, that’s a service dog, with different rights. Do service dogs need to be registered? covers the myths, and the free service dog “two questions” card explains what businesses may ask.