# What Is a Legit ESA Letter? Eight Things It Contains

> Federal law describes no letter at all, which is why the question is confusing. One state statute wrote the checklist down, and it audits a letter from any state.

- Source: https://supportanimal.com/blog/articles/what-is-a-legit-esa-letter/
- Publisher: Support Animal (supportanimal.com)
- Updated: 2026-09-10
- License note: informational content; not legal or medical advice.

**In short:** A legitimate ESA letter makes two findings, that you have a disability and a disability-related need for the animal (the facts 24 C.F.R. § 100.204(a) turns on), and identifies who made them. Iowa Code § 216.8C(1) lists eight elements that work as a checklist anywhere, including licence number and type, what the animal does, and issue and expiry dates. It should not name your diagnosis or carry a registry number.

- Author: Support Animal Editorial Team (Reviewed by licensed providers)
- Published: 2026-09-10

The honest starting point is that federal law does not describe an ESA
letter. Not the format, not the wording, not the profession that writes it,
not how long it lasts.

24 C.F.R. § 100.204(a) creates a duty to make reasonable accommodations
"when such accommodations may be necessary to afford such person equal
opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling," and § 100.201 defines the
disability that triggers it. Neither sentence mentions a document. The
document exists because a housing provider who cannot see a disability is
allowed to ask for information about it, and a written statement from a
clinician turned out to be the least intrusive way to supply it.

That gap used to be filled, loosely, by HUD sub-regulatory guidance. It is no
longer. The two assistance-animal notices, FHEO 2020-01 and FHEO 2013-01,
were withdrawn by HUD's Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity with
effect from 17 September 2025, at 91 FR 17291 under Docket No. FR-6571-N-01.
The regulations came through untouched. The memo that described what
documentation should look like did not.

So the question "what is a legit ESA letter" now has no federal answer at
all. It has a much better one, which is that a small number of states got
tired of the ambiguity and legislated the contents.

## What does Iowa Code § 216.8C require an ESA letter to say?

Iowa Code § 216.8C(1) says that on a request for documentation, a licensee
"shall make a written finding that includes all of the following," and then
gives eight paragraphs. It is worth going through them one at a time, because
each one exists to answer an objection a landlord actually raises.

**(a) Whether the patient or client has a disability.** The first of the two
findings. Note the phrasing, *whether*, not *that*. The statute contemplates
an assessment with a real answer, which can be no.

**(b) Whether the patient has a disability-related need for an assistance
animal.** The second finding, and the one letters most often skip. A
disability alone does not carry an animal with it. The connection is the
claim.

**(c) The particular assistance provided by the assistance animal, if any.**
This is the single most valuable line in a letter and the most commonly
missing. It is where the document stops being about a person's condition and
starts being about what changes when the animal is present. A letter that
says only "the patient benefits from the animal" tells a housing provider
nothing it can act on.

**(d) Certification whether the provider-patient relationship has existed, in
person or via telehealth, for at least thirty days between the licensee and
the patient or client.** Two things worth noticing. Telehealth is named in
the statute as a legitimate way for the relationship to exist. And the
paragraph asks the clinician to *state* the position, not to meet a
threshold. It is a disclosure, not a condition.

**(e) Certification whether the licensee is familiar with the person and the
disability prior to providing the written finding.** Another disclosure, and
the one that separates a real evaluation from a form filled in at speed.

**(f) The date the finding was issued by the licensee and the date the
finding will expire.** The letter should tell you its own answer to "how long
is this good for," which is a question no federal rule settles. Our guide to
[how long an ESA letter is good for](/blog/articles/how-long-is-an-esa-letter-good-for/)
covers what happens when it does not.

**(g) The license number and type of license held by the licensee.** The
element that makes verification possible at all, and the one Iowa's own
published form has no field for, which is worth knowing if you are handed
that form. Ask the clinician to write both on it.

**(h) Whether the licensee received a separate or additional fee or other
form of compensation solely in exchange for making the written finding.**
The most interesting paragraph in the section. The legislature did not ban a
fee. It required the fee to be disclosed, on the theory that a landlord
should be able to see whether the document is a by-product of care or the
product itself.

Iowa Code § 216.8C(2) then adds the timing: the finding must be made within
twelve months of the start of a rental agreement and is valid for twelve
months or the term of the rental agreement, whichever is greater.

## Does Iowa's ESA letter checklist apply to letters from other states?

Because the eight elements are not Iowa policy preferences. They are the
things any housing provider anywhere needs in order to conclude that the
regulation is satisfied without asking a single medical question.

Two other states confirm the shape from different directions.

**California** legislates the identity block. Cal. Health & Safety Code
§ 122318 bars a health care practitioner from providing documentation for an
emotional support dog unless they hold a valid active licence and state its
number, jurisdiction, type and effective date in the documentation, are
licensed in the jurisdiction where the documentation is provided, have held
a client-provider relationship for at least thirty days except for
individuals verified as homeless, and have completed a clinical evaluation
of the need. A practitioner who ignores it faces discipline from their own
licensing board.

**Pennsylvania** legislates the quality. The Assistance and Service Animal
Integrity Act § 3(b) requires supporting documentation to be in writing and
to be "reliable and based on direct knowledge," describing the
disability-related need. That phrase, direct knowledge, is what a form
letter from a provider who never assessed the tenant fails.

Line those up against Iowa's eight and the same document emerges three times.
A named, licensed, checkable author. A relationship that existed before the
request. An assessment that happened. Two findings and a function.

## What does a legitimate ESA letter look like?

People searching for an example usually want a template to copy. That is the
wrong object. A template supplies the words a clinician would write and none
of the facts only a clinician can supply. What is useful is the shape, so you
can see whether the letter in your hand has all its parts.

A working letter runs to about a page and moves through five blocks.

**The identity block, at the top.** Practice name, address, telephone number.
Then the clinician's name, credentials, licence type, licence number and the
state that issued it. California requires all of that inside the document
itself under § 122318 (number, jurisdiction, type and effective date), and
it is the block that makes a licence lookup possible anywhere else.

**The relationship sentence.** How the clinician knows you and since when.
Iowa turns this into two certifications, § 216.8C(1)(d) and (e): whether the
provider-patient relationship has existed, in person or via telehealth, for
at least thirty days, and whether the licensee is familiar with the person
and the disability prior to making the finding. One sentence answers both.

**The finding.** That you are a person with a disability as that term is used
in the fair housing rules: an impairment that substantially limits one or
more major life activities, in the language of 24 C.F.R. § 100.201, without
naming the condition. This is the sentence that does the legal work, and it
should read like a conclusion rather than a description.

**The function sentence.** What the animal does for the limitation. Iowa asks
for "the particular assistance provided by the assistance animal, if any" at
§ 216.8C(1)(c). This is the block a landlord actually reads twice, and a
letter that says only that the animal provides comfort has left it blank in
substance while filling it in on the page.

**The dates and signature.** Date of issue, a review or expiry date, and a
signature. Iowa § 216.8C(1)(f) requires both dates on the face of the finding
and § 216.8C(2) supplies the default period, twelve months or the lease
term, whichever is longer.

Five blocks. A letter missing any one of them is not fraudulent; it is
incomplete, and incomplete is what gets a request delayed while somebody
decides what to do about it.

## What should a legitimate ESA letter leave out?

Just as instructive.

**Your diagnosis.** It does not belong there, and no landlord may demand it.
Iowa Code § 216.8B(6)(a) provides that a landlord "shall not request
information under this section that discloses a diagnosis or severity of a
person's disability or any medical records relating to the disability," with
the tenant free to volunteer it if they choose. Florida § 760.27(3) is to the
same effect. A letter that names a condition is not invalid. It is simply
giving away ground nobody could take.

**A registration number, certificate ID, or membership code.** Covered above
in the FAQ, and worth repeating because it is the most common defect on
letters people have paid for. Iowa § 216.8B(4) and Florida § 760.27(3) both
say a registration is not sufficient. A clinical letter carrying a registry
number reads as a document assembled by a vendor rather than written by a
clinician.

**A photograph of the animal, a breed, or a weight.** Not required, and
occasionally harmful. Breed and weight are the categories a landlord uses to
apply a pet policy, and an accommodation is assessed on this animal's
behaviour rather than on its category,
[breed and weight restrictions](/blog/articles/esa-breed-and-weight-restrictions/)
covers why that distinction matters.

**Any promise about what the landlord must do.** The letter states clinical
findings. The legal argument belongs in your accommodation request, which is
a separate document you write yourself.

## How do you check whether your ESA letter is legitimate?

Take the document out and mark it up. There are eight lines to look for and
you will know within two minutes.

Does it name a licensed clinician, with a licence number and licence type?
Does it state a licence jurisdiction? Does it say, in a sentence you could
read aloud, what the animal does for a limitation you actually have? Is
there an issue date? Is there an expiry date, or at least a stated review
period? Is there a signature and a way to reach the practice? Does it avoid
naming a diagnosis? Does it avoid mentioning a registry?

A letter that clears all of those is legitimate in the only sense that
matters: it contains what a housing provider needs, identifies who is
standing behind it, and survives a check.
[Do landlords actually verify ESA letters](/blog/articles/do-landlords-verify-esa-letters/)
walks through what that check consists of.

A letter that fails two or three of them is usually salvageable. Go back to
the clinician who issued it and ask for a reissue with the licence details
and dates on the face of the document. That request is routine and costs
nothing.

A letter that fails most of them was probably never written by a clinician at
all, and the fix is not editing. It is an assessment. Ask a provider you
already see first; they hold the history and the visit is the only cost. A
community mental health centre will do the same work on a sliding scale, on
an intake built to start treatment, which usually takes longer than a lease
conversation allows. Where neither route fits the time in front of you, a
licensed evaluation covers the same ground on a timetable a lease can live
with: a short screening, an assessment by someone holding a licence where
you live, and a document at the end of it only if the findings carry one.
[How to get a legitimate ESA letter](/blog/articles/how-to-get-esa-letter/)
sets out that process end to end, and the
[qualification quiz](/blog/esa-qualification-quiz/) asks the same threshold
questions a clinician opens with, before you spend anything.

## Frequently asked questions

### What does a legitimate ESA letter have to say?

Two findings and the identity of the person who made them. The findings are that you have a disability and that you have a disability-related need for the animal, the two facts 24 C.F.R. § 100.204(a) turns on. The identity is the clinician's licence number, licence type, signature and dates. Iowa Code § 216.8C(1) is the only place in the country where all of that is set out as a numbered list, and it works as a checklist for a letter written anywhere.

### Does an ESA letter have to be on letterhead?

No statute requires letterhead, and Florida § 760.27(3) expressly bars a housing provider from requiring a specific form or a notarised statement. But letterhead carries the practice name, address and phone number, which is what makes a confirmation call possible. A letter without any of that is harder to check, and a landlord who cannot check it has fewer reasons to accept it.

### Should my ESA letter name my diagnosis?

It does not need to, and there is a good argument for leaving it out. Iowa Code § 216.8B(6)(a) bars a landlord from requesting information that discloses a diagnosis, the severity of a disability, or medical records, and Florida § 760.27(3) does the same. A letter that volunteers the diagnosis hands over more than anyone was entitled to ask for. What the letter must convey is the limitation and the animal's role, not the label.

### Is an online ESA letter legitimate?

It depends entirely on who signed it and what they did first. Telehealth is named in Iowa's statute at § 216.8C(1)(d) as a way the provider-patient relationship can exist. What separates a real telehealth letter from a purchased one is the assessment behind it, the licence held in the right state, and the willingness of the clinician to confirm authorship. A document generated from a form with no clinician contact fails on all three.

### How can I tell if the ESA letter I already paid for is any good?

Run it against the eight elements below. The three that fail most often are the licence number and licence type, the sentence describing what the animal actually does for the limitation, and the issue and expiry dates. Each of those is fixable by asking the issuing clinician to reissue the letter with the missing details on the face of it, which costs nothing but an email.

### Does a registration number make a letter more legitimate?

It makes it look worse. No registry has legal standing in any state. Iowa Code § 216.8B(4) says a registration of any kind, including an identification card, patch or certificate obtained electronically or in person, is not sufficient information to establish disability or need, and Florida § 760.27(3) says an internet registration or certificate is not by itself sufficient proof. A registration number on a clinical letter signals that the two documents came from the same place, which is exactly the wrong signal.

---

Get evaluated by a licensed provider: https://my.supportanimal.com/qualify?sa_source=blog&sa_medium=blog&sa_campaign=esa-guides&sa_content=markdown&ref=blog&sa_term=articles%2Fwhat-is-a-legit-esa-letter