When a tenant hands over a letter requesting an emotional support animal, most of what a landlord wants to know comes down to two things: is this real, and how far can I press before I’ve asked for something the law doesn’t let me have. Both questions have clean answers. The Fair Housing Act gives landlords a specific, narrow entitlement to request documentation, and a specific, narrow set of things they’re allowed to do with a letter once they have it. This piece works through both from the landlord’s side: what can be requested, what a genuine letter looks like, and how to confirm one without overstepping.
The two questions the law actually lets you ask
Federal fair housing law doesn’t hand landlords open-ended discretion to interrogate a request. Refusing a reasonable accommodation counts as unlawful discrimination under 42 U.S.C. § 3604(f)(3)(B), and here’s what that duty comes down to as applied under 24 C.F.R. § 100.204: where a disability or a disability-related need for the animal isn’t obvious, a housing provider may request reliable information confirming two things. That the tenant has a disability, and that the animal is needed because of it. That’s the entire inquiry. Nothing in the framework authorizes asking what the disability is, how it manifests, or what treatment the tenant is receiving for it. A landlord who keeps the conversation to those two questions is operating squarely within the accommodation duty; a landlord who drifts past them into the condition itself has stepped outside it.
What “reliable” information means, and why a diagnosis isn’t part of it
The word doing the work in the regulation is “reliable,” not “detailed.” A letter satisfies the standard by coming from a source that can be checked (a named professional, a real license, contact information that resolves to an actual practice), and by stating plainly that the tenant has a disability and needs the animal because of it. None of that requires naming the disability. A diagnosis would tell a landlord more than the accommodation analysis calls for, and asking for one puts the tenant in the position of disclosing private medical information to keep a place to live, which is exactly what the two-question framework exists to prevent. If a letter already states the two things the regulation asks for, and comes from someone whose credentials can be confirmed, it has met the bar regardless of whether it explains anything further.
It also helps to be clear about when the request applies at all. The regulation only opens the door to asking for documentation where the disability or the disability-related need isn’t obvious on its own, and for the range of conditions that typically support an ESA request, that’s nearly always the case, since they aren’t visible the way a mobility impairment might be. That’s why a letter is the normal path rather than an exception: most tenants requesting this accommodation are being asked, correctly, for exactly the kind of reliable information the regulation describes. A landlord doesn’t need to guess at whether a particular tenant’s situation clears that threshold before asking for a letter; the practical rule is simpler than the regulatory language suggests.
Verifying the letter without going further
Reliable doesn’t mean unverifiable, though. A landlord who wants to confirm a letter is genuine generally has one path: contact the provider directly, using the phone number or email printed on the letter’s letterhead rather than a number the tenant supplies separately. A signing provider can confirm they wrote the letter, that they hold the license named on it, and that it reflects a real evaluation of that tenant. What a provider shouldn’t do, and what a landlord shouldn’t ask them to do, is describe what came up during that evaluation. The line runs exactly where it runs with the tenant: confirming the letter exists and is genuine is fair game; discussing what it’s clinically based on is not.
Where the letter was issued through Support Animal, there’s a second, quicker option alongside that call. Its letters carry a unique letter number and QR code, and a landlord can check either, or upload the PDF outright, at my.supportanimal.com/verify for a result on the spot. Letterhead contact still works too, and the company commits its own providers to a response within 2 business days. Support Animal’s guide for landlords walks through what one of its letters contains and both ways to confirm one.
Signs a letter is worth a second look
Not every letter that raises a question is fraudulent, but a few patterns deserve a closer look before treating a document as sufficient. A signature with nothing behind it (no license type, no number, no state naming where that license is held) leaves nothing to actually check, which is different from a letter simply declining to name a diagnosis. A contact method that traces back to a general company switchboard rather than an individual provider, where no one on the other end can connect the letter to a specific clinician, presents a similar problem: there’s no one to reach who can speak to the document itself. And paperwork produced the same day intake begins, from a source that never follows up with a single question about the tenant’s circumstances, is hard to reconcile with an actual evaluation having taken place, however professional the formatting looks. None of these facts alone proves a letter is fake (a solo practitioner can be genuinely hard to reach for unrelated reasons), but together they’re a reasonable basis to ask for documentation that can actually be confirmed.
What approval can’t be conditioned on
Once a letter meets the standard above, a few things landlords sometimes reach for aren’t available as extra conditions. A landlord can’t require the tenant to complete the property’s own certification or verification paperwork as a precondition for accepting a letter that already satisfies the federal standard; that’s an additional hurdle the accommodation duty doesn’t authorize, however routine it feels to request. A property that keeps a standard packet for pet applications can still ask a tenant to fill in basic logistics (the animal’s name, its species, a current photo for the file), but making the accommodation itself conditional on a form beyond the letter is a different thing, and that’s the part the law doesn’t permit.
Pet fees, pet rent, and pet deposits don’t attach to an approved emotional support animal either, since it isn’t legally a pet under the Fair Housing Act, actual damage the animal causes remains billable the same way it would be for any tenant, and a landlord can still document the unit’s condition at move-in to make that comparison later. And breed, weight, or size limits written into a pet policy don’t reach an ESA, because those restrictions govern pets specifically, and an ESA isn’t one no matter how the lease elsewhere describes animals on the property. A landlord who’s uneasy about a specific animal’s behavior isn’t without options (a documented pattern of aggression is a separate, individualized concern), but a blanket rule aimed at a breed or a size class isn’t a lawful basis for turning down an otherwise-qualifying request.
Verification and denial are two different questions
It’s worth keeping the two apart. Confirming a letter is genuine tells a landlord whether the tenant has met the documentation standard; it doesn’t, by itself, supply grounds to say no. The Fair Housing Act permits a denial only on a small, fixed set of grounds unrelated to the paperwork itself, and Support Animal’s companion piece on when a landlord can lawfully deny an emotional support animal works through all four of them in detail. A verified letter that meets the standard above moves a request forward; it doesn’t end the analysis if one of those separate grounds genuinely applies.
Handled this way, verification stays what it’s supposed to be: a check on whether the paperwork is real, not a second gate the tenant has to clear. A landlord who sticks to the two questions the regulation actually asks, confirms a letter through the provider who signed it, and stops there has done everything the law requires and nothing it doesn’t.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I call the provider who signed the letter?
Yes, and it's a valid way to confirm a letter is genuine. Use the phone number or email printed on the letterhead, not a number the tenant supplies separately, so you reach the person who actually signed the document. The provider can confirm they wrote the letter and hold the license listed on it, though not the tenant's diagnosis or anything from the evaluation. For a Support Animal letter specifically, my.supportanimal.com/verify offers a faster check by letter number, QR code, or PDF upload.
Can I require my own verification form?
No. A landlord can't condition acceptance of a letter on the tenant completing a separate, custom form as a prerequisite. If a letter already states that the tenant has a disability and needs the animal because of it, and it comes from a professional whose license and contact details can be confirmed, it satisfies what the Fair Housing Act asks for. A bespoke company form adds a hurdle the law doesn't authorize.
Can I ask for the tenant's diagnosis?
No. What a landlord is entitled to is reliable information establishing that a disability exists and that the animal is needed because of it, not the name of the condition, symptoms, or medical records behind it. A properly written letter is designed to satisfy that standard without naming a diagnosis, and asking the tenant or the provider for one goes further than the law permits.
How fast should a provider respond to verification?
Response times vary by provider, but Support Animal, which publishes this blog, commits its own signing providers to answering a verification request within 2 business days of being contacted through the letterhead information. That's presented here as this company's own standard, not a rule binding every letter-writer nationwide; other providers may work to a different timeline.
Can I reject a letter bought online?
You can reject a letter that isn't backed by a real clinical relationship. A document issued after a short online questionnaire, with no licensed professional actually evaluating the tenant, doesn't meet the standard the law is built around. What matters is whether an informed professional judgment sits behind the signature, not where the questionnaire happened to be hosted; a letter from a provider who genuinely evaluated the tenant isn't disqualified simply for arriving online.
Can I charge a pet deposit?
Not once the accommodation has been granted. An emotional support animal isn't legally a pet under the Fair Housing Act, so pet fees, pet rent, and pet deposits don't apply to it. You can still hold the tenant responsible for any actual damage the animal causes, assessed the same way you'd assess damage caused by any other tenant.
What if the letter has no license number?
That's worth treating as a reason to ask questions. A letter from a licensed professional should identify the license type, license number, and the state that issued it, so you can confirm the person behind the signature actually holds the credential claimed. The same goes for a Support Animal letter missing its letter number or QR code. Both should be present and checkable at my.supportanimal.com/verify. A document missing this information hasn't given you anything you can verify.
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Support Animal Editorial Team
Reviewed by licensed providers
The Support Animal editorial team researches ESA and PSA regulations nationwide. Every guide is fact-checked against federal and state law and reviewed by licensed providers before publication.
