ESA Letter Template for Housing

Emotional support animals are there to provide therapeutic benefits, and being aware of how important this is for the well-being of their owners, federal law protects these animals. The Fair Housing Act, a federal law that prohibits landlords from discriminating against protected classes of people, covers emotional support animals, as they are required because of a disability.

However, for an animal to be an emotional support animal, an ESA letter is a must-have for owners. A mental health professional writes this document to essentially recommend an emotional support animal as part of their patient’s treatment, which gives their animal housing rights.

Whether you’re simply curious about what an ESA letter looks like or are a mental health professional looking for examples out there, we will provide you with an ESA letter template for housing below and cover everything else you need to know about ESA letters and emotional support animals.

Required Information for an ESA Letter Template for Housing

Before giving out an ESA letter template for housing, we first need to cover the required information that must be on these documents. Regardless of the patient’s mental health condition and the mental health professional’s license type or qualifications, these must be on the ESA letter for it to be valid.

Here’s what ESA letters must contain.

• Mental health professional’s information
  • The ESA letter must include the mental health provider’s name, license number, state of practice, professional title, practice address, and contact information. These are essential to verify the professional legitimacy of the mental health provider, as well as the ESA letter itself.
• Diagnosis of the mental or emotional disability
  • The ESA letter must state that the person to whom it is issued is diagnosed with a mental or emotional disability. This is necessary to establish a protected status under the Fair Housing Act.
• Statement that the ESA is required for the disability
  • The ESA letter must state that the animal helps alleviate the mental disability the patient is diagnosed with, connecting the emotional support animal to the disability.
• Mention of the Fair Housing Act
  • The ESA letter must mention the Fair Housing Act and state that the emotional support animal would be a reasonable accommodation under the FHA. This invokes the correct legal basis, making the ESA letter valid for housing.

While the above is necessary, it is important for mental health professionals and patients to note other things. Below, we cover the common misconceptions about what needs to be on an ESA letter template for housing.

Other Things to Note

ESA letters must state that the patient is diagnosed with a mental or emotional disability. However, the mental health provider doesn’t have to disclose the exact diagnosis – simply stating that the person is diagnosed with a mental disability is enough.

Another misconception is that the ESA letter for housing must state the animal’s name, breed, species, or any other detail. The Fair Housing Act doesn’t require this, and the letter stating that the patient needs an emotional support animal is enough for the patient’s animal to get housing protections.

ESA Letter Template for Housing

All these we’ve covered now bring us to providing you with an ESA letter template for housing that you can start using right away. Here’s a template that you can use right away.

Template starts.

Date: [MM/DD/YYYY]

To Whom It May Concern,

I am a {enter your license type} currently providing mental health care to {enter the patient’s name}, who is under my professional care.

Based on my clinical evaluation, {enter the patient’s name} has a mental or emotional disability that substantially limits one or more major life activities defined by the Fair Housing Act.

To help alleviate their symptoms associated with this disability and improve their ability to function, I am recommending the use of an emotional support animal (ESA). The presence of this animal is necessary for the {enter the patient’s name}’s mental health and well-being.

Under the Fair Housing Act, this letter serves as verification that {enter the patient’s name} requires the assistance of an emotional support animal as part of their ongoing treatment plan. Accordingly, I request that reasonable accommodation be made to allow {enter the patient’s name} to reside with their emotional support animal, including in housing that otherwise restricts pets or imposes pet-related fees.

Please contact me only if additional verification is required, and only within the scope permitted by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and other relevant privacy regulations.

Sincerely,

{enter your signature}

{enter your full name and degree}

{enter your professional title}

{enter your license type and number}
{enter your state of licensure}

{enter your practice address}

{enter your phone number or other contact information}

Template ends.

Preparing Your ESA Letter Template for Housing

The ESA letter template for housing we’ve provided above should work as a starting point for you. Adjust it according to your practice and your patient’s needs to provide them with a valid ESA letter for housing. Although you can use it to issue an ESA letter to your patients, we recommend tweaking it to match your clinical style and ensure it accurately reflects your patients’ circumstances.

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