ESA letters from a Texas-licensed therapist

They can, but not for just any reason. If the Fair Housing Act covers your building, your landlord has to actually weigh the request. They can turn it down if that specific animal is a real danger to somebody, if it would do serious damage to the property, or if they asked you for solid documentation and never got it. Small owner-occupied buildings with four units or fewer, and some single-family rentals, sit outside the Act entirely.

No, and this is the part people leave money on the table over. An approved assistance animal is not a pet under the Fair Housing Act, so pet rent, pet fees and pet deposits do not apply, and breed and weight limits go out the window too. You are still on the hook for any damage your animal actually does.

Our ESA letter runs $129 for one or two animals, $199 if you have three or more. A psychiatric service dog evaluation is $149 for up to two dogs, $229 for up to three. That covers the appointment with a Texas-licensed therapist and the letter itself, assuming they sign off.

Instantly. The moment the therapist approves your request, the signed letter is issued and sent to you as a PDF. The appointment itself is normally a few days out from booking and takes five to ten minutes. What makes a letter valid is that a licensed professional actually evaluated you, not how long the paperwork took afterwards.

Nothing in federal law puts a date on it. In practice, plenty of Texas landlords want documentation from the past year, and some ask again every time you renew. If you expect to need it more than once, staying in touch with a therapist is the easy answer.

No. Your landlord can ask for documentation showing you have a disability-related need for the animal. That is where it stops. They are not entitled to your diagnosis, your chart or your treatment history, and a letter written properly does not include any of it.

Sure. The Fair Housing Act does not limit assistance animals to dogs and does not require any training. Where it gets harder is with animals people do not typically keep in a home. Then you have to show why that particular animal, specifically, is the one you need.

No. Airlines stopped being required to take emotional support animals when the Department of Transportation rule took effect in early 2021. Your ESA flies as a pet now, under whatever your airline charges. Trained service dogs are a separate track with their own DOT form that you fill out yourself.

No, and this one carries teeth in Texas. Public access under the ADA belongs to service animals, meaning dogs trained to perform a specific task. If you knowingly pass your animal off as an assistance or service animal when it has not been trained or equipped for that, you are looking at a fine up to $1,000 plus 30 hours of community service.

There is no registry. Not in Texas, not federally, not anywhere. Every registry, certificate, ID card, tag and vest on the internet is a souvenir. The letter from a licensed therapist is the only piece of paper that does anything.

An emotional support animal helps by being there, and the letter is housing documentation. A psychiatric service dog has been trained to do specific things when your symptoms hit, and that training is what earns public access. Worth repeating: the training earns it, not the paperwork.

Then the system did its job. You get the letter portion of your fee back under our refund policy. We are not going to point you toward somebody who guarantees a yes, because a guarantee means nobody is exercising judgment.

Honestly, probably not. If you are already seeing someone licensed in Texas, ask them first. It usually costs you nothing and their letter carries more weight than ours, because they have known you longer than an hour.

Our therapist sees clients who are in Texas when the appointment happens. It comes down to where you are sitting during the visit, not where your mail goes.