ESA Letter Laws by State

Federal law sets the floor. A growing number of states now say who may write an ESA letter, what it has to contain, and what happens if someone fakes one. Here are the rules we have actually read, with the statute for each, and an honest list of the ones we have not.

About a 12-minute read · Sources: state statutes and licensing-board notices, HUD's May 2026 enforcement memo, and the Animal Legal & Historical Center's state map

By · Last updated

Key takeaway: No state runs an ESA registry, and none requires one. What a growing number of states do instead is regulate the letter: who may write it, how long they must have known you, and what it must say. We have read the statutes in nine states (Arkansas, California, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Minnesota, Montana, and Virginia) and summarized them below. Michigan State University's Animal Legal & Historical Center maps 19 states with laws against fraudulent assistance-animal claims in housing as of 2026; the twelve on that map we have not read are listed below, not summarized.[15]

Since HUD's May 22, 2026 enforcement memo, which limits federal enforcement to trained animals, state law matters more than it used to.[1] Before you rely on anything here, check the current statute or ask your state fair-housing agency; these laws have been changing every year.

Updated · Sources checked · cites [1] [15]

Does federal or state law control ESA letters?

Both, in layers: the federal Fair Housing Act sets the minimum everywhere, and states may add rules on top of it but may not take the federal floor away. The Fair Housing Act itself says nothing about ESA letters. The letter is simply the usual way to show a landlord that you have a disability and a disability-related need for the animal, which is what a reasonable-accommodation request has to show.

What changed in 2026 is who enforces the federal floor. HUD's fair-housing office announced on May 22, 2026 that it “will find reasonable cause and recommend charges only for those cases involving animals trained to provide disability-related assistance,” and that requests to waive pet policies for untrained ESAs “are not” presumptively reasonable.[1] You can still sue privately within two years of the discrimination,[2] and you can still file a HUD complaint within one year,[3] but for an untrained ESA the complaint is unlikely to go anywhere. That leaves state law carrying more of the weight, and state law comes in three flavors: rules about the letter, penalties for faking an animal's status, and state fair-housing acts with their own agencies.

Updated · Sources checked · cites [1] [2] [3]

Which states regulate who can write an ESA letter?

At least nine states now set rules for the clinician or the documentation itself, and the common threads are a real license, a real relationship with the patient, and a real evaluation. The table is a summary; the paragraphs below it carry the details and the citations. Where a state says “emotional support dog” rather than “animal,” we say so, because it matters.

State laws on ESA documentation that we have read, as of October 15, 2026
StateLawWhat it requiresSince
ArkansasArk. Code §§ 20-14-1001 to -1005Licensed provider; license details on the letter; 30-day relationship; yearly clinical evaluation; notice about misrepresentation. Emotional support dogs.Aug. 1, 2023
CaliforniaHealth & Safety Code § 122318Active license in the client's jurisdiction; license details on the letter; 30-day relationship; clinical evaluation; notice that faking a service dog is a misdemeanor. Emotional support dogs.Jan. 1, 2022
FloridaFla. Stat. §§ 760.27, 817.265Practitioner with personal knowledge, acting within scope; out-of-state practitioner only after in-person care; registrations alone insufficient; faking documentation is a misdemeanor.2020
Illinois310 ILCS 120 (Assistance Animal Integrity Act)Written documentation from someone with a “therapeutic relationship,” which excludes certificate issuers with no meaningful assessment.Jan. 1, 2020
IowaIowa Code §§ 216.8B, 216.8CLicensed professional's written finding stating whether a 30-day relationship exists, familiarity with the patient, license number, expiry, and any separate fee; valid 12 months; registrations insufficient.2019, amended 2024–25
LouisianaR.S. 46:1971–1978Louisiana (or compact) license; qualified to diagnose; license details on the letter; therapeutic relationship and clinical evaluation before writing; escalating fines.2024
MinnesotaMinn. Stat. § 504B.113Minnesota-licensed professional, or out-of-state with an existing treatment relationship; excludes businesses that mainly certify animals; landlord may not demand medical records.2021
MontanaMont. Code Ann. § 70-24-114Montana-licensed mental-health professional; 30-day relationship; clinical evaluation; registrations insufficient.2023, amended 2025
VirginiaVa. Code § 36-96.3:1Documentation from a “therapeutic relationship,” defined as good-faith care by a provider with actual knowledge of the disability; fraudulent documentation is a consumer-protection violation.2017, amended 2023

Arkansas

Arkansas's 2023 law covers emotional support dogs. The health care provider must hold a valid, active license and put the license's effective date, number, jurisdiction, and type on the documentation; must be licensed where the documentation is provided; must have had a client-provider relationship for at least 30 days (people verified as homeless are exempt); must complete a clinical evaluation at least once a year; and must tell the client that misrepresenting an animal as a service animal can bring a civil penalty. Sellers of emotional support dogs and of certificates, tags, vests, and harnesses must give a bold-type notice that the item confers no service-dog rights. Violations carry civil penalties of $500, then $1,000, then $2,500.[14]

California

California's rule, in effect since January 1, 2022, also covers emotional support dogs specifically. A health care practitioner who provides documentation must have a valid, active license and include its effective date, number, jurisdiction, and type; be licensed in the jurisdiction where the documentation is provided, which the Board of Behavioral Sciences reads as where the client is; have a client-provider relationship of at least 30 days; complete a clinical evaluation of the need for the dog; and give verbal or written notice that fraudulently representing a dog as a guide, signal, or service dog is a misdemeanor under Penal Code § 365.7. The board says the 30 days is a relationship, not a number of visits, and that it applies to associates as well as full licensees.[4] This is the rule that makes a same-day letter for an emotional support dog a licensing violation for the clinician who writes it.

Florida

Florida's 2020 law is written from the landlord's side. When a disability is not obvious, a housing provider may ask for information from a health care practitioner or telehealth provider, and that information is reliable only if the provider “has personal knowledge of the person's disability and is acting within the scope of his or her practice.” An out-of-state practitioner counts only if they have given the tenant in-person care at least once. An ESA registration “is not, by itself, sufficient information” to establish a disability, and the tenant may not be charged extra for the animal.[5] A separate section makes falsifying ESA documentation, or misrepresenting yourself as needing one, a second-degree misdemeanor with 30 hours of community service for a disability organization.[6]

Illinois

Illinois's Assistance Animal Integrity Act, effective January 1, 2020, lets a housing provider ask for written documentation of the disability-related need when it is not apparent, and requires that it come from “a person with whom the individual requesting an accommodation has a therapeutic relationship.” The act defines that as the good-faith provision of medical care, program care, or personal care, and says it “does not include an entity that issues a certificate, license, or similar document that purports to confirm” a disability or need without a meaningful assessment.[7]

Iowa

Iowa goes further than most on what the letter itself must say. When a landlord asks for documentation, a licensed professional (or an out-of-state licensee in good standing under a similar law) must make a written finding that states whether the person has a disability and a disability-related need, what the animal does, whether the provider-patient relationship has existed “in person or via telehealth, for at least thirty days,” whether the provider was familiar with the person before writing, the date the finding was issued and when it expires, the license number and type, and whether the provider was paid a separate fee just for the finding. The finding is valid for twelve months or the lease term, whichever is longer. A registration, ID card, patch, or certificate “obtained electronically or in person” is not sufficient, and a landlord may not ask for a diagnosis or medical records.[8][9]

Louisiana

Louisiana's Support and Service Animal Integrity Act, Act 558 of 2024, in force since August 1, 2024, requires a health care provider writing support-animal documentation to hold an active Louisiana license or a license under an interstate compact, to be qualified to evaluate and diagnose disabilities and to have assessed the person, to put the effective date, license number, and license type on the documentation, and to have a therapeutic relationship with the person and a clinical evaluation before writing. The act sets both at 30 days, and adds at least two sessions, in person or remote, before issuing documentation. “Therapeutic relationship” expressly excludes anyone who “issues a certificate, license, letter or similar document” purporting to confirm a need. Fines run up to $500 for a first violation, up to $1,000 for a second, and up to $2,500 after that.[10]

Minnesota

Minnesota's 2021 law lets a landlord require supporting documentation for each animal, unless the disability or need is already obvious or known. It must come from a licensed professional: a Minnesota-licensed physician, physician assistant, nurse, psychologist, mental-health professional, social worker, or counselor, or an out-of-state licensee with an existing treatment relationship with the tenant. Anyone who “operates primarily to provide certification for a service or support animal” does not count. The landlord may not demand medical records or access to your providers. A tenant who knowingly misrepresents a disability or provides fraudulent documentation can be denied the animal or the apartment.[11]

Montana

Montana's law, passed in 2023 and amended in 2025, requires that supporting information come from a mental health professional licensed to practice in Montana, who has had a client-provider relationship with the tenant for at least 30 days, has completed a clinical evaluation of the need for the animal, and is acting within the scope of the license. A registration, ID card, patch, or certificate is not by itself enough. The landlord may not ask for a diagnosis or records, may require proof of licensing and vaccination, and the practitioner faces licensing-board discipline for violations.[12]

Virginia

Virginia's statute, from 2017 and amended in 2023, lets a housing provider ask for supporting documentation and requires that it reflect a “therapeutic relationship,” defined as the good-faith provision of medical, program, or personal care by a mental-health provider, a licensed or certified professional, a qualifying peer-support group member, or a caregiver, reliable third party, or government entity with actual knowledge of the disability. Anyone in those categories who provides fraudulent documentation commits a prohibited practice under the Virginia Consumer Protection Act.[13]

Updated · Sources checked · cites [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]

Which other states have ESA housing laws we have not verified?

Twelve more, according to the Animal Legal & Historical Center at Michigan State University's law college, which maps 19 states with laws that set a procedure for requesting an assistance animal in housing and penalize fraudulent claims.[15] Seven of the nine states above are on that map; Illinois and Iowa are not: the map counts only laws that both set a housing request procedure and penalize a false assistance-animal claim, and those two states regulate the documentation without that penalty (Iowa's misdemeanor is for faking a service animal in public, a different offense). The twelve mapped states we have not read are Alabama, Colorado, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

We have not read those statutes, so we are not going to tell you what they say. Several almost certainly resemble the ones above, because the same model language has moved from state to state. If you live in one of them, the checklist below will get you to the actual text in a few minutes. If you read one and we have it wrong or missing, tell us.

Updated · Sources checked · cites [15]

Which states penalize passing a pet off as a service animal?

More than half of the states, and the penalties are usually small but real: a civil fine in some states, a misdemeanor in others.[16] This is a different offense from faking an ESA letter. It is the public-access version: claiming in a store, restaurant, or airport that your dog is a trained service animal when it is not. Because an emotional support animal has no public-access rights, an ESA owner who tries to use one that way is exactly who these laws are aimed at.

Examples from the Animal Legal & Historical Center's table of state service-animal laws:[16]

  • California (Penal Code § 365.7): a misdemeanor, up to six months in jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.
  • Florida (§ 413.08): a second-degree misdemeanor with 30 hours of community service, mirroring the ESA-documentation offense in § 817.265.[6]
  • Colorado (§ 18-13-107.7): fines that climb from $25 for a first offense to as much as $500 for later ones.
  • Iowa (§ 216C.11): a simple misdemeanor.
  • Maine (17 M.R.S. § 1314-A): a civil violation with a fine of up to $1,000 per occurrence.
  • Michigan (MCL 752.61 to 752.63): a misdemeanor, up to 90 days in jail, a fine of up to $500, or community service.
  • Arkansas (§ 20-14-310): a civil penalty of up to $250 per violation.

The practical point is not the dollar amount. It is that the two categories are kept apart on purpose. An ESA letter does not turn a pet into a service animal, and in a growing number of states saying otherwise out loud is an offense. See ESA vs. service dog for where the line sits.

Updated · Sources checked · cites [6] [16]

Where do state fair-housing laws go beyond HUD?

Most states have their own fair-housing act, many have an agency to enforce it, and since HUD's 2026 change those agencies are where an untrained-ESA complaint is most likely to get a hearing. HUD's memo is an enforcement policy for HUD's own office. It does not rewrite state law, and it says nothing about what a state civil-rights or human-rights commission will do with a complaint filed under the state act.[1]

Some state statutes also lock in protections that are now unsettled federally. Florida's law, for instance, says a tenant with an emotional support animal “may not be required to pay extra compensation for such animal,” which is a pet-fee rule HUD no longer enforces,[5] and Minnesota's law bars any extra fee, charge, or deposit for a service or support animal.[11] Iowa and Montana both bar landlords from demanding a diagnosis or medical records. Whether your state has something similar is a statute-by-statute question, and the state agency is the fastest way to find out. HUD keeps a list of the state and local agencies in its Fair Housing Assistance Program.[17]

Updated · Sources checked · cites [1] [5] [17]

Does any state have an ESA registry?

No. Not one state registers emotional support animals, and the states that mention registries do so to say they prove nothing. Florida says a registration “is not, by itself, sufficient information to reliably establish that a person has a disability.”[5] Iowa says a registration “of any kind, including but not limited to an identification card, patch, certificate, or similar registration obtained electronically or in person,” is not sufficient.[8] Montana uses nearly the same words.[12]

So when a website offers to register your animal “in your state,” it is registering it in that website's own database, which no state agency, landlord, or airline consults. We go through the whole registration myth in is ESA registration real?

Updated · Sources checked · cites [5] [8] [12]

How do you check your state's current rule?

Read the statute, not a blog post, and if you cannot find it in ten minutes, call the state fair-housing agency or ask the clinician who would write the letter. ESA laws have changed in at least one state almost every year since 2019, and most of what ranks online for your state was written before its law changed.

  1. Search your state code for “emotional support animal” or “assistance animal.”Every legislature publishes its code online. Search the current code, not a bill, because bills change before they pass and some never do.
  2. Check the licensing board for your clinician's profession.Boards post notices when a law changes what their licensees may do, which is how California's Board of Behavioral Sciences explained AB 468.[4]
  3. Call your state or local fair-housing agency.HUD lists them under its Fair Housing Assistance Program. They handle complaints under state law and can tell you what it requires.[17]
  4. Ask the clinician who would write the letter.A clinician licensed in your state has to follow its rules. If they do not know whether a waiting period applies, that tells you something about the clinician.
  5. Use the Animal Legal & Historical Center's map as a starting point.It is the best free index of which states have these laws, maintained by a law school. It points you to the statute; it is not a substitute for reading it.[15]

Once you know your state's rule, the rest of the process is the same everywhere: a real evaluation, a letter from a clinician licensed where you live, and a written request to your landlord. See how to get an ESA letter and the accommodation request letter you can fill in.

Updated · Sources checked · cites [4] [15] [17]

Frequently asked questions about state ESA laws

Which states require a 30-day relationship before an ESA letter?

Of the statutes we have read, California, Montana, Arkansas, and Louisiana require a client-provider relationship of at least 30 days before the clinician writes documentation, and Iowa requires the clinician to certify whether a 30-day relationship exists. California's and Arkansas's rules apply to emotional support dogs specifically.

Does my ESA letter have to come from a clinician licensed in my state?

In several states, yes or nearly so. Montana requires a Montana license. Louisiana requires a Louisiana license or a compact license. California and Arkansas require a license in the jurisdiction where the documentation is provided. Minnesota accepts an out-of-state clinician only with an existing treatment relationship, and Florida only if that clinician has treated you in person at least once. Even where no statute says so, a careful landlord will check the license.

Is an online ESA letter valid in every state?

No state bans telehealth evaluations, but several states disqualify documentation from someone who never evaluated you or who only sells certificates. Illinois and Louisiana define a therapeutic relationship and exclude certificate mills from it; Virginia defines the relationship and makes fraudulent documentation a consumer-protection violation. Florida and Minnesota require personal knowledge or a treatment relationship. A real evaluation by a clinician licensed where you live satisfies all of them.

Can I be charged with a crime for a fake ESA letter?

In some states, yes. Florida makes falsifying ESA documentation a second-degree misdemeanor with 30 hours of community service. Louisiana and Arkansas impose civil fines that climb with each offense. Many more states penalize passing a pet off as a service animal in public, which is a separate offense.

Does state law still matter after HUD's 2026 change?

More than before. HUD now finds cause in animal-accommodation complaints only for trained animals, so for an untrained ESA your practical protection comes from the Fair Housing Act as courts read it, from a private lawsuit, and from state and local fair-housing law, which many states enforce through their own agencies.

Is there an official state ESA registry anywhere?

No. No state runs an emotional support animal registry, and the states that address the question say the opposite: Florida, Iowa, and Montana all say a registration, ID card, patch, or certificate, bought online or in person, is not by itself enough to establish a disability-related need.

Sources

We checked every quotation on this page against the source listed here on October 15, 2026. This page summarizes state statutes in general terms; it is not legal advice, and statutes change. Where we read a bill rather than the codified statute, we say so.

  1. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, Craig W. Trainor, “Enforcement Guidance – Assessing Requests for the Use of an Animal as a Reasonable Accommodation Under the Fair Housing Act” (May 22, 2026). PDF on hud.gov (accessed Oct. 15, 2026).
  2. 42 U.S.C. § 3613(a)(1)(A), Enforcement by private persons. Cornell LII (accessed Oct. 15, 2026).
  3. 42 U.S.C. § 3610(a)(1)(A)(i), Administrative enforcement. Cornell LII (accessed Oct. 15, 2026).
  4. California Board of Behavioral Sciences, “Law Change Regarding Emotional Support Animals: What BBS Licensees Need to Know” (AB 468; Health and Safety Code § 122318, effective Jan. 1, 2022). PDF (accessed Oct. 15, 2026).
  5. Fla. Stat. § 760.27 (2024), Prohibited discrimination in housing provided to persons with a disability or disability-related need for an emotional support animal (ch. 2020-76). Florida Senate (accessed Oct. 15, 2026).
  6. Fla. Stat. § 817.265 (2024), False or fraudulent proof of need for an emotional support animal (ch. 2020-76). Florida Senate (accessed Oct. 15, 2026).
  7. Illinois Assistance Animal Integrity Act, 310 ILCS 120 (P.A. 101-518, effective Jan. 1, 2020), as reproduced by the Animal Legal & Historical Center. animallaw.info (accessed Oct. 15, 2026).
  8. Iowa Code § 216.8B (2026), Assistance animals and service animals in housing. PDF, Iowa Legislature (accessed Oct. 15, 2026).
  9. Iowa Code § 216.8C (2026), Finding of disability and need for an assistance animal in housing. PDF, Iowa Legislature (accessed Oct. 15, 2026).
  10. Louisiana Act No. 558 of 2024 (H.B. 407), Support and Service Animal Integrity Act, R.S. 46:1971–1978, effective Aug. 1, 2024. Enrolled act, Louisiana Legislature (accessed Oct. 15, 2026).
  11. Minn. Stat. § 504B.113, Supporting documentation for an assistance animal (2021, amended 2024). Minnesota Revisor of Statutes (accessed Oct. 15, 2026).
  12. Mont. Code Ann. § 70-24-114, Emotional support animals (2023, amended 2025). Montana Legislature (accessed Oct. 15, 2026).
  13. Va. Code § 36-96.3:1, Rights and responsibilities with respect to use of an assistance animal in a dwelling (2017, amended 2023). Virginia Law Portal (accessed Oct. 15, 2026).
  14. Ark. Code §§ 20-14-1001 to 20-14-1005, Emotional Support Animals (Act 268 of 2023, effective Aug. 1, 2023; Act 819 of 2025), as reproduced by the Animal Legal & Historical Center. animallaw.info (accessed Oct. 15, 2026).
  15. Michigan State University College of Law, Animal Legal & Historical Center, “Map of States with Laws on Fraudulent Assistance Animals” (2026). animallaw.info (accessed Oct. 15, 2026).
  16. Michigan State University College of Law, Animal Legal & Historical Center, “Table of State Service Animal Laws” (2025). animallaw.info (accessed Oct. 15, 2026).
  17. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Fair Housing Assistance Program (FHAP) agencies. hud.gov (accessed Oct. 15, 2026).