Emotional Assistance Animals have been a huge help in giving hope to people with legitimate emotional problems and mental disabilities. However, there is an alarming and disturbing trend online that is creating distrust for people who are in genuine need of ESAs.

That is getting an ESA approval letter online by just filling up a survey without a proper diagnosis from a therapist or a doctor. This has made landlords skeptical about the worth of future tenants with approval letters as this can also be used to bypass no-pet policies and pet ownership fees.

Documents like ESA approval letters that especially come from the internet are not sufficient and reliable to establish that a person is indeed in need of an ESA. These $100-$200 documents are even considered fraudulent to consumers because they cannot be used despite appearing to be legal.

So what makes an ESA approval letter legitimate? The therapist or doctor who signs it should have examined the patient personally. The professional whose signature is in the paper should also have personal knowledge of the condition the patient has.

As for landlords, they should double-check the approval letters they’re presented with and follow Housing and Urban Development guidelines on not to accept applying tenants with documents procured just by answering a short online survey.

Source: WJLA

Do you own an assistance animal? Register your pet today.  The Service Animal Registry of California invites you to have your assistance animal registered in order to designate its status. We also encourage you to take our online classes so you can be fully aware of your rights and gain more knowledge about your support animal.

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