Pets are fantastic to have in your life, no matter the circumstances. But having an animal around can be life-saving if you’re dealing with mental health or emotional issues. That’s why emotional support animals (ESAs) exist; these animals can assist with easing mental health issues such as phobias, anxiety, and depression.1 However, to have an ESA recognized under federal law, you’re required to get an emotional animal support letter.
Getting one of these can seem like quite the task, but it’s easier than you think, especially since there are online services that can help you out. The trick is making sure these services are legitimate and not scams.
Since there are several emotional animal support letter services out there to go through, we’re here to give you the basics on the seven best this year. We’ll tell you the pros and cons of each, plus what to look for when looking for an emotional animal support letter service!
A Quick Comparison of Our Favorites of 2024
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Best Overall
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CertaPet |
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Most Comprehensive Service
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Pettable |
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Quickest Option
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US Service Animals |
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ESA Doctors |
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ESA Pet |
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The 7 Best Emotional Support Animal Letter Services:
1. CertaPet – Best Overall
| Refund policy: | Yes |
| Free screening: | Yes |
| States covered: | All 50, plus Puerto Rico and Canada |
| BBB Accredited: | Yes |
If you’re looking for the best overall emotional support animal letter service, we recommend giving CertaPet a shot. For one, they offer free pre-screening to see if you’re a candidate for an ESA since not everyone will be. If you are, you’ll pick the type of letter you’re looking for—travel, housing, or both. Then you’ll purchase a session with a licensed therapist in your state (they say there’s typically a 2-day wait to get a phone consultation with said therapist). Then if you’re approved for an ESA letter, you can download a digital copy of the letter immediately from their website. And the process of doing all this is relatively easy, as it’s only three steps.
CertaPet’s letters are compliant with both state and federal regulations, and there’s a money-back guarantee—if the therapist you speak with does not approve you for an ESA, you’ll get your consult fee returned (minus $35).
While it seemed the majority of people had a good experience with CertaPet, there were a few complaints about the therapists used by the companies—occasionally, therapists came off as rather unprofessional. There were also a handful of complaints that getting a consult with a therapist took up to a week rather than the 2 days that were promised.
2. Pettable – Most Comprehensive Service
| Refund policy: | Yes |
| Free screening: | Yes |
| States covered: | All 50 |
| BBB Accredited: | Yes |
If you want an emotional support animal letter service with the most comprehensive services, Pettable is the service for you. The company promises that you’ll receive your ESA letter within 24 hours of being approved (though residents in California are now required to have two consultations with a licensed healthcare provider before an ESA letter can be approved, so the process will take a bit longer there). And the method to go about getting your ESA letter is simple; there’s a 3-minute free screening that will allow you to be matched up with a licensed professional in your state, then you’ll have your telehealth consultation. You might end up waiting a couple of days to schedule this, but the therapist you speak with should let you know at the end of your session whether you’ve been approved.
What makes Pettable so comprehensive, though, is that they’ll help you with any extra forms your landlord might require and will talk with them if needed. Plus, the company has a legal team that will help handle any challenges to their ESA letters that might arise. The 100% refund if your ESA letter isn’t approved is pretty nice too!
The downside is that Pettable is a bit pricier than other places. There were also a couple of complaints about people having issues getting their consults scheduled.
3. US Service Animals– Quickest Option
| Refund policy: | Yes |
| Free screening: | Yes |
| States covered: | All 50 |
| BBB Accredited: | Yes |
Need your ESA letter sooner rather than later? Then check out US Service Animals! Though they send over your letter via mail, they also provide a digital copy within minutes of your telehealth consultation if you’re approved. Plus, you don’t pay anything until you do get approved, so the process is risk-free. You just need to submit your contact information to get matched up with a licensed healthcare provider in your state. Once that’s done, you’ll have your telehealth consultation to see if you qualify for an ESA.
The US Service Animals refund policy is excellent as well. You have 45 days to ask for a 100% refund if you’re not satisfied. But if your letter isn’t accepted by any government housing authority, they will provide you with a 110% refund—although there are some hoops to go through with this one. US Service Animals also has a legal team on hand to help with any challenges that may arise.
However, there were a few customer comments about US Service Animals trying to sell them extra stuff they didn’t need, so be wary of that. Some people also said the therapists they matched with were rude, though others had great experiences, making that seem very hit or miss.
4. ESA Doctors
| Refund policy: | Yes, but limited |
| Free screening: | No |
| States covered: | All 50 |
| BBB Accredited: | Yes |
ESA Doctors looks as easy to use as the other services on this list but is also a bit more affordable than some. They offer flat fee pricing for a housing ESA letter and an ESA Plus letter (the Plus adds on priority support and a discounted yearly renewal rate). Most likely, you’ll only require the basic housing letter, though.
Going through ESA Doctors is a similar 3-step process wherein you fill out a questionnaire, then get matched up with a licensed healthcare provider to assess whether you qualify for an ESA. If approved, you’ll receive your letter digitally within 1–3 business days, which is a bit slower than many other services.
And while they do have a refund policy, it’s a bit confusing and not absolute. If you request a cancellation and refund within 24 hours of completing the questionnaire, you should get one, but there’s a $39 cancellation fee. However, if you’ve already signed a consent form to work with a therapist, even if you’re in the 24-hour window, you won’t receive a refund. And though on some pages of their website, it says you can receive a refund if your ESA letter is rejected by a landlord, etc., a look at their refund policy finds the opposite. ESA Doctors says it will work with you if your letter is rejected, but they won’t provide a refund.
On the plus side, there is a money-back guarantee if you aren’t approved for an ESA letter.
5. ESA Pet
| Refund policy: | Yes, but limited |
| Free screening: | Yes |
| States covered: | All 50 |
| BBB Accredited: | Yes |
ESA Pet follows the same format as the other companies on this list as far as processing goes—there’s a 2-minute qualification screening; if you qualify, you’ll be matched up with a licensed healthcare professional in your area. Then, you’ll receive your letter digitally within 24 hours if approved. There’s no mention of cost on the home page or under FAQs, so it’s hard to tell how the company stacks up to others in that regard.
The refund policy is a bit limited as well. It states that all ESA letter sales are final, with no mention of what happens if your letter is challenged. Other than that, you’re only allowed to request a refund if you aren’t approved for a letter, weren’t contacted by the company or a therapist within two days of your assessment, no longer need an ESA letter for some reason, or if you think you’ve been billed more than once. So, we’re not big fans of that.
We’re also a little wary that the company has a few reviews listed on their website from customers, but a search of the Better Business Bureau and TrustPilot brings up nothing on them at all. They also have no reviews on their Facebook page, so it’s difficult to tell how honest these reviews are.
6. ESA Doggy
| Refund policy: | Yes, but very limited |
| Free screening: | Yes |
| States covered: | All 50 |
| BBB Accredited: | Yes |
Despite the name of the company, ESA Doggy doesn’t just provide emotional support animal letters for dogs but cats as well. Those seem to be the only animals provided for, though. You go through the same process as the rest of the companies on this list with a free pre-screening before being set up with a licensed healthcare professional in your state. The website states that the process should take around 5 days from beginning to end.
However, the ESA Doggy refund policy is quite limited. For example, even if you end up not approved for a letter, there are no refunds. The only refund you can get (aside from your letter being challenged) is if you change your mind before confirming an initial appointment with a therapist, and even then, there’s a $49 cancellation fee. Even getting a refund if your letter is rejected seems to be a process, according to this fine print.
There’s also a lack of reviews for this company out there, as the only ones seem to be on the Better Business Bureau (though those are all excellent).
7. Valid ESA Letters
| Refund policy: | Case-by-case basis |
| Free screening: | Yes |
| States covered: | All 50 |
| BBB Accredited: | No |
Though the company’s name is a bit on the nose, it seems legit. It follows the process of going through a telehealth consult with someone licensed in your state to be approved for an ESA letter and, if approved, you should receive your letter the same day. So, turnaround seems to be fairly quick.
The refund policy, though, may be the most stringent of all the companies here as it’s only on a case-by-case basis. And that’s only after you’ve gone through the process of contacting the service’s legal team for help in challenging any rejections to your letter, as well as filing complaints with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and your state’s local housing authorities. The lengthy refund process if your letter is rejected could be enough to be warier of this service than others.
The company does have good reviews on TrustPilot, though, stating the service was fast and efficient.
Buyer’s Guide: Finding the Best Emotional Support Animal Letter Service
If you aren’t careful, it can be easy to be scammed by an online emotional support animal letter service. That means you should watch out for the following.
No Live Consultation
If you come across an emotional support animal letter service that says you can be approved by simply answering a few questions that will then be checked by a healthcare professional—but there is no actual one-on-one with you and said healthcare professional—go somewhere else. ESA letters require an actual live consultation to be valid. In fact, some states, such as California, require you to have seen your healthcare professional for at least 30 days.
Extremely Cheap
An ESA letter is one of those cases where you get what you pay for. ESA services must provide a large network of licensed healthcare professionals in all the states the company covers, which isn’t cheap. So, if the cost seems too good to be true, it likely is. That isn’t to say prices should be exorbitant either, but you shouldn’t need to pay for anything other than the consultation (i.e., filing fees, etc.).
Claims of Multi-Year ESA Letters
ESA letters should be renewed once a year, so if you come across a company that claims its letter is good for multiple years, avoid them.
Registration
If a company claims you need to register your ESA, there’s a good chance you’ve run into a scam as there’s no such thing as ESA registration. Companies may also refer to this as “certifying” your animal, which also is not a thing.
Customer Service
With ESA letters, good customer service is a must, particularly if you feel you were unfairly not approved or if your letter is rejected by your landlord. Check a company’s website to ensure you can get in touch with customer service easily (having both email and phone support is a plus). Then check reviews to see how well others felt customer service handled their issues.
Better Business Bureau
While an emotional support animal letter service doesn’t need to be accredited by the Better Business Bureau, it’s a definite bonus. Accreditation means that the service went through several tests and reviews and passed (always a good sign!). Even if a company isn’t accredited, though, it’s a good idea to check its Better Business Bureau rating and reviews.
Refund Policy
Refund policies are important in life, particularly with something that could end up not working. Ideal companies will offer money-back guarantees if you aren’t approved for an ESA letter in the first place and will refund your money if your letter is rejected by your landlord or others. Some companies on this list require hoops to be jumped through to get a refund for a rejected letter, which isn’t the best policy, but there should always be some sort of refund policy.
License of Your Healthcare Professional
Since ESA letters need to come from someone licensed in your state, always check a therapist’s license yourself when going through an ESA service. Chances are everything is fine with their license to practice, but there’s also a chance it’s expired or worse. It isn’t difficult to check these, so it should only take a matter of minutes.
Reviews
Reviews from others who have already used an emotional support animal letter service are vital. Never trust all the claims made on a company’s website!
Conclusion
CertaPet is our recommendation for the best emotional support animal letter service out there, as they are fairly quick and provide service to the U.S., Puerto Rico, and Canada. For the most comprehensive service, our pick is Pettable since they not only provide the ESA letter but will help you out with other forms your landlord requires; they also have a legal team to help you handle any challenges to your letter. Finally, if it’s a quicker turnaround time you’re seeking, US Service Animals should do the trick, as you’ll receive a digital copy of your ESA letter within minutes of your telehealth session (if approved).
- Related Read: Can Emotional Support Animals Go Anywhere?
Featured Image Credit: Lopolo, Shutterstock
