Jessica Martinez filled out the online form in fifteen minutes. Questions about anxiety, depression, stress. She uploaded a photo of her Golden Retriever, Buddy, paid $149, and scheduled a video call with a licensed therapist she'd never met. Twenty-four hours later, she had an official Emotional Support Animal letter granting her the legal right to keep Buddy in her Phoenix apartment - no pet deposit, no monthly fees, no breed restrictions.

The process was fast, affordable, and entirely legal. It was also nothing like the therapeutic relationship traditional ESA letters were designed to require.

Emotional Support Animal letters have become a booming online industry. Companies like Pettable and CertaPet promise legitimate documentation from state-licensed mental health professionals after brief telehealth consultations. If you have anxiety, depression, PTSD, or any qualifying mental health condition, your pet can become an ESA. The letter protects your housing rights under the Fair Housing Act, allowing you to live with your animal in no-pet buildings without paying deposits or fees.

The system works exactly as advertised - for people who genuinely need it. But it's also created a pathway for people who don't.

Dr. Alan Chen, a licensed therapist in Portland, stopped writing ESA letters for his patients in 2024.

"I had clients I'd worked with for years ask me for letters, and I could tell the request was legitimate. But I also started getting calls from people I'd never met asking if I could write them a letter after one session. The line between therapeutic need and avoiding pet rent got very blurry."

Many therapists refuse to write ESA letters out of concern they'll be associated with fraud. That reluctance has pushed people with legitimate mental health needs toward online platforms, which promise fast turnaround and licensed professionals who specialize in ESA evaluations. The telehealth model makes sense for people who don't have an existing therapist. But it's also made it easier to game the system.

Marcus Webb from Denver got his ESA letter online in January 2026 after his landlord said his new building didn't allow dogs. Marcus has generalized anxiety disorder and has been in therapy for five years. His therapist doesn't write ESA letters as policy.

"She told me to use one of those online services. I felt weird about it, but I qualified. My anxiety is real. But I also knew that if I'd lied, there was no way they'd know."

The telehealth ESA evaluation assesses eligibility in a single session, often fifteen to thirty minutes. The mental health professional reviews reported symptoms and determines whether an ESA would provide therapeutic benefit. But the entire process relies on self-reported information from someone the therapist has never met.

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Some states have tried to address this. California, Iowa, Montana, Arkansas, and Louisiana now require a thirty-day therapeutic relationship before issuing an ESA letter. But most states have no such requirement.

Sarah Kim, a property manager in Seattle, sees ESA letters regularly.

"We used to get maybe two or three a year. Now it's two or three a month. Some are obviously legitimate. Others feel like someone Googled 'how to avoid pet deposit.'"

Under the Fair Housing Act, landlords must accommodate ESAs if the tenant provides a valid letter. Landlords can verify the letter by checking the therapist's license but can't ask about diagnosis or demand medical records. If the letter is legally valid, the landlord has to accept it, even if they suspect it's not entirely legitimate.

The frustration is mutual. Landlords feel the system is being exploited. Tenants with real disabilities feel scrutinized. And therapists face skepticism from both sides.

Airlines used to allow ESAs to fly in-cabin for free, but after incidents involving untrained animals, the Air Carrier Access Act was revised in January 2021. ESAs are no longer granted free travel privileges. Only Psychiatric Service Dogs qualify now.

There's also a critical distinction: ESAs are not service animals. Service animals are trained to perform specific tasks and have public access rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act. ESAs provide emotional support through their presence but require no training and have no public access rights. They're protected only in housing.

For people with legitimate mental health conditions, skepticism creates real harm. Jennifer Torres from Los Angeles has PTSD and credits her rescue dog, Scout, with helping manage severe anxiety. When she applied for housing in 2025 with a valid ESA letter from her therapist of three years, the landlord delayed approval for weeks.

"I felt like I was on trial. I have a real disability. But because so many people abuse the system, I had to prove myself over and over."

Misrepresenting a pet as an ESA is illegal in many states. California makes it a misdemeanor punishable by fines up to $1,000 and up to six months in jail. Tenants caught with fraudulent letters face eviction.

The system is legal, accessible, and necessary for people with disabilities. It's also easy to exploit. And until the gap between legitimate need and convenient workaround closes, the skepticism and harm will continue.

Sources:

• Top 27 Pet Trends of 2026 - Glimpse
• ESA Letters For Your Pet - Pettable
• Legal ESA Letter for Housing - CertaPet
• ESA Verification: Identifying Original and Fake ESA Letters - ESA Pet
• The Landlord's Guide to Avoiding a Fake ESA Letter - Azibo
• Fake ESA Letter: How to Tell if an ESA Letter is Legitimate - CertaPet