An ESA Letter Has No Federal Expiry Date, but Iowa and Arkansas Set a One-Year Clock

Most people who search for ESA letter renewal have just been asked for a newer letter by a leasing office, a screening service or a new building. The letter has not stopped being true, but three clocks can still run on it: a state law that dates it, a landlord or screening service that wants something recent, and the clinician relationship behind it. Knowing which one you are up against tells you whether a ten-minute check-in will do or you need a new evaluation.

No federal law puts an expiry date on an ESA letter

The Fair Housing Act sets no date on the documentation behind a reasonable accommodation request, and HUD withdrew its guidance on assistance animals effective September 17, 2025, so there is no federal list of what to show either. Our page on what HUD changed in 2026 has the timeline.

The one-year habit comes from the people who read the letter. PetScreening, which many landlords use to review ESA requests, has assistance animal profiles that expire after one year, with no fee to renew one, and its written review process lists documentation issued within the last 12 months as a check some properties ask for. Our PetScreening guide walks through that review step by step.

Iowa and Arkansas are the two states that put a one-year clock on the letter

Renewing with the clinician who wrote the letter is the quickest route

1. Read the letter you have. Check its date, the clinician's license number and the license state. If all three are current and that clinician still treats you, a phone call from the landlord may be all it takes.
2. Ask the landlord, in writing, what they need. Some accept a letter of any age; others want one dated within the last year. One email often settles it before you pay anyone.
3. Book a check-in with your clinician. A clinician who already treats you can re-evaluate the need and sign a newly dated letter, often at a regular appointment.
4. Check the new letter before you send it. Letterhead, signature, date, license type, number and state; in Iowa, also the expiry date; in Arkansas for a dog, a current yearly evaluation.
5. Send it in writing and keep a copy. Email gives you a date stamp if the request is ever questioned.

Set a reminder for about eleven months after the date on the letter, so the check-in lands before the lease date rather than in the week it is due.

If your clinician is no longer available, the renewal is a new evaluation

A letter is only as renewable as the relationship behind it. If the clinician who wrote yours has retired, moved or stopped seeing you, you need a new evaluation from someone licensed in your state. In New Jersey and New York, ESA Card's live video evaluation with a licensed therapist is $120; elsewhere, a legitimate telehealth service with clinicians licensed in your state typically charges $139–$199. In California and Arkansas for a dog, and in Louisiana and Montana for any animal, a new clinician needs 30 days with you first, so start a month before the lease date.

Ours is a live video call with an independent therapist licensed in your state, refunded in full if they can't approve you, and the therapist alone decides on the letter. You can book in New Jersey or book in New York.

After a move to another state, the clinician who can renew your letter is usually a new one

Clinicians practise under state licenses, including over video, so a clinician licensed only where you used to live usually cannot evaluate you where you live now. Expect the renewal after a move to be a new evaluation, and check your new state's rules on our ESA laws by state page first: the 30-day states and Iowa's dated findings travel with the address, not with the letter.

Renewing a registration does not renew the letter

A registry listing, ours included, runs on a separate clock that the seller sets, and keeping it current does nothing for the letter. Our guide to whether ESA certification expires explains both clocks side by side.

In short: find out who is asking and what they want, go back to your own clinician first, and give yourself a month if you are switching clinicians in a 30-day state. If your animal is a dog, our ESA letter for a dog guide covers the two states that write their rules for dogs only.