OurPetPolicy Verifies Your ESA Letter and Then Decides the Request Itself

If your landlord or property manager sent you an OurPetPolicy link or QR code, your emotional support animal request is going to a service that checks your paperwork with your provider and, for an emotional support animal, makes the decision itself. OurPetPolicy is a product of Landlord Tech, Inc. ESA Card has no connection to it. Everything below comes from OurPetPolicy's own resident help pages, FAQ and pricing page, linked where it appears and read on October 25, 2026.

OurPetPolicy decides an emotional support animal request itself, where a property manager decides a pet

Its resident help center spells out the split: "For ESAs and service animals, OurPetPolicy handles both verification and approval. For standard household pets, OurPetPolicy verifies the information, and the property manager gives the final approval" (help center). Its pricing page tells property managers the same thing from the other side: "We take full responsibility for approving or denying assistance animal accommodation requests" (pricing).

That is the main difference from PetScreening, which says its role is to provide a recommendation and that the community keeps full authority to approve or deny a request. With OurPetPolicy, the review team you are dealing with is the one that says yes or no.

An emotional support animal request takes six steps from your property's link

1. Open your property's link or scan its QR code, then choose to sign up with an email address or a phone number.
2. Enter the random verification code it sends. The verification email has a direct link back to the app.
3. Start your animal's profile and say whether the animal is a pet, a service animal or an emotional support animal.
4. Add the animal's details: a photo, species and breed, birthday, color, weight, gender, spayed or neutered status, house training and any history of aggression, plus a current rabies record, which most properties require (upload list). The resident FAQ also lists a signature on your property's animal addendum.
5. Upload your documentation, give your provider's first and last name and an email, phone or fax number, confirm how you obtained the letter, authorize OurPetPolicy to contact the provider, and review the privacy policy for assistance animals.
6. Wait for the review. Once that is uploaded, OurPetPolicy says, "your profile is complete. The OurPetPolicy team will begin reviewing your application."

OurPetPolicy publishes no fixed time for an emotional support animal review

For a pet, it says to expect verification "within 1-2 business days" when every document is uploaded and meets the property's pet policy. For an assistance animal it gives no number. The timeline "depends on various factors such as the time taken to upload documents, the reliability of the documentation provided, and the duration required for your health practitioner to verify the accuracy of your documentation," and inconsistencies in your documents can make it longer (resident FAQ).

One line in its help center is worth acting on: the process "is often expedited when the provider hears directly from the patient, so we encourage all residents to reach out to their providers personally" (help center). Tell your provider a message from OurPetPolicy is coming before you press submit.

Your provider may ask you to sign a release form before they confirm your letter

OurPetPolicy says a provider "may require you to complete a Release of Information (ROI) form before they communicate with us," and that the form is needed only to confirm that a disability exists, not to ask about its specifics. It adds that it is "generally a good idea to inform your health professional in advance that we will be reaching out on your behalf" (help center). Telling your provider first is the simplest way to keep the request moving.

Its help pages describe what the review looks at in terms of HUD's 2020 guidance: whether you have an impairment, whether it limits a major life activity, and whether you need the animal because it does work, assists you or provides therapeutic emotional support rather than merely being a pet (help center). HUD withdrew that guidance effective September 17, 2025. The Fair Housing Act did not change, and our page on HUD's emotional support animal rules has the documents.

A letter gets held up when it comes from a questionnaire instead of a provider who knows you

OurPetPolicy answers the question "my documentation is from a licensed provider, why is it unreliable?" directly: "Our primary concern is the method through which the documentation was obtained." It says documentation "should not be the result of a brief questionnaire and quick call, followed by a fee," and should rest on a real assessment and an ongoing relationship (help center). Its help pages also quote HUD's 2020 line that documentation from the internet is not, by itself, sufficient to establish a disability or a need for the animal.

The animal tab of your dashboard shows where your request stands

Your animal's status appears on the OurPetPolicy dashboard under the animal tab, and the help center is clear that it "will not be automatically verified the second you submit your application." A pet can be Pending and Verified while it waits for the property manager. An emotional support animal is not in that position, because OurPetPolicy approves it.

What OurPetPolicy costs a resident is not published, so ask your property

OurPetPolicy lists no resident price. The inquiry form on its pricing page, written for property managers, asks whether the company "would pass the cost of our service to the resident" or pay it itself, with the options Tenant Paid, Company Paid or Unsure (pricing). So who pays is a decision your property makes. Ask them in writing before you start. Our guide to pet screening for apartments compares what a pet application costs and involves at OurPetPolicy and PetScreening.

A letter from a licensed provider who knows you goes through the same way every time

Give your provider's contact details exactly as they are on the letter, with an email, a phone number or a fax number that gets answered. Make sure the letter shows the provider's license type, number and state, so anyone can look the license up. Our free sample ESA letter shows each part, and our guide to who can write an ESA letter covers which licenses count. The quickest route is a therapist, psychiatrist or doctor who already treats you: they know you, and they can answer when OurPetPolicy gets in touch.

No provider of your own? In New Jersey and New York we can book you a live video evaluation with an independent therapist licensed in your state: $120, with $80 back 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.

Alongside the letter, ESA Card registration gives your animal a wallet card with its photo, a certificate and a number anyone can check at esacard.com/verify, for $39$59$79$99 once, in about three minutes. It is handy for the everyday questions; the letter is what a reviewer reads.