Disclaimer

This page explains, in plain English, what ESA Card (esacard.com) is and what it is not. We would rather you read this before you buy than be surprised after. If anything here is unclear, email us at support@esacard.com or call (888) 555-0134.

We are not a government agency

ESA Card is a private company. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), the U.S. Department of Justice, or any federal, state, or local government body. Nothing we sell is a government document, and no purchase from us creates a government record.

There is no official ESA registry — anywhere

No government agency in the United States registers emotional support animals. There is no federal database, no state database, and no registration number that confers legal rights. Any website that claims to operate an authoritative ESA registry is describing something that does not exist in law. That includes us: our verification listing is a private convenience tool that lets a landlord or anyone else confirm that a registration kit we issued is genuine — it is not a legal registration, and we never present it as one.

The letter is the legal document. We do not sell it.

Under the Fair Housing Act and HUD's January 2020 Assistance Animals guidance, the document that supports a housing accommodation request is a letter from a licensed mental health professional describing your disability-related need for an assistance animal. ESA Card does not sell that letter, arrange evaluations, or provide any clinical service — so if you need one, get it without us. Ask your own therapist or psychiatrist first; many will write one at no extra charge, and our free sample letter shows them exactly what housing providers expect. If you do not have a provider, legitimate telehealth letter services with clinicians licensed in your state typically charge $139-$199. Verify that the clinician holds a license in your state, that a live evaluation actually takes place, and that the letter carries a verifiable license number. Be wary of anyone promising an instant letter.

• Our registration kits, certificates, and wallet cards are convenience items with no legal force whatsoever. They can make conversations with a leasing office easier, but no landlord is required to accept them, and they are never a substitute for the letter.
• A kit purchased without a valid clinician letter proves nothing and protects nothing. We say this on our registration page and in our ESA letter guide, and we mean it.
• If any of our marketing ever reads to you as implying otherwise, tell us at support@esacard.com and we will fix it.

ESAs are not service animals

Emotional support animals are not service animals under the Americans with Disabilities Act. An ESA letter does not grant access to restaurants, stores, hotels, offices, campuses, or other public places, and it does not permit you to represent your animal as a service animal. Misrepresenting a pet as a service animal is a civil or criminal offense in many states. The housing rights described on this site come from the Fair Housing Act and comparable state fair-housing laws, supported by a valid clinician letter — not from anything we sell. Our ESA laws guide covers the distinction in detail.

Airlines do not accept ESAs

Since a Department of Transportation rule took effect in December 2020, U.S. airlines are no longer required to accommodate emotional support animals, and none of the major carriers do. Airlines treat ESAs as ordinary pets, subject to pet fees and cabin rules. No document we sell changes that. The remaining travel accommodation under the Air Carrier Access Act is for trained psychiatric service dogs, which involve a different legal standard and different documentation we do not provide. If a company promises that any ESA document gets your animal into an airline cabin at no charge, it is misleading you.

Not legal advice

Content on this site — including our articles, state guides, and FAQ — is general information about how the Fair Housing Act and related laws typically work. It is not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Housing disputes turn on specific facts. If you are facing an eviction, a formal denial, or any legal proceeding, consult a licensed attorney in your state or contact HUD or your state fair-housing agency.

Not medical care, and never emergency care

ESA Card provides no medical or mental health service of any kind — no evaluations, no appointments, no therapy, and no clinicians working for us or through us. Registration asks for your pet's details and your name and city; it never asks health questions, and completing it says nothing about your health or about whether a clinician would find you qualify for an ESA letter. Nothing on this site is a substitute for care from your own doctor or mental health provider.

No guaranteed outcomes

Nothing we sell can guarantee a housing outcome. A registration kit does not obligate a landlord to do anything, and even a valid clinician letter cannot promise that every housing provider will respond lawfully. What we can promise is narrow, and it is on the record on our pricing page and in our refund policy: a kit is a one-time $39 or $69 payment with no renewal fees ever, every purchase carries a 30-day money-back guarantee, and we replace damaged or lost kits for free.

• If you seek a letter in California, Arkansas, Iowa, Louisiana, or Montana, expect a wait: state law requires a provider-client relationship of at least 30 days before a letter can be issued (California's rule is AB 468). A service promising a fast letter in those states is ignoring the law.
• State and local laws change. We update our state guides regularly, but the law in force on a given day controls, not our summary of it.

Questions

If anything on this page — or anywhere on this site — seems inconsistent with what you were told or sold, contact us: support@esacard.com or (888) 555-0134. Honesty about what our products can and cannot do is the foundation of this business, and our FAQ answers the most common questions in the same plain terms.