Texas ESA Housing Letter

Online evaluation reviewed by a Texas-licensed mental health professional

  • $129 evaluation and letter
  • Reviewed by a Texas-licensed professional
  • Most evaluations reviewed within 48 hours
  • If you don't qualify, you won't be charged
Start my Texas evaluation Free Pre-Qualification

18,000+ ESA letters issued since 2016.

How it works

  1. Pre-qualify (optional, free). A short quiz tells you whether an ESA letter is likely to fit your situation.
  2. Complete your online evaluation. Tell us about your symptoms, how they affect daily life, and your animal. Choose Texas as your state.
  3. A Texas-licensed professional reviews it. Most evaluations are reviewed within 48 hours. If they need more information, they'll ask.
  4. Download your letter as soon as you're approved. It's in your free dashboard, ready to print or send to your landlord.

Price and what's included

$129 covers the evaluation and your signed housing letter. No subscription, and nothing extra to unlock the letter.

Your letter includes:

  • the licensed professional's name, license type and Texas license number, with the license's issue date;
  • the date of your letter and the professional's signature;
  • its MPC ID, which your landlord can enter with your last name in our Free Letter Verification for Landlords, any time.

Letters are dated. We found no Texas or federal law that sets an expiration date for an ESA letter, but many landlords look for one written in the past year, so you can renew yours from your dashboard when it's due.

If you don't qualify, you won't be charged: your card is held at checkout and charged only when a licensed professional approves your letter. If your landlord later denies your request in writing, you may be eligible for a refund; see our refund policy for the terms.

Your Texas reviewer

Your evaluation is reviewed by a mental health professional licensed in Texas by the Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council (BHEC). BHEC's rules treat a client who is located in Texas as the place where the professional is practicing (22 TAC §882.23), which is why your reviewer holds a Texas license. Their name, license type and license number are printed on your letter, and anyone can check that license, and its status, on BHEC's license verification.

What an ESA letter can and can't do in Texas (2026)

What an ESA letter is. It's a written statement from a mental health professional licensed in Texas that you have a disability and that an animal helps with it. You can give it to a landlord when you ask, in writing, for an exception to a no-pets rule. It is not a permit, and it doesn't make a landlord say yes.

What changed in 2025–2026. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) withdrew its 2013 and 2020 guidance on assistance animals, effective September 17, 2025 (Federal Register, April 6, 2026, Doc. 2026-06624). In a May 22, 2026 memo, HUD's fair housing office said it will find a violation in animal-accommodation complaints only in cases involving animals trained to provide disability-related assistance. The memo says requests to waive pet policies for animals trained to perform specific disability-related services are presumptively reasonable, and requests for untrained emotional support animals are not. What the 2026 HUD change means.

What didn't change. The federal Fair Housing Act still requires reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities (42 U.S.C. §3604(f)(3)(B)), and so does HUD's regulation (24 CFR 100.204). The Texas Fair Housing Act has the same rule (Texas Property Code §301.025(c)(2)). HUD's memo says it doesn't affect your right to bring a private lawsuit.

Texas specifics.

  • We found no Texas statute that mentions emotional support animals.
  • Texas law says a person with a service animal may not be required to pay extra compensation or make a deposit for the animal, and it defines a service animal as a dog “specially trained or equipped to help a person with a disability” (Human Resources Code §§121.002, 121.003(h)). That protection does not cover untrained ESAs.
  • The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) has an FAQ for TDHCA-monitored properties (updated July 2026), which is guidance rather than a rule. It says that where only the Fair Housing Act applies, standard pet fees may be charged for an untrained ESA starting at lease renewal, and recommends against charging during a current lease. It also says Section 504 and housing tax-credit properties should allow support animals without charge.

What a letter can do: document your disability-related need when you request an accommodation, from a professional whose Texas license your landlord can look up on BHEC's site. What it can't do: force approval, waive pet fees on its own, or give your animal public-access or airline rights. An ESA letter is not a guarantee.

Asking your Texas landlord for an accommodation

  1. Ask in writing and keep copies of everything: your request, your letter, and any reply. Use the landlord's portal if it has one, but keep your own copy.
  2. Know what you may be asked. TDHCA tells its properties they may ask whether the animal is needed because of a disability and what work or task it is trained to do in relation to the disability, and says they shouldn't ask about your diagnosis or its severity.
  3. Check whether your home is covered. Texas and federal law exempt some rentals: a building with four or fewer units where the owner lives in one of them, and a single-family house rented by an owner of no more than three such houses without a real estate agent (Texas Property Code §301.041; 42 U.S.C. §3603(b)).
  4. If you're turned down, ask for the reason in writing. You can:
    • file with the Texas Workforce Commission Civil Rights Division within one year of the denial (Texas Property Code §301.081(d)); the complaint must be in writing and under oath;
    • file with HUD within one year (42 U.S.C. §3610). You can still file, but under its May 2026 memo, HUD finds a violation only where the animal is trained to provide disability-related assistance;
    • contact a local fair housing agency: TDHCA lists enforcement offices in Austin, Corpus Christi, Dallas, Fort Worth and Garland, and counseling agencies including the Austin Tenants Council, the Greater Houston Fair Housing Center and the San Antonio Fair Housing Council;
    • bring a lawsuit within two years (42 U.S.C. §3613; Texas Property Code §301.151). Talk to a lawyer or legal aid first; TDHCA lists Legal Aid of Northwest Texas, Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, Lone Star Legal Aid and Volunteer Legal Services of Central Texas.
    Contacts for all of these are on TDHCA's page on filing a fair housing complaint.
  5. Tax-credit or subsidized property? You can also email TDHCA at [email protected].
  6. Describe your animal as an emotional support animal, not a service animal (see the FAQ below).

For more on the laws themselves, see Texas ESA laws.

For landlords and property managers

Free Letter Verification for Landlords: every MyPetCerts letter shows its MPC ID. Enter it with the resident's last name on our verification page to confirm the letter is valid. The license printed on the letter can be checked on BHEC's site.

Texas ESA letter questions

Is there a Texas ESA registry?

No. We found no Texas or federal law that creates a registry for emotional support animals. Paying a website to list your animal doesn't give it any legal status. What a landlord may consider is reliable information about your disability-related need, such as a letter from a licensed professional.

Does Texas have a 30-day rule for ESA letters?

No Texas statute requires a 30-day relationship before an ESA letter. A 2023 bill, HB 5206, would have required one; a House committee approved a revised version on May 2, 2023, but it never got a floor vote and did not become law. We found no ESA-letter bill in the 2025 regular or special sessions. Some other states, such as California, do require one; this page covers Texas only.

Can my Texas landlord charge pet fees for my ESA?

It's unsettled.

  • HUD's May 2026 memo says requests to waive pet policies for trained animals are presumptively reasonable and requests for untrained ESAs are not. Under that memo, HUD finds a violation only where the animal is trained to provide disability-related assistance.
  • TDHCA's FAQ for TDHCA-monitored properties (updated July 2026), which is guidance rather than a rule, says that where only the Fair Housing Act applies, standard pet fees may be charged for an untrained ESA starting at lease renewal, and recommends against charging during a current lease. It also says Section 504 and housing tax-credit properties should allow support animals without charge.
  • Texas law bars deposits for trained service dogs (Human Resources Code §121.003(h)).
  • A 2004 HUD and Justice Department statement on reasonable accommodations, which HUD's 2025 withdrawal did not include and which TDHCA still links to, says providers may not require extra fees or deposits as a condition of a reasonable accommodation. How that applies to untrained ESAs today is unclear.

If you're asked to pay, ask for the policy in writing.

What's the difference between an ESA and a service animal in Texas? Is there a penalty?

Texas law defines “assistance animal” and “service animal” as a dog “specially trained or equipped to help a person with a disability” (Human Resources Code §121.002). An emotional support animal doesn't need training and isn't a service animal. Knowingly representing that an animal is an assistance or service animal when it isn't specially trained or equipped is a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 and 30 hours of community service (§121.006, as amended by HB 4164, effective September 1, 2023). That law doesn't mention emotional support animals. Describe your animal accurately, as an emotional support animal; an ESA letter doesn't make it a service animal.

Can I fly with my ESA?

Not as an assistance animal. Under the U.S. Department of Transportation's rule effective January 11, 2021 (85 FR 79742; 14 CFR 382.3), emotional support animals are not service animals for air travel, and airlines may treat them as pets. Check your airline's pet policy and fees before you book.

I live in subsidized or tax-credit housing. Is it different?

It may be. TDHCA's FAQ says Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act applies to any TDHCA-monitored property with federal or state funds, and to housing tax credit or bond properties awarded after September 1, 2001, and that those properties should allow support animals without charge (10 TAC §1.204). HUD's rules for public housing, and for HUD-assisted housing for older people and people with disabilities, still exempt animals that “assist, support, or provide service” from pet rules (24 CFR 960.705 and 5.303). HUD's May 2026 memo doesn't discuss Section 504 complaints. Ask your property manager which programs cover your building, or contact TDHCA at [email protected].

How long is an ESA letter good for?

We found no Texas or federal law that sets an expiration date for an ESA letter. Many landlords ask for recent documentation. Your MyPetCerts letter is dated, and our free letter verification shows it as current for one year from its issue date.

What if my landlord denies my request?

Ask for the reason in writing, check whether your rental is exempt (Texas Property Code §301.041), and send any information the landlord didn't consider. You can file with the Texas Workforce Commission or HUD within one year (under its May 2026 memo, HUD finds a violation only where the animal is trained to provide disability-related assistance), contact a local fair housing agency or legal aid, or file a lawsuit within two years. A lawyer can tell you whether a claim is likely in your situation. If your landlord denies your request in writing, you may also be eligible for a refund: see our refund policy.

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Sources (reviewed November 2026): HUD enforcement memo of May 22, 2026; Federal Register Doc. 2026-06624 (April 6, 2026); 42 U.S.C. §§3603, 3604(f)(3)(B), 3610, 3613; 24 CFR 100.204, 5.303, 960.705; Texas Property Code §§301.025, 301.041, 301.081, 301.151; Texas Human Resources Code §§121.002, 121.003, 121.006; TDHCA FAQ for TDHCA-monitored properties on emotional support animals (July 2026); 10 TAC §1.204; U.S. DOT rule, 85 FR 79742; BHEC, 22 TAC §882.23. This page is general information, not legal advice.