It’s easier to get an ESA letter online for New York residents than you may think. If you have a qualifying mental health condition, you’ll have to virtually meet with a licensed mental health professional (LMHP) who is currently licensed in the Empire State. They will assess you and officially diagnose you with one or more specific mental health disorders. Then, they will compose your legitimate ESA letter and make it official with their signature.
With Pettable by your side, you can get paired with the perfect LMHP to serve your needs. We have vetted health professionals from across the country, giving us an industry-leading team with expertise in mental and emotional health concerns. You’re guaranteed a successful outcome with your official ESA letter issued by a professional who is licensed in the state of New York. If your letter is denied by a landlord or housing provider, we offer a money-back guarantee, so you have nothing to risk. We can make your pet an official emotional support animal in no time!
Answer a few questions about your ESA needs
We'll match you to a professional in your state
Receive it within 24 hours of getting approved *
We'll help with any extra forms you need signed and our therapists are available to talk to your landlord anytime, for an additional fee.
* For Arkansas, California, Iowa, Louisiana and Montana residents, new laws requires those seeking an ESA letter to establish a client-provider relationship with the individual for at least 30 days prior to providing documentation, which will result in having two consultations before qualifying.
In the state of New York, not only are emotional support animals welcomed, but they’re also recognized as a crucial type of treatment for mental health challenges. Whether it’s a canine companion, feline friend, or a scaly sidekick, New York residents have the right to have an ESA, just as long as they have a qualifying condition — and an ESA letter.
In New York City, the NYC Human Rights Act bolsters the federal protections that prohibit discrimination against any disabled persons, including individuals with assistance animals.
However, ESAs don’t have the same protections in New York as service dogs do, so consider getting a psychiatric service dog (PSD) if you want more benefits that are backed by law.
When it comes to living in New York, whether you’re in Buffalo, Long Island, or anywhere in between, individuals with disabilities are allowed to convert their pet into an ESA. The animal doesn’t need any special training, because as an ESA, it isn’t meant to perform the same tasks as a service dog.
However, ESA laws only protect the owner and animal in housing matters. Unlike physical and psychiatric service dogs, ESAs are not considered working animals, so they aren’t subject to the same protections. This means you are not permitted to bring an ESA into public places such as stores, restaurants, shopping centers, and medical facilities.
Thanks to the Fair Housing Act (FHA), New York residents are permitted to have emotional support animals (ESAs) in their rented homes, such as apartment complexes and condominiums. When combined, the FHA and the NYC Human Rights Act ensure that disabled renters in New York State can live their lives with the help of ESAs of any domesticated species. However, both laws have a similar caveat: if the animal causes undue hardship, poses a threat to other tenants, or causes property damage, the housing provider can deny the animal and evict the resident.
Just like the other 49 states, New York does not require registration for either emotional support or psychiatric service animals. As long as you have a legitimate ESA letter, composed and signed by a medical professional, you are allowed to have your ESA in your home without the need to register it. This also goes for “certification;” there are no certificates required to have an ESA in your home.
Getting an emotional support animal in New York means you need to connect with a licensed mental health professional who can evaluate your need for an ESA.
The easiest and best way to qualify is to find a clinician who has extensive experience with mental health evaluations as well as expertise with emotional support animals in particular and schedule a consultation.
After completing the quiz and receiving authorization from our clinicians to work with you, you will be matched with an LMHP from your state and will have an over-the-phone consultation with them. You’ll complete a mental health evaluation to determine if you qualify for an ESA. Once one of Pettable’s licensed mental health professionals determines whether an ESA is essential to your care and well-being or not they’ll proceed accordingly. If they decide that an ESA is essential to your well-being, they will then write a legitimate ESA letter and receive approval in as little as 24-48 hours.
Emotional support animals provide comfort to owners with certain mental health issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety disorders, specific phobias like agoraphobia, and depression.
Those with mental and emotional disabilities oftentimes need a social companion to meet their emotional and mental health needs. When you’re living alone and experiencing mental issues, having an ESA gives you a reason to go out for a walk, maybe a run, or spend time outdoors. These are all good activities for helping to maintain your mental well-being.
An emotional support animal (ESA) can help individuals save on pet housing fees because landlords and housing providers must accommodate ESAs under fair housing laws, often waiving pet fees or deposits. This legal protection ensures that individuals with ESAs are not financially penalized for having an animal that provides them with emotional support.
Many individuals who struggle with mental health challenges choose to upgrade their pet dog to the position of psychiatric service dog (PSD) rather than an emotional support animal. If you want extra protection from discrimination, this is the right choice for improving your daily life. All you need to do is take our PSD assessment to determine your eligibility.
One of the most important aspects of getting a PSD is training; all service dogs must be trained to perform one or more tasks related to their mental health condition. Thankfully, Pettable offers a convenient and effective online PSD training program that helps you teach your dog from the comfort of your home. Pettable guarantees that you’ll be happy with your PSD training — or your money back. Contact us today to get started!
Pettable boasts a seasoned network of mental health specialists ready to assist you across every state. They can furnish you with an ESA letter, recognized both within and beyond state borders. Whether you're fielding inquiries from a landlord requiring additional documentation, your Pettable mental health specialist stands by your side. Additionally, Pettable's legal team is equipped to provide support, irrespective of your location.
1. Our Letter Assurance
At Pettable, we firmly believe that your letter should work without causing concern. Hence, we offer a satisfaction guarantee, ensuring that if your letter doesn't meet expectations, you get your money back.
2. Top-Tier Mental Health Professionals
We've curated a team of top-tier mental health professionals capable of crafting an ESA Letter prescription guaranteed to be effective wherever you live.
3. Exceptional Customer Support
Recognizing the stress of securing approval for your animal's residence, we invest significantly in a dedicated team of support specialists. Rest assured, you'll always be taken care of with the support you need.
4. Licensed Nationwide
Our extensive network of mental health professionals spans all 50 states. Furthermore, our robust team ensures that we can meet any timeline.
5. Human Connection & Valid Evaluations
To ensure the effectiveness of your letter, live consultation with a mental health professional is crucial. At Pettable, our clinicians adhere to HUD standards, conducting phone consultations to thoroughly understand your mental health situation.
1. We Guarantee Our Letters Will Work For You
We believe you should not have to worry about your letter working or not. That's why at Pettable we offer a satisfaction guarantee - meaning your letter works or you get your money back.
2. World Class Mental Health Professionals
We have built a team of world class mental health professionals who can write you a PSD Letter prescription guaranteed to work anywhere you go.
3. Unparalleled Customer Support
We know getting your animal approved to travel or live with you can be stressful, which is why we invest so much in our team of dedicated support specialists to make sure you are always taken care of and have the support you need!
4. Licensed in all 50 states
Our network of mental health professionals is deep and spans across the entire country. Additionally, we have a deep team of mental health professionals to make sure we can meet any timeline.
5. Best In Class Legal Support
We are here to make sure your housing and travel needs are taken care of so you don't worry. Our legal team is dedicated to having your back should you need it!
6. Human Connection & Legitimate Evaluations
In order for your letter to work you need to have a live consultation with a mental health professional. At Pettable we make sure our clinicians adhered to HUD standards and conduct consultations over the phone to get to know you and your mental health situation well.
Pettable is the best provider because we're committed to making sure the process works for you. That means working with the best and most experienced mental health professionals in the ESA letter space, as well as providing a guarantee that your letter will work for you. We back all of this up with outstanding customer support, a renowned legal team, and a commitment to making sure you have an incredible experience.
We broke down the different services offered by every ESA service. And we looked for unbiased reviews from 3rd party sites.
MSW, LCSW
Jennifer Bronsnick is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Anxiety Treatment Specialist, & Heartmath Certified Trainer. She provides customized workshops and trainings to working professionals and teams to help build resilience and reduce stress with practical strategies.
MSW, LCSW
I graduated with a Master of Social Work (MSW) from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee before obtaining my Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) in 2021. I have eight years of experience in the mental health field working in and with various populations, including case management, intake coordination, and residential, inpatient, and outpatient programs. I am certified in Brainspotting to help individuals deeply process negative emotions and trauma/significant life events. Additionally, I utilize Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Motivational Interviewing (MI), and safety planning in sessions/groups.
LCSW
As a clinical social worker, I have been able to work within multiple types of settings, such as hospitals, community centers, and family welfare. I enjoy having the clinical and administrative experience to holistically serve those I work with.
An emotional support animal provides comfort to help relieve a symptom or effect related to a person's disability. Also, there is no animal or breed restrictions for ESA's as long as it is reasonable and justified.
Note that being an emotional support animal is not the same as being a service animal (like seeing-eye dogs). These types of animals have stricter criteria that must be met, including different forms of training such as obedience, public access and disability training. These additional trainings are necessary since service dogs have public access and travel rights, unlike emotional support animals who are only protected under housing rights.
ESA's do not have public access or travel rights, so it's best to check with individual business guidelines to see if they allow ESA's. Additionally, you can train your dog to become a PSD (psychiatric service dog) in order to have public access and travel rights.
The general criteria is to have some emotional or psychological condition that is improved by having an animal that provides support. Conditions may include depression, generalized anxiety, paranoia, insomnia, and others. And remember, Emotional Support Animals do not require special training!
Only a licensed mental health professional is qualified to determine if you meet the criteria. Through our service, you can speak directly with a qualified mental health professional in the state where you reside. Pettable connects you with a licensed mental health professional for a consultation to determine if you qualify for an ESA. Unlike, some less legitimate services, we do not provide letters for fee, but instead we connect you to a professional for an honest evaluation.
Step 1: Once payment is submitted and your appointment is scheduled through our website, you will receive an email to activate your account.
Step 2: Once your account is activated, the process will prompt you to fill out the required forms to give more information to your clinician before your scheduled appointment.
Step 3: Your assigned clinician will call you at your scheduled appointment time and will let you know if you have qualified. If you've qualified, your clinician will upload your letter in your portal for you to view and print.
If for any reason you are not approved we will refund your entire purchase.
Get your official ESA Letter
When you take our quiz we collect information to match you with a therapist that has experience with your case and can meet your specific needs.
Additionally, to our knowledge, Pettable is the only provider that offers a full Money Back Guarantee - meaning if you do not qualify for a letter after your consultation or your landlord does not accept it after filing a complaint with the HUD, then we’ll refund 100% of your purchase.
We have experience with every kind of ESA situation - multiple pets, breed restrictions, weight/size restrictions, traveling across state lines, immediate turnaround, etc. We are confident we can help you with your specific ESA needs and if we can't, we will refund your money 100%. See our Money Back Guarantee FAQ for more information.
No problem, we've got your back!
Our mental health professionals should be able to call your landlord to verify the legitimacy of your letter.
Should your landlord request a validation of your letter, please have them reach out to your therapist using the contact information on your ESA letter.
In the unlikely event that your letter does not work as intended and we've tried to make it work with the landlord we will refund your purchase 100%.
We can turn around an ESA letter in as fast as 24 hours! If you need it this quickly make sure to choose our "Express Service." You can select this option at checkout.
To ensure the fastest turn around possible, it is important that you sign and submit our consent forms.
We have an extensive network of mental health professionals, licensed across states, with wide range of availability and can route you to someone that is able to meet your timeline needs.
Once a consultation is concluded, letters are turned around within 24 hours and most of the time much more quickly than that.
After speaking with a licensed mental health professional and receiving your own ESA Letter, all you need to do is designate which animal will be your specific emotional support animal. It can be any breed or species, whether an existing pet or a new pet you adopt or rescue. You do not need to go to any specific breeder or place to acquire one.
Absolutely! There is research and data that support the theory that animals provide substantial and measurable emotional support. If you're thinking about the benefits of an emotional support animal, you can learn more by researching online or talking to qualified mental health professionals in our network.
Our ESA letters contain the following:
The Fair Housing Act requires housing providers such as landlords or management companies to allow the possession of animals that work, provide assistance for, or perform tasks that benefit individuals with qualified medical disabilities – or that provide emotional support to individuals to reduce a symptom or effect of a disability.
The Fair Housing Act also requires individuals, who wish to possess a service or support animal, to follow specific criteria relevant to the type of support needed.
For an emotional support animal, the individual has to speak with a licensed mental health professional in the state they reside and receive a prescription of an ESA Letter in order to qualify.
Although the Fair Housing Act and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development does not specify guidance around the issue of ESA letter expiration, we recommend that you renew your ESA letter annually for a few reasons:
Renewing your letter is easy through our seamless consultation process.
Federal and state laws require a live consultation over the phone, video, or in person to properly vet and qualify an individual to warrant an ESA Letter.
To ensure our ESA letter are compliant, all of our consultations are conducted live over the phone in order to meet the legal standards set forth and assure the validity of your letter.
Yes. Federal and state laws require a live consultation over the phone, video, or in person to properly vet and qualify an individual to warrant an ESA Letter. Since the letter grants privileges about keeping a pet in a place that otherwise would not allow it, base guidelines must be met to qualify.
Yes. An emotional support animal can be any breed or species as long as it supports an emotional or psychological condition.
Since emotional support animals do not require any training, your childhood pet or newly adopted animal can qualify.
Yes, you can register multiple pets on the same ESA letter. At Pettable we can accommodate up to two pets per letter for no additional charge.
According to the American Disabilities Act your request for multiple animals must be "reasonable".
An example of an unreasonable request is if you want four great danes registered as ESAs and you live in a tiny apartment.
In order to make sure we're meeting the standard of "reasonable" Pettable is able to accommodate up to two pets per letter as long as you meet the criteria to warrant an ESA letter.
At the end of the day it is a judgement call but we want to make sure that you are covered in any situation you're in, which is why we've set this policy.
Once you have a proper ESA Letter, your landlord is required by the Fair Housing Act to allow you to keep your designated emotional support animal with you at your place of residence.
Sometimes landlords create barriers for individuals in attempt to refrain from accommodating legitimate ESA's. If this occurs please reach out to your assigned mental health professional to validate or assist in verifying your legitimate ESA letter.
At Pettable, we understand at a personal level the positive impact an animal can have on your life.
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