What Are The Federal Laws For Emotional Support Animals?
What Are Emotional Support Animals?
ESAs (emotional support animals) are there for people who undergo emotional or mental illness. They provide love, comfort, and satisfaction to their owners and are prescribed by a legal mental health professional. This article aims to provide information about ESAs, ESA Letter and their laws that are significant for you.
Emotional Support Animals Are Protected By Two Significant Federal Laws
Emotional support animals are not like services dogs, therefore, they’re not allowed to go everywhere with their owners, though they’re a part of their treatment. To facilitate emotional support animals and their owners, there are two federal laws that are of great importance.
FHA (Fair Housing Act)
The FHA is a federal law that restrains inequity against tenants with disabilities. Under the Fair Housing Act, a disability is explained as a mental or physical handicap which considerably curbs one or more major life activities.
Renters with an emotional ache or mental illness have emotional support animals that deliver relief and comfort that instinctively reduce the symptoms of the disorder. According to the Fair Housing Act, landlords must make ‘reasonable accommodations’ for renters with ESAs, even if the property has no-pet housing policy or other limitations on pets.
ACAA (Air Carrier Access Act)
ACAA supports the Emotional Support Animal Travel Law. Under the Air Carrier Access Act, you’ll be allowed to fly with your ESA.
Emotional Support Animal Requirements
In order to facilitate your emotional support animal from FHA, you should present an emotional support housing letter or emotional support animal letter prescribed by a legal mental health professional. ESA letter makes your emotional support animal different from pets.
The same process should be followed in order to fly with your ESA as ACAA also requires an original emotional support animal letter.
If your pet is playing the role of an ESA then you should get him certified. Otherwise, you can not claim your domestic animal or pet as an emotional support animal. And your pet will not be facilitated under FHA and ACAA.
Emotional Support Animals VS Service Animals
Many people get confused between ESAs and service dogs. They are totally different as service dogs are assigned to people with physical disabilities to help them complete their daily tasks and ESAs are prescribed to people with mental disorders. For your dog you need an emotional support dog letter to bring him inside house.
Who Can Be Eligible For ESA Letter?
Anyone suffering from mental and emotional disorders that may affect their quality of life is eligible to sign up for emotional support animals. The legal mental health professionals suggest animals to these people because it has been proved medically that keeping an animal close to your body can calm the heartbeat, blood pressure and can reduce the anxiety levels.
How To Get Your Legitimate Emotional Support Animal Letter?
You should know that a legal emotional support animal letter can only be issued by a registered mental health professional. So, you should see your LMHP and talk to him about your emotional or mental disorders. If you fulfil the requirements given by the Americans with Disabilities Act, then your doctor will surely issue an ESA letter to you.
ESA Letter Online
In case, if you can’t go to your doctor then you can apply it online as well. But you need to filter a reliable company from the online sources that provide an ESA letter. Remember that you’re not seeking just an ESA letter online but it should be a legitimate one.
Once you reach the dependable online source, they’ll do their little assessment and will take you to their registered mental health therapist and after his recommendation, you’ll be issued a legal emotional support animal letter.
Useful Resources:
Shouldn't something be said about Giving ESA As A Gift? Unconventional But Amazing!
Would You Like To Feed Your ESA Pet With Vegetarian Diet?
Definitive Guide: How Your Emotional Support Animal Help You With Phobias?
Is it Okay to Have More Than One ESA?
Difference Between ESA And Pets?