Verifying assistance animal documentation

Start with the licence

Every state licensing board publishes a searchable register. Take the clinician name and licence number from the letter and look it up. You are checking three things: that the licence exists, that it is current, and that it was issued by the state where the tenant lives. That one check disposes of most worthless documentation.

Then the document itself

• Does it identify the clinician at all? A letter with no licence number is not verifiable and you may say so.
• Does it state that the person has a disability within the meaning of the Fair Housing Act, and that the animal is needed because of it? Those are the two facts.
• Does it claim public access rights, or call the animal a service animal without a task? That is a sign the document came from somewhere that does not understand the distinction.
• Is there a registration or certificate number? No register exists, so that is a signal rather than a credential.

Where the letter carries an ESA ID

A letter issued through this site carries a six digit ESA ID and a public verification page. Entering the ID confirms whether the letter is genuine, current, expired or revoked, and shows the animal and the dates. It shows nothing about anybody health condition, which is the point: you get certainty about the document without receiving information you are not entitled to hold.

Contacting the clinician

You may ask whether they issued the document. You may not ask about the tenant condition, and they cannot tell you without authorisation. Keep the enquiry to authenticity and you will usually get an answer; go further and you should not.

If it does not check out

Say what specifically is wrong, in writing, and give a chance to cure it. Most defects are a missing licence number rather than an attempt to deceive. A tenant who fixes it costs you nothing; a tenant you refuse without explanation may cost you a complaint you would lose.