Why Verification Matters for Property Managers

Support animal letters carry real legal weight. Under the Fair Housing Act, a valid letter from a licensed healthcare provider can require you to waive your no-pet policy and forego pet deposits. That is a significant accommodation. It deserves careful review.

The problem is that not every letter circulating today is legitimate. Some come from websites that charge a flat fee, ask no clinical questions, and deliver a signed PDF in minutes. Those letters put you in a difficult position. Accepting a fraudulent letter may expose you to resident complaints from others. Rejecting a legitimate one can trigger a Fair Housing Act complaint.

Knowing how to verify a support animal letter protects you, your residents and your property. This guide walks you through exactly what to look for and what to do when something feels off.

What a Legitimate Support Animal Letter Contains

A legitimate support animal letter is not a certificate. It is not a registration card. It is a clinical document written by a licensed healthcare professional who has evaluated the person requesting the accommodation.

A properly formatted letter should include all of the following elements.

The provider's full name and credentials. The letter should clearly state the name of the professional who wrote it along with their license type. Common license types include Licensed Clinical Psychologist, Licensed Professional Counselor, Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Licensed Psychiatrist.

The provider's license number and issuing state. Every licensed professional in the United States holds a state-issued license with a unique number. That number should appear on the letter.

A statement of the therapeutic relationship. The letter should confirm that the provider has an established professional relationship with the person requesting the accommodation. A legitimate letter never comes from a provider who has never evaluated the person.

A statement that the individual has a disability. The letter does not need to name the specific diagnosis. It only needs to state that the person has a condition recognized under the Fair Housing Act and that the support animal is part of their therapeutic care.

Provider contact information. A real clinical practice has an address and a phone number. Both should appear on the letter so you can follow up if needed.

A wet or digital signature. The letter should be signed. A typed name with no signature is a warning sign.

Red Flags That Signal a Fraudulent Letter

Spotting a fraudulent letter is easier once you know what real documentation looks like. Here are the warning signs our clinical team at TheraPetic® Healthcare Provider Group sees most often.

No license number on the letter. This is the most common red flag. A legitimate provider always includes their license number. Without it, you have no way to verify the signer is real.

A provider licensed in a different state than the tenant lives. Telehealth makes cross-state practice more common, but many states require providers to hold a license in the state where the client is located. If a tenant in Florida has a letter signed by a provider licensed only in Nevada, that is worth investigating.

The letter was issued the same day or within hours of the request. A clinical evaluation takes time. A proper assessment of a person's mental health needs cannot happen in 10 minutes. Same-day letters from online vendors almost always mean no real evaluation occurred.

The letter comes from a website that sells "certifications" or "registrations." There is no federal registry for support animals. No registration is required under the Fair Housing Act. If a letter includes a QR code linking to a paid registry or a certificate with a gold seal, it was almost certainly purchased rather than clinically issued.

Generic language with no reference to a therapeutic relationship. Legitimate letters are individualized. They reference a clinical relationship. Letters that look like they were filled in with a name and printed from a template are a concern.

The signing credential is not a licensed healthcare field. A life coach, wellness consultant or certified emotional support specialist is not a licensed healthcare provider. The Fair Housing Act requires documentation from a person who is actually licensed to diagnose or treat mental health conditions.

No contact information or unverifiable contact details. If the phone number rings to a voicemail with no practice name or the address is a residential mailbox, you have good reason to ask follow-up questions.

How to Verify the Signing Professional's License

Every U.S. state maintains a public license verification database for healthcare professionals. These databases are free to access and easy to use. Here is a straightforward process you can follow for every support animal letter you receive.

Step 1: Identify the signer's license type and state. Pull the license number and issuing state from the letter.

Step 2: Go to the state licensing board website. Search for the appropriate board. For example, a Licensed Professional Counselor in Texas would be verified through the Texas State Board of Examiners of Professional Counselors. Most state boards have a "License Lookup" or "License Verification" tool on their homepage.

Step 3: Enter the license number. Confirm that the name on the license matches the name on the letter. Confirm the license is active. Confirm the license type matches what the letter claims.

Step 4: Check expiration and disciplinary history. Most state boards also display whether a provider has been disciplined or has a license in inactive or revoked status. An expired or revoked license means the documentation is not valid.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services also maintains resources through the HHS website that can help you identify the correct licensing authority for different provider types across states.

If you are unsure which board oversees a particular license type, a quick call to your state's Department of Health can point you in the right direction.

What HUD Guidance Actually Says About Documentation

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has issued clear guidance on how housing providers should handle support animal accommodation requests. That guidance is binding on all covered housing providers under the Fair Housing Act.

Under current federal guidance, you are permitted to request documentation when the disability or disability-related need for the support animal is not obvious or already known to you. You may not require documentation for a condition that is visible or self-evident.

When documentation is appropriate to request, HUD's guidance says that the documentation should come from a person with personal knowledge of the individual's disability. That means a provider who has actually evaluated the person, not one who simply reviewed a questionnaire and clicked a button.

HUD guidance also makes clear that housing providers are not required to accept fraudulent or unreliable documentation. You are within your rights to follow up when a letter raises legitimate concerns. What you cannot do is use the verification process as a reason to delay or deny legitimate requests without cause.

You can read the current HUD guidance on reasonable accommodations directly through the HUD Fair Housing office website.

Verification Tools and Next Steps

When a letter passes your initial review, that is a good sign. When it raises questions, you have options. Here is a practical sequence for handling letters that concern you.

Run the license number. Use the state board lookup tool as described above. This takes about three minutes and gives you a definitive answer on whether the provider is real and active.

Call the provider's office. A legitimate clinical practice will have a verifiable phone number. Call and ask to confirm that the letter was issued by their office. You do not need to discuss the resident's diagnosis. You are only confirming the letter's origin.

Review the letter against the checklist above. Use the elements listed in the second section of this guide as your benchmark. If multiple items are missing, document your concerns in writing.

Consult your fair housing attorney or housing authority. If you remain uncertain after verification, a brief consultation with a fair housing attorney can help you respond appropriately without creating liability.

If your resident received their letter through TheraPetic® Healthcare Provider Group, our clinical team is available to confirm documentation at help@mypsd.org or by calling (800) 851-4390.

When You Can Request Additional Information

Property managers sometimes worry that asking questions will trigger a Fair Housing Act complaint. That concern is understandable but often overstated. You are permitted to ask for clarification in specific circumstances.

You may ask for additional information when the letter does not include verifiable provider credentials. You may also ask for more detail when the disability-related need for the specific animal is not apparent from the letter. What you may not do is require the person to share their diagnosis, submit to a new evaluation or provide documentation that exceeds what HUD's guidance allows.

Keep your requests in writing. Be specific about what information you need. Set a reasonable response timeline. And apply the same process consistently to every accommodation request you receive, regardless of the type of animal or the person making the request.

Consistency is the clearest protection against a discrimination claim. Treat every request the same way and document every step.

Our housing rights resource page covers what landlords and property managers can and cannot ask under current law. It is a helpful reference to bookmark for your team.

How TheraPetic® Supports Property Managers

TheraPetic® Healthcare Provider Group is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit healthcare organization. Our mission is to connect people who have genuine mental health needs with licensed clinical documentation that meets the legal standards housing providers require. We are not a registration service. We are not a certificate mill. Our Licensed Clinical Doctors conduct real evaluations before any letter is issued.

We believe that good documentation protects everyone. It protects the tenant who needs a legitimate accommodation. It protects the property manager who needs to be confident in what they are accepting. And it protects the integrity of the process for people who genuinely rely on support animals as part of their care.

If a resident tells you they are starting the documentation process, you can point them to our free eligibility screening at go.mypsd.org. Our screening helps determine whether a person qualifies for clinical documentation before any evaluation begins.

Property managers with questions about a letter they have received or about the verification process in general are welcome to reach out to our team directly at help@mypsd.org or at (800) 851-4390. We are here to help everyone navigate this process with clarity and confidence.

For a broader look at how support animal documentation intersects with Fair Housing requirements, visit our landlord and property manager resource center. It covers accommodation timelines, response letter templates and guidance on the interactive process under federal law.