California ESA letter

California is strict about who can write an emotional support dog letter and when. AB 468, now Health and Safety Code 122318, requires a 30-day client relationship and a clinical evaluation before the letter is issued. State fair housing law, enforced by the Civil Rights Department, still protects ESAs in rentals, and the department says HUD's 2026 federal changes do not alter that.

Federal fair housing rules set a floor, and California can build on top of it. Whenever the state rule is kinder to tenants, that is the one you lean on. Each point below traces back to an official California page listed under sources, and we revisit it whenever this guide is reviewed.

• The therapist must hold an active license where you are located and list its number, type, jurisdiction and effective date on the letter.
• The therapist must also tell you, verbally or in writing, that Penal Code 365.7 treats it as a misdemeanor to falsely present a dog as a guide dog, signal dog or service dog.
• California's fair housing regulations (2 CCR 12185) bar pet fees, extra rent or extra deposits for an assistance animal, including an ESA, and bar breed, size or weight limits on it.
• Businesses that sell emotional support dogs must give buyers a written notice that the dog is not a trained service dog, with civil penalties starting at $500 (Health and Safety Code 122317 and 122319).
• In a July 2026 legal alert, the Civil Rights Department said California law still requires reasonable accommodation of ESAs, trained or not, despite HUD's narrower federal guidance.

Landlords nationwide owe tenants with disabilities reasonable changes to their rules, a duty spelled out in the Fair Housing Act and in HUD's regulation at section 100.204 of Title 24. Waiving a pets clause so you can keep a support animal is a classic example. California also has its own fair housing office for complaints (listed in the quick facts above).

Your landlord is entitled to some proof when your condition or your reason for the animal isn't plain to see. Usually that proof is a letter from a licensed therapist who has actually assessed you. Under guidance that HUD and the Justice Department published together in 2004, the landlord should not dig into your diagnosis or how serious it is.

The federal picture shifted recently. HUD pulled its 2020 animal notice (FHEO-2020-01), with the withdrawal taking effect on September 17, 2025. Then, on May 22, 2026, HUD told its investigators that an untrained ESA should be weighed on its own facts instead of being presumed reasonable, and it dropped the earlier line that ESA owners could never be charged fees. So whether a fee is allowed may now turn on state law. Damage your animal causes is always yours to cover.

Shops, restaurants and offices in California may turn away an emotional support animal. Federal disability law opens those doors only to animals trained for specific work, and an ESA letter doesn't change that.

Psychiatric service dogs sit in another category. Such a dog has been taught particular tasks that help with its handler's psychiatric condition, and that training earns it entry rights an ESA doesn't have. If that describes your dog, our ESA vs PSD guide explains the difference before you book.

Airlines stopped having to make room for emotional support animals in January 2021, when the Transportation Department changed its rules. Carriers now handle an ESA under their ordinary pet policy, with its carrier size limits and fees.

Look up your airline's pet rules well before the trip. Trained service dogs travel under a separate set of rules in Part 382 of Title 14.

California handles this differently. AB 468 says a 30-day relationship and an evaluation have to come before any emotional support dog letter. You start with a short video or phone visit; if an ESA suits your care, you receive a letter of intent that day and the ESA letter after a check-in near day 30. Fees stay the same: $129 for one or two animals, $199 for three or more, charged only when the letter is issued.

Your letter carries the therapist's full name, the kind of license held, its number, the state that granted it and the date signed. A California landlord who wants to double-check can look the license up on the state licensing board's website (see the quick facts) or with whichever board issued it. Booking only opens for states where our therapists are allowed to practice.

We only issue a letter when the therapist's assessment backs it up. It explains why the animal matters for your health; think of it as clinical documentation, not a registration, an ID card or a certificate, and no government keeps a list of ESAs.

A number of states punish fake ESA paperwork or passing a pet off as a service animal; any California rule on this appears in the list above. Ask for a letter only for an animal that truly supports your mental health, and answer the evaluation honestly. If you are in crisis, dial or text 988; for an emergency, dial 911.