It has been proven that a person suffering from disorders related to their mental health can benefit from having an emotional support animal (ESA). These animals provide affection and companionship to their owners, through which, many symptoms and effects of mental health disorders can be alleviated. For becoming an ESA owner, it is very important for you to have a letter that has been provided by a licensed mental health professional. However, it is an utter disappointment that some fraudsters and scammers are trying to take advantage of people belonging to such categories. One of the biggest scams related to ESAs that most people face nowadays is a scam known as ‘Free Emotional Support Animal Letter’.
The only possible way of having an ESA for free is when you already have an LMHP (Licensed Mental Health Professional)
Obtaining an ESA letter for free is only possible when you are already obtaining the services from a licensed mental health professional (LMHP). It is common knowledge that a therapist or doctor that you are already visiting won’t charge you anything extra for the issuance of an ESA letter.
If you come across an online advertisement or a social media post, or a cold call from a person stating you can obtain an ESA letter without having to pay anything, then you must know that you are being lured into a scam. Typically, these free ESA letters are not legal and don’t have any more value than a piece of white paper.
Emotional Support Animals have a very important job
An emotional support animal is not just a regular pet animal, instead, it is an assistance animal with a very important job, i.e., making its owners happy. Emotional support animals are taken by people who suffer from mental disabilities such as anxiety or PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder).
It is really hard for anyone to deal with mental disorders, yet ESAs are known to be beneficial for the person’s mental health condition.
Ever wonder why an ESA is not taken into consideration as a regular pet? This is because they are offered some privileges that a regular pet does not have.
Service dogs are specifically trained so that they can help an individual who is disabled. With the help of service dogs, such disabled persons can manage their daily tasks more efficiently. For example, think about guide dogs that help blind people in performing various tasks of their life by guiding them and acting as their eyes. In the same way, psychiatric service dogs alert their owners when it is time to take medication.
The only thing necessary for having an ESA is a letter that has been signed and provided by a licensed therapist. When you become a victim of a fake free ESA letter, then not only would it be helpful in proving your situation, but the privileges that are to be offered to your ESA won’t be offered anymore.
Time to know more about Emotional Support Animal Letter
An emotional support animal letter is an official letter that differentiates between a regular pet and an ESA. In layman’s terms, your animal companion would only be considered as an assistance animal when you have a legit ESA letter, and only then it would be possible to enjoy privileges that aren’t offered to regular pets.
By hearing this, you must already know that a free emotional support animal letter is not at all comparable with a legitimate ESA letter. Only a licensed mental healthcare expert is allowed to offer an ESA letter, which would be considered valid and legitimate.
Emotional Support Dog (also called ESA Dogs or ESDs) are offered protection by federal laws!
Emotional support animals are legally protected by two federal laws related to travel and housing. To make it easy for understanding, emotional support dogs have the right of living and traveling with their owners. This means, ESA dogs are to be offered reasonable accommodation in various types of housing, even when there is a no pets policy. For doing so, the owners of emotional support animals aren’t required to pay any additional fees or pet deposits.
In the United States, the Fair Housing Act (FHA) and the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) safeguard the privileges offered to emotional support animals. This means ESAs are to be allowed in rented housing by landlords and on flights by the airlines. However, the Department of Transportation (DOT) made some changes to the travel regulations related to ESAs. Based on these new changes, airlines aren’t obliged to take in emotional support animals anymore, yet some airlines still allow ESAs.
For the people belonging to Canada, the Aircraft Accessibility Act for Persons with Disabilities is responsible for the travel regulations of ESAs, which is also a federal law that deals with travel regulations in the entire country. However, the housing rules might differ depending on the province because each province has its own set of regulations. If you are a Canadian and are thinking about getting an ESA, then it is recommended that you get familiar with the Canadian ESA laws.
Why isn’t an ESA registration considered a legally binding process?
Emotional support animal registration is a scam, and there is an excellent reason supporting this statement. As you might know, people suffering from disorders have the right to maintain confidentiality regarding their health conditions. No specific person or authority is permitted to necessitate an individual to disclose the information related to their disability.
Therefore, emotional support animal registration is a completely illegal process because you are disclosing the fact that you have a disability when you register your ESA. You have every right to maintain the secrecy of your health condition and not announce your mental/emotional disorder to other people.
It is not something we came up with, because many federal laws such as the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDA), the Rehabilitation Act, and several other laws state that a person has the right to privacy. These laws support the confidentiality of your health condition and protect your rights.
The operational procedure of fake online so-called “Legitimate Support Animal Registration”
In most scenarios, fake websites often use convincing terminology such as “Legal”, “Legit”, “Official”, and “Federal” in order to mislead you and make you believe what they say. We recommend you not to trust these websites because what they do is totally illegal.
You can understand a fake website/organization when they assure you that you can get your ESA letter on the same day without even having to connect with a healthcare professional or stating your situation. Even if such a letter is free or paid, it would be a fake letter and won’t be of any use to you. It is impossible to get a genuine ESA letter without having to consult a licensed healthcare professional.
Sadly, such fraudulent activities are increasing every day and these fraudsters target individuals who desperately want an ESA so that they improve their lives. Not only such types of activities done by these scammers are illegal, but they are also unethical.
In such situations, even when the ESA letter that has been obtained is free of cost, the individuals end paying a huge price. How? Well, in both the US and Canada, carrying a fake ESA letter is considered a crime, and people who get caught with one are subject to penalty or they might even have to do time in jail.
If you want a doctor, then try finding a doctor with a valid license instead of selecting anyone you find randomly over the internet
Medical professionals are allowed to issue an ESA letter, and only the doctors/therapists with actual practice are allowed to do it. It is not possible for someone you randomly meet over the internet.
If you have any queries regarding this, you can consult your healthcare expert or a medical professional with a valid license and talk to them about this.
Online Free Emotional Support Animal Letter is nothing but a scam!
On hearing all the information we’ve discussed so far, it might have been made clear to you that a free ESA letter does not exist, and even if it does, it is completely fake. Not only would the letter have any value, but you might also end up paying hefty penalties or go to jail. Of course, you can find many ESA letter templates online which aren’t fake, but these letters must only be filled by a mental health professional.
Who is permitted to issue an ESA letter?
It should be taken into careful consideration that ESA letters can be issued only by two types of people. It is either a licensed mental health professional or a trained licensed doctor, where licensed mental health professionals can be therapists, psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses, and social workers.
In every legit ESA letter, you can find the information related to the license along with the contact details of the professional that issued the letter. What is the benefit of having this information on your ESA letter? Well, if your landlord or airline wants to confirm that the ESA letter is legit, they can connect with the professional using that information. It is to be duly noted that a free ESA letter would never have such type of information.
Getting an Emotional Support Animal with the help of ESA Certificate.
As there are a lot of fake websites that try to scam individuals, ESA Certificate does its best to offer genuine services related to emotional support animals. Once you begin the procedure of acquiring an ESA letter from us, you will know that you are following the proper procedure. We have a network of professionals who operate all over the United States while providing services related to ESAs, and we are even planning on expanding our network to other countries as well.
One of the best things about choosing us for obtaining an ESA letter is that we follow all the regulations, and additionally, we make the process of obtaining an ESA letter to be simple and hassle-free. There is nothing you may need other than this, especially while trying to get a legit ESA letter.
Complete the questionnaire to know whether you are eligible for having an ESA!
Do you want to become an ESA owner and don’t know where to begin? Well, don’t worry. We got you covered. Complete the free online assessment from the comfort of your own home. This usually takes around 5 minutes of your time, and during this process, you get to list all your requirements for the type of letter you want (housing or travel, or both).
After we review your answers, you will be connected to a licensed therapist operating within our network. The therapist is the person who will determine whether or not you need an ESA depending on your health condition.
After you are successfully approved by our mental health professional to have an ESA letter, you are provided with an ESA letter that has been written by the professional following the legal procedure. This letter will be shipped to you within a time as low as 48 hours, with the benefit of expedited options if you choose to obtain it faster.
Everything in life comes at a price and nothing is free, and the same applies to an ESA letter!
An ESA letter is a very important thing, and you must be attentive while obtaining one. It might sound attractive when you hear about a free ESA letter, but it would be legally invalid. The process of obtaining an ESA letter is not as hard as you think, especially when you choose to obtain an ESA letter through us.
Remember that it is better to pay a small price and obtain the ESA letter in a legal way rather than getting a fake letter for free and end up paying thousands of dollars in the form of penalties or even having to go to prison. Therefore, join us in the process of obtaining a legit ESA letter that is provided by a licensed mental health professional.