How to get an ESA letter in Florida (2026)

A real Florida housing ESA letter comes from a clinical evaluation, not an online certificate or a registry ID. The clinician decides, so approval is never automatic.

How do I get an ESA letter in Florida?

You get a housing letter only if a Florida-licensed clinician reviews your case and approves it. A registry ID, vest, or instant certificate is not that letter.

1. Confirm you need documentation for Florida housing (apartments, rentals, and many HOA or condo homes).
2. Start the evaluation, answer a short form about you and your animals, and pay the fee ($149 new, $99 to renew).
3. After you pay, Yudelmy Castaneda Sanchez, APRN, calls you. The call is in English or Spanish. There is nothing else you need to do.
4. If the clinician approves, you receive a signed PDF letter in English. If the clinician does not approve, you get a full refund.
5. Send your landlord a written reasonable accommodation request with the letter attached.

Cost and risk

Using the letter on a Florida lease, not as a pet application

Once a Florida-licensed clinician issues a housing letter, the next step is a written reasonable accommodation request to the property, leasing office, corporate accommodations desk, or HOA manager. Attach the PDF. Do not file it as a pet application, a pet-screening profile, or a breed-exception form. Send it before the animal moves in.

Approval is never automatic: the clinician decides. Housing only under the Fair Housing Act and Florida Statute § 760.27. We do not control what any one building does. Not a registry. Letters for landlords are issued in English only.

Who writes the letter a Florida landlord can check?

The requirements guide lists what belongs on that PDF. The accommodation guide is the written request after you already have a letter. This page is the path in between: the short form, the clinician's review, the PDF if approved, then the request. Do not skip the written request once the PDF arrives. The housing file still needs the English letter. Florida law lists information from a telehealth provider, as defined in s. 456.47, among the supporting information a housing provider may request (Fla. Stat. 760.27(2)(b)4). The statute treats that information as reliable if the provider has “personal knowledge of the person’s disability.” A landlord reviews each request. Full refund only if the clinician does not approve a letter, never because a leasing office says no. Florida ESA letter requirements →

Comparing providers? What to look for in a Florida ESA letter provider → To see the fields on a finished letter, read the sample letter format →.

Is an online ESA letter valid in Florida?

Wondering whether Florida has a waiting period? The text of Fla. Stat. 760.27 contains no 30-day requirement. It asks that the provider have “personal knowledge of the person’s disability.” Florida ESA letter 30-day rule →

What should my Florida landlord check after the PDF?

A registry card is not that check.

1. Keep the PDF unedited and in English. Do not paste it into a pet-screening portal as a pet application.
2. Send a short written reasonable accommodation request that names the dwelling and the animal(s).
3. Point the housing provider to the verify page to check the letter, and to Florida MQA to check the clinician license.

This is for housing only, under the Fair Housing Act and Fla. Stat. 760.27. Approval is never guaranteed. Landlord verify →

Educational only. Not legal advice. Official letters for landlords are issued in English only. Clinical consultations available in English or Spanish.

Florida ESA requirements

Housing ESA FAQ