Three clear steps
From screening to letter without confusion.
National Service Pets keeps the process direct: you tell us what is happening, a licensed clinician reviews the case, and qualified clients receive documentation built for housing accommodation requests.
Complete a secure intake
Share your contact details, animal information, housing situation, and mental health concerns through the encrypted online form.
- Screening questions
- Animal and housing details
- Consent and contact preferences
Receive licensed review
A mental health professional licensed for your state reviews whether an ESA or psychiatric service dog letter is clinically appropriate.
- Provider review
- Follow-up if more detail is needed
- HIPAA-minded handling
Download your document
If approved, your digital letter is delivered for housing use, with verification support if a property manager needs to confirm authenticity.
- Digital PDF delivery
- Document verification
- Renewal reminders
Behind the scenes
The process is built to slow down the parts that matter.
The intake can be completed quickly, but documentation is not issued until the case has been reviewed for clinical fit, state licensing fit, and housing-use clarity.
State alignment
Provider assignment considers where the client lives or receives care.
Clinical fit
The clinician reviews symptoms, functional impact, and animal support role.
Letter quality
Approved letters are checked for clear, housing-focused language.
Verification
Documents can be confirmed without exposing unnecessary medical details.
The full timeline
From screening to a landlord-ready ESA letter
Five stages. Only stage three costs anything, and you see the price before you reach it. Psychiatric service dog evaluations follow the same track with an extra step for trained-task review.
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1
Minutes · free
Free eligibility screening
Focused questions about how symptoms affect daily life, your housing situation, the animal's role, and your state of residence. Nothing is charged and no card is required. You find out whether an ESA letter or a PSD evaluation is the pathway that fits — or whether neither does.
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2
Same day · free
Account and secure clinical intake
You create an account and complete a fuller intake: symptom history, functional impact at home, the animal, and your housing context. This is the material the clinician actually reviews, so accuracy here is what moves a case quickly.
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3
You choose · one-time payment
Select the documentation pathway
Choose an ESA housing letter, a multi-animal ESA plan, or a psychiatric service dog evaluation. Payment covers the professional review and the prepared document. It does not buy approval, and the clinician can still decline.
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4
Typically 24–48 hours
Licensed clinical review in your state
Your case routes to a professional licensed where you live. They may approve, decline, or come back with follow-up questions. A clarification request is what a genuine individualized evaluation looks like — instant approval is what a registry site looks like.
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5
On approval
Digital delivery and landlord verification
The signed letter lands in your account with the clinician's name, license type and jurisdiction, a current date and a verification route. You submit it with a written accommodation request; your landlord confirms authenticity without ever seeing your diagnosis.
Where the two pathways differ
ESA housing letter vs psychiatric service dog evaluation
The first four stages look similar. What the clinician is assessing, and what you can do with the result, is completely different.
| Stage | ESA housing letter | PSD evaluation |
|---|---|---|
| What the clinician assesses | A disability-related need for an assistance animal at home | Functional limitation plus the dog's specific trained tasks |
| Does the animal need training? | No — your existing pet usually qualifies | Yes — individual task training is what creates the status |
| Which animals | Dogs, cats and other ordinary household animals | Dogs only, under the ADA |
| Typical follow-up questions | Occasional | Common — tasks must be described specifically |
| Works for housing | ||
| Works for public access | ||
| Air travel | Airlines may treat as a pet | DOT form submitted to the carrier in advance |
Speed up your own case
What separates a 24-hour approval from a two-week one
Almost every delayed case is delayed for the same reason: the intake was vague, so the clinician had to ask. Answer these before you start and most follow-up rounds disappear.
Your exact housing situation
Rental, HOA, campus dorm or purchase — and whether a request has already been denied.
How symptoms affect daily life
Sleep, leaving the house, work, concentration. Functional impact matters more than a label.
The animal's actual role
What changes when the animal is present, in your own words, with a concrete example.
Trained tasks, if PSD
Name each task and its cue. "Interrupts a panic episode on command" beats "helps my anxiety".
Your current state
Licensure follows where you live. A recent move is the single most common routing problem.
Any real deadline
A lease signing or move-in date. Tell support up front rather than after the fact.
Set expectations correctly
What this process will and will not do for you
What you can expect
- An individualized decision from a clinician licensed in your state
- A signed, dated letter written for a Fair Housing accommodation request
- Credentials and a verification route printed on the document
- Your diagnosis kept out of the landlord's hands entirely
- Support with resends, verification queries and renewal timing
- Clear refund terms shown before you pay, not after a decision
What no service can promise
- Guaranteed approval — the clinician decides, and may decline
- That a specific landlord or HOA will grant the accommodation
- Registration in a federal ESA or service dog database (none exists)
- Public access for an ESA in shops, restaurants or hotels
- Airline cabin travel for an emotional support animal
- Any training, testing or certification of your animal
Process questions
Before you start the screening
Start with the free screening
A few minutes to find out which pathway fits — ESA housing letter, PSD evaluation, or neither. No card, no obligation, no registry nonsense.
