A confidential telehealth evaluation with a Pennsylvania-licensed clinician is how every letter starts. You will not buy a registry here; when your evaluation supports one, you receive a genuine ESA or PSD letter for Pennsylvania landlords, condominium associations and colleges.
Keystone first step
Act 118 lets a landlord ask for documentation only when your disability or disability-related need is not readily apparent or known. Screening costs nothing; after you check out for a plan, a Pennsylvania-licensed clinician reviews your answers with that standard in mind, and if no letter can be supported, that plan is refunded in line with our refund policy.
A short set of online questions on your symptoms, the animal you count on and your Pennsylvania home, at a time that works for you.
After checkout, a Pennsylvania-licensed clinician reviews those answers, meeting you over video when appropriate.
Supported letters are delivered digitally to your account; for a request that cannot be supported, our refund policy repays the plan.
Pricing
Live prices from our checkout. Pennsylvania screening is free; a plan or bundle is purchased at checkout before any evaluation takes place, and a Pennsylvania-licensed clinician's decision not to support a letter triggers a full refund as our policy provides. Questions? Read our FAQ page or contact us.
One emotional support animal and its Pennsylvania housing letter, after clinical review.
$149.00/ one-time
Every support animal in your Pennsylvania household, weighed in one evaluation.
$159.00/ one-time
Psychiatric service dog evaluation by a clinician holding a Pennsylvania license.
$199.00/ one-time
Compare the combined letter and document options.
ESA letter and certificate for Pennsylvania housing, in one order.
$199.00/ one-time
The PSD letter with its certificate and ID card, ordered together.
$225.00/ one-time
Which plan suits you? Start free with the screening or line up every plan. Letters are only issued when a clinician approves; certificates and cards are optional extras that grant no access rights.
Act 118 describes the documentation a landlord can rely on. Here is how a clinician's letter from us compares with a registry website's certificate.
| What you get | American Service Animals | A registry website |
|---|---|---|
| An evaluation by a clinician licensed in Pennsylvania | Yes | No |
| Written documentation based on direct knowledge of your disability, as Section 405.3(b) describes | Yes | No |
| A description of your disability-related need for the animal | Yes | No |
The screening is free. Because the plan is paid before the evaluation, our refund policy returns that payment whenever no letter is supported. No instant approvals, ever.
The Assistance and Service Animal Integrity Act (Act 118 of 2018) sets housing rules on documentation, liability and misrepresentation. It sits beside the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act, which the Human Relations Commission enforces.
The term covers any non-service animal that federal fair housing or disability law, or local law, treats as a reasonable accommodation, and that includes an emotional support animal when it qualifies.
An animal, other than an assistance animal, that qualifies as a service animal under the ADA, or as a guide or support animal under the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act or local law.
When you ask for an exception to a no-animal rule, or to limits on the size, weight, breed or number of animals, a landlord or association may require documentation only if your disability or disability-related need is not readily apparent or known to it.
Landlords and associations face no liability for injuries caused by an assistance or service animal they have allowed as a reasonable accommodation.
Intentionally misrepresenting a disability or need, or lying to get documentation, is a misdemeanor of the third degree. Creating or handing over a false document, or putting a vest or sign on an animal that is not an assistance animal, is a summary offense with a fine of up to $1,000.
The Human Relations Commission has proposed guidance on how it evaluates assistance animal cases under the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act. It is a proposal, not a rule: the commission says it is neither an adjudication nor a regulation. Its housing page already lists charging a fee for a support animal among examples of illegal discrimination.
Our honest note: our optional certificates and ID cards are extras. What a Pennsylvania housing provider may ask for is verification from a licensed professional with direct knowledge, which is the kind of letter our clinicians write after an evaluation.
How a complaint moves through the Human Relations Commission, as its filing page describes it.
In general, file within 180 days of the discrimination by email or through your regional office; staff can help draft the complaint for your verified signature.
The complaint gets a docket number and is served on the respondent within 30 days of docketing.
The respondent answers no more than 60 days after service and must give you a copy.
An investigator interviews both sides and witnesses and can subpoena records; an early fact-finding conference, which is not public, may be held.
With probable cause the commission tries to settle the case; without it, the case may be dismissed, and the mailed notice lists any appeal rights.
If there is no settlement, testimony is taken under oath and an enforceable order follows, appealable to Commonwealth Court; in certain housing cases parties may choose court instead.
Within one year after you file, you may bring an action in a Court of Common Pleas if the complaint has not been resolved or the commission dismisses it.
Pennsylvania law bars action against you for filing, against a witness who helped, and against anyone who opposed a practice the Human Relations Act forbids.
Wherever you live among Pennsylvania's 67 counties, a telehealth evaluation for ESA or psychiatric service dog documentation is open to you. Below is a sample of the cities and towns we serve, with the county for each.
Erie on the lake or Philadelphia on the Delaware, the same steps apply: an online screening, then telehealth with a Pennsylvania-licensed clinician when appropriate.
Read the Pennsylvania guideAct 118 asks for documentation that is reliable. You can confirm who signed yours in the Commonwealth's own license database.
Pennsylvania's 29 licensing boards and commissions share the Pennsylvania Licensing System (PALS), where anyone can look up a licensee's license number and status.
Open PALS and choose Verify a LicenseQuestions about a license: 1-833-DOS-BPOA (1-833-367-2762). How the Department of State explains it
In Pennsylvania, ESA housing letters for one pet are priced at $149. Screening is free and comes first; you then buy the plan ahead of your evaluation, and our refund policy returns the payment if a Pennsylvania-licensed clinician does not support a letter.
Under Act 118, only when your disability or disability-related need for the animal is not readily apparent or already known to the landlord, or, in a condominium, cooperative or planned community, to the association's executive board.
Act 118 sets three minimum standards: the documentation must be in writing, be reliable and based on direct knowledge of your disability and disability-related need, and describe that need for the animal.
Yes. Intentionally misrepresenting a disability or disability-related need, or making materially false statements to get documentation, is a misdemeanor of the third degree. Creating or providing a false document, or putting a vest or sign on an animal that is not an assistance animal, is a summary offense with a fine of up to $1,000.
No. The Human Relations Commission's proposed guidance says certifications are not required for a housing provider to approve a service or support animal in Pennsylvania. What a housing provider may ask for is verification from a licensed professional with direct knowledge of your disability and need.
In general, 180 days from when the discrimination happened, according to the Human Relations Commission. Its staff can help you draft the complaint, and within one year after filing you may bring an action in a Court of Common Pleas if the complaint is not resolved or is dismissed.
Pennsylvanians can rely on this page for general background, current as of October 2026, but not for legal advice. The commission's guidance stays a proposal until it is approved, and Pennsylvania statutes are subject to change. Screening does not guarantee a letter. Keep reading: ESA rights at a glance, how each state handles ESAs, and who runs American Service Animals. Should a crisis arise, call or text 988 for round-the-clock help.
Book time with a Pennsylvania-licensed clinician to learn which letter your animal's support may justify: an ESA letter, a PSD letter, or none.
