The Legal Answer
There is no expiry provision. Neither the Fair Housing Act nor HUD guidance states that an ESA letter becomes invalid after a period of time. A letter documents that a licensed professional assessed you and found a disability-related need at that point.
What the law does require is that a housing provider be given reliable documentation of a current need. And that is where the gap opens: the older a letter, the weaker the evidence that the need still exists today. A five-year-old letter does not become illegal, it becomes unpersuasive.
The Practical Answer
Housing providers have settled on a convention, and it is remarkably consistent across the country.
- Under 12 months: accepted almost everywhere without comment
- 12 to 24 months: frequently questioned, often refused
- Over 24 months: expect to be asked for a new one
- Any age: generally fine if the accommodation is already granted and nobody is re-reviewing it
Note the last line. If your landlord approved the accommodation two years ago and has not raised it since, you do not need to volunteer a new letter. The date matters when someone is assessing a request, not continuously.
The Two Events That Trigger a New Letter
Moving
This is the common one. A new housing provider assesses your request from scratch, has no history with you, and will look at the date on the document. Get a current letter before you apply rather than after you have been refused.
Lease renewal or re-verification
Large complexes often re-verify accommodations annually as a matter of policy. Requesting the same accommodation from the same landlord usually does not require a fresh letter, but a scheduled re-verification cycle can, and arguing about it costs more time than replacing the letter.
Renewal Is a Fresh Judgement, Not a Reprint
This point gets glossed over by services that sell annual renewals as a subscription. A renewed letter is a new professional opinion about your current circumstances, not a reissued copy of an old document.
Which means the answer can change. If your symptoms have resolved, a professional may not recommend a support animal a second time, and that is the system working correctly rather than a failure.
We rewrite yours once free within 12 months for a new housing request. Beyond that it is a new visit at the same published price. Nothing auto-renews, there is no subscription, and you are charged only after a provider approves you.
Watch Out for Printed Expiry Dates
Some services print an expiry date on the letter itself. That date is the company's policy, not a legal requirement, and it can actively harm you.
A housing provider who sees a date that has passed reads the document as void — even though a letter with no printed date and the same age would likely have been accepted. You have handed them a reason to refuse that the law did not give them.
If your letter carries a printed expiry, be aware of it before a renewal cycle, and consider asking for a version without one.
Keeping Your Documentation in Order
- Keep the original PDF somewhere you can find it, not only in an email thread
- Keep a dated copy of the accommodation request you sent, and any reply
- Note the letter's date in your calendar with a reminder at 10 months
- Request a fresh letter before you start apartment hunting, not during
- If your animals change, get a letter naming the current ones
Why the 12-Month Convention Exists at All
It is worth understanding where an unwritten rule comes from, because it tells you how to argue with it.
Fair housing law lets a housing provider ask for reliable documentation of a current disability-related need. Nothing defines current. Property managers, their lawyers and their insurers needed a workable line, and an annual cycle already existed for lease renewals, so twelve months became the default across the industry without ever being written into a statute.
That means it is a policy convention, not a legal deadline — which occasionally matters. If a landlord refuses an eighteen-month-old letter while your circumstances are unchanged, they are applying an internal rule rather than a legal requirement, and a fresh letter is usually the faster route than the argument.
When Your Circumstances Change
- New animals: get a letter naming the animals you actually have now
- An animal has died or been rehomed: no action needed, but the next letter should be accurate
- You moved states: your letter needs to come from someone licensed where you now live
- Your symptoms have resolved: a professional may not recommend a support animal again, and that is the process working
- You changed therapists: your new clinician can write the next one once they know your history
The state point catches people out after a move. A letter written by a professional licensed in your previous state was valid where it was written, but a new landlord verifies against their own state's register.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do ESA letters expire?
Not under federal law. Neither the Fair Housing Act nor HUD guidance sets an expiry date. But most landlords want documentation written within the last 12 months and many refuse older letters, so treat 12 months as the working shelf life.
Do I need to renew my ESA letter every year?
Only when someone asks for current documentation — usually when you move or when a complex re-verifies at renewal. There is no legal annual requirement, and we don't auto-renew anything.
Can I use the same ESA letter at a new apartment?
Yes, if it is recent. A new landlord assesses your request fresh and will look at the date, so a letter under 12 months old is far more likely to be accepted without question.
My letter has an expiry date printed on it. Does that matter?
Legally no, practically yes. That date is the issuing company's policy rather than a legal requirement, but a landlord who sees a lapsed date may refuse the letter. It gives them a reason the law did not.
Does renewing cost the same?
We rewrite once free inside 12 months for a new housing request. After that it is a new visit at the same published price, and you are charged only after approval.
What if my landlord already approved my ESA years ago?
You generally don't need to volunteer a new letter. The date matters when a request is being assessed, not continuously. If they start a re-verification, that's when to get a current one.
Can a landlord ask for a new letter every year?
Many do as a matter of policy at renewal, and complying is usually faster than disputing it. What they cannot do is impose requirements beyond documentation of a current disability-related need.
Booking and screening are free. You're only charged after a licensed provider approves you.
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