Emotional Support Animal Question Wisconsin

[Evelyn V.]

Hello, from what I've read online and confirmed by an attorney regarding emotional support animals - a legitimate ESA letter from a licensed mental health professional to receive housing protections under the Fair Housing Act is valid.

My tenants provided a registration certificate from usserviceanimals - I do not see a signature other than the chairman of this website. Would it be unreasonable to request a letter from specifically a local mental health professional or is this certificate valid?

[Marcus Auerbach]

Quote from @Evelyn V.:

Hello, from what I've read online and confirmed by an attorney regarding emotional support animals - a legitimate ESA letter from a licensed mental health professional to receive housing protections under the Fair Housing Act is valid.

My tenants provided a registration certificate from usserviceanimals - I do not see a signature other than the chairman of this website. Would it be unreasonable to request a letter from specifically a local mental health professional or is this certificate valid?

You could, but what is that going to accomplish? It's so easy to download another certificate from a website for $50. It has become a fact of (landlord) life.

On the other hand, we have been pet-friendly for 15 years and had VERY few issues (however, not zero). Generally, pet owners are happy to be allowed to have pets in the first place, neat tenants seem to have neat pets, so in almost 99% of the cases you would not even smell it and they usually take a lot more responsibility for an occasional scratched door than they do for their kids creyon damage. 

Pet fees vary by region, but the going rate in Milwaukee seems to be $25-$50 per pet and we use the pet agreement from Wisconsin Legal Blank.