Renewing your Texas ESA letter

Does a Texas ESA letter expire?

Not by law. Texas has no ESA documentation statute, and Property Code Chapter 301 doesn't mention animals at all. Federal law is silent too: neither the FHA nor its accommodation regulation, 24 CFR 100.204, gives letters an end date.

What matters in practice is whether the letter still reflects your situation. Under the 2004 joint guidance, a landlord may request trustworthy proof when the need behind a request can't be seen. An old letter written for a different address and a different time in your life is easier to question than a recent one.

Situations that call for a new letter

• You're signing a lease with a new landlord or moving to a new complex
• Your current property changed ownership or management
• You're adding, replacing or removing an animal
• Your college asks for updated documentation for the coming year
• Your health or treatment looks quite different than it did
• Your landlord has asked, in writing, for a newer letter

Why 2026 makes recent letters matter

In a memo dated May 22, 2026, HUD dropped the federal presumption that waiving a pet policy for an untrained ESA is reasonable. Each such request now rises or falls on its facts, and HUD also stepped back from its earlier stance that ESA households were always exempt from fees. Its 2020 animal notice, FHEO-2020-01, is no longer in effect.

Texas's own accommodation duty in §301.025(c)(2) is unchanged, and we haven't found any TWC guidance saying whether it will follow HUD's new approach. In a case-by-case world, a current letter from a verifiable clinician is simply stronger evidence than an aging one.

Colleges often renew every year

Texas campuses tend to treat ESA approval as a yearly decision tied to the housing contract. TCU, for example, says ESA requests are renewed annually and can take 30 to 60 days to review, and UT Austin requires approval from its Disability and Access office before an animal moves into university housing.

If you're a student, check your school's deadline early in the spring or summer so a renewal doesn't leave you without approval on move-in day.

How renewal works with us

1. Book a new visitChoose a phone or video time. You'll update your intake answers so the clinician sees your current situation.
2. Talk about what's changedIn about five to ten minutes, the clinician asks how you've been and whether your animal still helps in the same way.
3. Get a dated letterIf the clinician supports a renewal, you receive a new signed PDF, usually the same day, dated and listing your current animals.

Cost and what to send your landlord

A renewal is priced like any letter: $129 covers one or two animals, $199 covers three or more, and a college letter is $129. You're billed only if a new letter is issued.

When you send it, attach a short note saying it replaces your earlier letter, and keep copies of both. Remember that the letter supports your request but can't guarantee approval, and repairs for anything your animal breaks or ruins are still yours to cover.