Texas ESA Letter Online

We did not find a Texas statute that sets conditions on ESA letters, such as a waiting period, a required length of treatment relationship, or a presumption against online documentation. Some neighboring states have passed laws of that kind. Texas has not, which means the question a landlord asks is the general fair housing one: does the tenant have a disability, and is the animal needed because of it.

What Texas does have is Chapter 121 of the Human Resources Code. Section 121.002 defines an assistance animal or service animal as a canine specially trained or equipped to help a person with a disability. An untrained emotional support animal does not fit that definition, so the chapter's protections generally do not reach it.

The same point applies to money. Section 121.003 says a person with a service animal may not be charged extra compensation or required to pay a deposit for the animal in housing, though the tenant is liable for damage beyond normal wear and tear. That rule is written for trained canines. For an ESA, no Texas statute we found bars pet rent or a pet deposit, and after HUD rescinded its earlier guidance the answer generally depends on the facts of the request.

Texas penalizes misrepresentation of service animals only. Under section 121.006, knowingly representing that an animal is an assistance or service animal when it is not specially trained is a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 and 30 hours of community service. Describing an ESA accurately, as an emotional support animal and not a service dog, avoids that problem.

HUD's May 22, 2026 memo said the agency will act only on complaints involving individually trained animals. The Fair Housing Act was not changed, and tenants may still ask for an accommodation. In Texas an ESA letter supports that request without guaranteeing that a landlord will approve it.

Texas places no statutory limit on the size of a security deposit, so pet deposits and monthly pet rent are set by the lease. That is why the fee question matters so much to renters in Dallas, Austin and Houston: without a state cap, a waiver has to come from an accommodation, not from a deposit statute.

Texas is also unusual in how many places take fair housing complaints. Besides the Texas Workforce Commission, the state housing agency lists local fair housing offices in Austin, Corpus Christi, Dallas, Fort Worth and Garland, and HUD's regional fair housing office is in Fort Worth. A renter in one of those cities may have a local option as well as the state one.