Reviewed August 31, 2026
HIPAA and Your Health Information
What HIPAA covers, what it does not, and how your information is handled here.
What HIPAA Actually Covers
HIPAA governs covered entities — health plans, healthcare clearinghouses and healthcare providers who transmit health information electronically — along with their business associates. It restricts how those parties use and disclose protected health information.
What It Does Not Cover
HIPAA does not stop your landlord from asking you questions. It is not a shield you can hold up in a housing dispute. What protects you there is the Fair Housing Act, which limits a housing provider to asking whether you have a disability-related need for the animal — not what your diagnosis is.
Your Clinical Records
The clinician who evaluates you is a covered entity and handles your records accordingly. Your evaluation, your history and your diagnosis stay with them. A properly written ESA letter deliberately does not name your diagnosis, which is why it can be handed to a landlord safely.
What This Website Holds
The informational pages on this site do not collect health information. Scheduling and payment happen with our clinical partner on their own platform under their own privacy terms. See our privacy policy for what this site itself collects.
Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Can my landlord contact my therapist?
They can ask, and your provider needs your permission to respond. A housing provider cannot make the accommodation conditional on your waiving confidentiality.
Does my ESA letter have to name my diagnosis?
No, and a good one will not. It states that a disability exists and that the animal is needed because of it. That is what the law asks for.
Skip the Registry. Get a Real ESA Letter.
A clinician licensed in your state, a letter that meets the requirements, and a written request to your housing provider. That is the whole route.
Sources
Sources
- HIPAA for individuals — your health information privacy rights — U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
- Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. § 3604 — discrimination in the sale or rental of housing — Office of the Law Revision Counsel, U.S. House of Representatives
- Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity — the office that enforces the Fair Housing Act — U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development