ESA Housing Rights in 2026

What changed for emotional support animals in housing?

Two federal actions changed the picture: HUD rescinded its assistance-animal guidance in September 2025, and in May 2026 it announced it will only pursue animal-accommodation complaints involving trained animals. The Fair Housing Act itself, and HUD’s regulation on reasonable accommodations, stayed the same.

HUD explained the shift partly by volume: the memo says “over 20% of FHEO’s fair housing complaints revolve around untrained ESAs.”^[1] It also pointed to an online industry that, in its words, has “emerged to convert pets into emotional support animals.”

Does the Fair Housing Act still protect emotional support animals?

The statute is unchanged, so the legal question is still open: whether an ESA is a reasonable accommodation you need. What changed is that the federal agency will no longer take up that fight for you when the animal is untrained.

The Fair Housing Act makes it unlawful to refuse “reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, practices, or services, when such accommodations may be necessary to afford such person equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling.”^[4] HUD’s regulation repeats that rule. Its one animal example is a blind tenant with a seeing eye dog in a no-pets building.^[3]

Courts have gone both ways on emotional support animals. HUD’s memo itself lists federal decisions that gave HUD’s old guidance “considerable and substantial deference,” and a 2025 Louisiana decision that called the 2020 notice “unpersuasive.” It also quotes a federal appeals court: “In emotional support animal cases, a housing provider may contest whether the accommodation is reasonable.”^[1] In practice, your outcome now depends more on your facts, your documentation, and where you live.

What will HUD enforce now, and what won’t it?

HUD will investigate and charge cases involving animals trained to help with a disability. It will not find cause in cases about untrained emotional support animals, and it no longer expects landlords to treat ESAs like trained assistance animals.

• Trained animals: requests to waive pet policies for animals trained to perform disability-related work or tasks are, in HUD’s words, “presumptively reasonable.” Unlike the ADA, this can include a species other than a dog.^[1]
• Untrained ESAs: HUD says requests for them “are not” presumptively reasonable, and that “FHEO no longer expects housing providers to categorically extend accommodations for trained assistance animals to untrained ESAs.”^[1]
• Open cases: regional offices must send open ESA cases to headquarters “for a case-by-case determination on the merits.”^[1]
• Your right to sue: “Nothing in this enforcement guidance affects the rights of parties to seek redress through a private action in court.” A private Fair Housing Act case can be filed in federal or state court within two years.^[1]

The memo also says it “does not address” how HUD handles complaints under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act or the Americans with Disabilities Act. That matters for public housing and for housing run by schools and government agencies.^[1]

Can a landlord deny an emotional support animal now?

A landlord can deny an ESA request with much less risk of a federal HUD case than before. Whether the denial is legal still depends on the Fair Housing Act as courts read it, on your state and local law, and on the facts of your request.

The narrow Fair Housing Act exemptions still apply too, such as some owner-occupied buildings with four or fewer units. Our main guide summarizes them.

Can a landlord charge pet fees or a pet deposit for an ESA?

The federal rule that ESAs are exempt from pet fees came from HUD’s 2020 guidance, which has been rescinded. Under federal law today, whether a landlord can charge pet rent or a pet deposit for an untrained ESA is unsettled. Some state and local laws still restrict it.

HUD’s 2026 memo describes the old position directly: the 2020 notice “explained that pet fees could not be assessed for untrained emotional support animals,” and the memo treats that notice as rescinded.^[1] Many websites, including some that sell ESA letters, still promise that a letter will get pet fees and deposits waived. As a federal matter, that is no longer something anyone can promise.

If a landlord asks for a fee, ask in writing what legal basis applies, check your state’s fair-housing agency, and keep a copy of everything. For a trained assistance animal, a fee is much harder to justify, because HUD still treats waiving the pet policy as presumptively reasonable.

What about public housing and HUD-assisted housing?

A separate HUD regulation still exempts assistance and support animals from HUD’s pet-ownership rules in HUD-assisted housing for elderly residents and residents with disabilities.

That regulation, 24 CFR 5.303, says HUD’s pet rules do “not apply to animals that are used to assist, support, or provide service to persons with disabilities,” and that project owners and housing authorities “may not apply or enforce” those pet policies against such animals when needed “as a reasonable accommodation.”^[5] HUD’s 2026 memo describes this rule but does not repeal it, and it notes the rule never applied to private landlords.^[1] Public housing is also covered by Section 504, which the memo says it does not address.

Do the changes affect college dorms, condos, and HOAs?

Yes, in the same way: the Fair Housing Act still applies, but HUD will not pursue complaints about untrained ESAs, so boards and schools have more room to say no.

• College housing: schools that receive federal funds are also covered by Section 504, and public universities by Title II of the ADA. HUD’s memo does not address either law. Many schools keep their own written ESA policies, so start with the disability or accessibility office and ask for the current policy in writing.
• Condos, co-ops, and HOAs: associations covered by the Fair Housing Act still have to consider accommodation requests. Expect more boards to ask questions or deny untrained-ESA requests, and check whether your state’s law or your governing documents give you more.

What should renters with an emotional support animal do now?

Make a strong, documented request; know your state law; and if you need an animal for specific disability-related tasks, consider whether a trained assistance animal fits your situation.

1. Ask in writing. Send a short reasonable-accommodation request to your landlord or board and keep a copy, with dates.
2. Use a letter from a clinician who knows you. A letter from your own licensed provider, describing a disability-related need, carries far more weight than an instant online letter. See how to get an ESA letter.
3. Check your state and city. Some states have their own fair-housing laws and agencies. California also regulates who can write ESA-dog documentation, including a 30-day client-provider relationship.^[7]
4. Get help if you are denied. Contact your state fair-housing agency, a local fair-housing organization, or legal aid. A private Fair Housing Act case has a two-year filing window.^[1]
5. If you need trained tasks, look at a psychiatric service dog. Trained animals keep strong protection at home and in public.

Avoid anything sold as an ESA “registration,” certificate, or ID. None of it carries legal weight, now or before. See is ESA registration real?

Frequently asked questions about ESA housing rights

Sources

We checked every quotation on this page against the source listed here on October 7, 2026. This page explains federal enforcement; it is not legal advice for a specific dispute.

1. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, Craig W. Trainor, “Enforcement Guidance – Assessing Requests for the Use of an Animal as a Reasonable Accommodation Under the Fair Housing Act” (May 22, 2026). PDF on hud.gov.
2. HUD, “Notice of the Withdrawal of FHEO Guidance Documents” (Sept. 17, 2025), withdrawing FHEO Notice 2013-01 and FHEO-2020-01. Archived PDF.
3. 24 CFR § 100.204, Reasonable accommodations. eCFR (accessed Oct. 7, 2026).
4. Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. § 3604(f)(3)(B). Cornell LII.
5. 24 CFR § 5.303, Exclusion for animals that assist, support, or provide service to persons with disabilities. eCFR (accessed Oct. 7, 2026).
6. HUD, FHEO Notice FHEO-2020-01 (Jan. 28, 2020), rescinded Sept. 17, 2025. Archived PDF, for historical reference only.
7. California Board of Behavioral Sciences, “Law Change Regarding Emotional Support Animals: What BBS Licensees Need to Know” (AB 468; Health and Safety Code § 122318, effective Jan. 1, 2022). PDF.

Related guides

• Emotional support animals: the complete guideThe pillar guide: what a support pet is, ESA letters, housing, travel, and scams.
• How to get an ESA letterWho qualifies, who can write the letter, what it costs, and how to avoid letter mills.
• Is ESA registration real?Why no registry, certificate, ID card, or vest gives an animal legal status.
• Psychiatric service dogsWhat a PSD is, the tasks it performs, training, and your rights.
• ESA vs. service dogSide-by-side: training, public access, housing, and flights.
• Emotional support dogsRequirements, breeds, training, vests, and where an ESA dog can go.
• Emotional support catsHow a cat becomes an ESA, housing, travel, and the registration myth.
• Is Support Pets legit?A fact-checked look at Support Pets and the 2026 lawsuits.