Technically Speaking: HUD Reverses Policy on Assistance Animals
HUD has issued new guidance on Assistance Animals in housing, repealing all prior policy guidance and relying more on the “trained service animal” standard under the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA). This eliminates the prior presumption that requests for untrained Emotional Support Animals (ESAs) are a reasonable accommodation under the Fair Housing Act. Applicants will now face an uphill battle in proving that the request for an assistance animal is reasonable and necessary. Agents and Landlords are left wondering how to proceed. Read on for what's changed, what hasn't changed, and where we go from here.
What Agents, Landlords, Tenants, and Applicants Need to Know
On May 22, 2026, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued new enforcement guidance that significantly changes how HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity will handle animal-related reasonable accommodation complaints under the Fair Housing Act. The change is especially important for emotional support animals, commonly called ESAs. The May 22 internal enforcement memo permanently cancels both of HUD’s prior guidance documents on assistance animals in housing- FHEO-2013-01 and FHEO-2020-01, issued in 2013 and 2020, respectively.
For years, many landlords, property managers, tenants, and real estate license holders operated under HUD guidance that treated emotional support animals as assistance animals rather than ordinary pets. Under that prior framework, a housing provider generally could not apply pet restrictions, pet deposits, pet fees, or pet rent to a tenant’s properly documented ESA. That prior guidance from HUD was withdrawn on September 17, 2025 without any replacement guidance – until now.
Going forward, HUD says it will find reasonable cause and recommend charges in animal-related reasonable accommodation cases only when the animal has been individually trained to perform work or tasks directly related to the person’s disability. In practical terms, HUD is moving away from the prior presumption that untrained ESAs must be accommodated in the same way as trained service animals.
This is a major enforcement shift, but it’s important to understand that this guidance does not change the Fair Housing Act (which must be done by Congress) or any state or local regulations. The Fair Housing Act still prohibits disability discrimination in housing, and HUD’s memo expressly recognizes that private parties may still file their own fair housing lawsuits in federal or state court.
What Changed
The central change is this: HUD will now use the training component of the ADA service-animal standard when evaluating animal-related reasonable accommodation complaints under the Fair Housing Act. Under that approach, the animal must be individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of a person with a disability, and those tasks must be directly related to the disability. Emotional support, comfort, well-being, or companionship alone do not qualify as work or tasks under the ADA standard.
HUD’s memo also states that requests to waive pet policies for trained animals performing disability-related services are presumptively reasonable, while requests to waive pet policies for untrained ESAs are not.
What Did Not Change
The Fair Housing Act itself did not disappear, and disability remains a protected class in housing. Housing providers still need to avoid disability discrimination and still need to evaluate reasonable accommodation requests carefully. The internal HUD memo doesn't amend the Fair Housing Act, nor does it override any other federal programs nor any state or local policies or laws.
Several important points remain:
- Landlords and managers cannot refuse to engage in the reasonable accommodation collaborative process. Trained service animals remain protected. A landlord should not treat a trained service animal as an ordinary pet merely because the lease has a no-pets policy or pet-fee provision. The new guidance focuses on reliable documentation of training to support the disability-related need.
- Landlords and managers are not automatically protected from lawsuits or other complaints. HUD’s memo does not control every possible legal claim. HUD’s memo is an enforcement document for HUD staff. It does not prevent a tenant or applicant from filing a private lawsuit. It also does not automatically override state or local laws that may give broader rights.
- Other laws or regulations may allow for an ESA. The memo does not apply to every disability-related animal issue in every housing context. HUD states that the guidance does not address how HUD will process complaints under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act or the Americans with Disabilities Act. Housing receiving federal financial assistance may have additional obligations. State laws, such as in Oklahoma, may have other avenues for an ESA.
- Existing leases still matter. Even if a landlord plans to change its ESA policy going forward, a lease already in place may control whether a particular tenant can be charged a pet fee, pet deposit, or pet rent during the current lease term. Texas REALTORS® has specifically cautioned that landlords may not be able to immediately charge a tenant a pet fee or pet deposit if the existing lease says none is required.
Service Animal, Trained, Assistance Animal, ESA, and Pet: Why the Words Matter
A “pet” is an animal kept for ordinary companionship and is subject to the lease’s pet rules.
A “service animal” is generally an animal trained to perform work or tasks for a person with a disability. Under the ADA, service animals are dogs, with a limited rule exception for miniature horses. HUD’s new fair housing enforcement approach borrows the ADA’s training requirement, although HUD notes that a Fair Housing Act accommodation could involve another species if the animal is trained to perform a disability-related service.
What does “trained” mean? There is no requirement under the new HUD guidance or the ADA that the animal be certified or trained by any specific professional or organization. The ADA allows for owner training, which likely also applies to the HUD guidance. For example, a dog’s owner could claim that their dog has been individually trained to interrupt a panic attack or perform a specific psychiatric task which may meet the standard, even without any formal credentials. This is not the same as a public-access service dog under the ADA and a task-trained support animal does not automatically have a right to be in public spaces under the ADA.
An “emotional support animal” is an animal that provides comfort, companionship, or therapeutic benefit through its presence but is not trained to perform a specific disability-related task. Under HUD’s prior guidance, a properly documented ESA was generally treated as an assistance animal, not a pet. Under HUD’s new enforcement position, untrained ESAs are no longer presumptively entitled to the same pet-policy waivers as trained service animals.
The practical problem is that many leases, property-management policies, online forms, and screening procedures still use older terminology. Brokers and property managers should review their forms and procedures before giving categorical answers.
What Disability-Related Tasks or Service Might Qualify?
There is no exhaustive list of what support behaviors could qualify under the new standard, and an animal previously classified as an ESA may already be providing these services. The shift under the new HUD standard is more about identifying, documenting, and - where appropriate - reinforcing the support behaviors the animal already provides. Support animal advocates have identified the following as potential qualifiers:
- alerting to and/or interrupting anxiety, panic, mood episodes before escalation, including interrupting nightmares or panic attacks while sleeping
- grounding the owner during events such as PTSD episodes or dissociation
- applying tactile stimulation or pressure therapy to interrupt negative symptoms, compulsive behaviors, or intrusive thoughts
- supporting consistent routines, such as medication adherence, responding to alarms, healthy sleep patterns, or self-care routines
For Texas Agents & Landlords
In Texas, the immediate practical takeaway is caution. HUD’s enforcement posture has changed, and Texas REALTORS® has stated that HUD no longer requires landlords to waive pet policies for untrained emotional support animals. Texas REALTORS® also notes that untrained ESAs will no longer be considered exempt from pet fees in rental property under HUD’s current approach.
That does not mean a Texas landlord should respond to every ESA request with an automatic denial. A safer process is to determine what the applicant or tenant is actually requesting. Is the animal trained to perform a task directly related to a disability? Is the request really for a service animal, a trained psychiatric service animal, or an untrained ESA? Is there an existing lease or written accommodation approval already in place? Is the property subject to federal funding, local rules, or another program with additional requirements?
Texas landlords should also remember that Texas has separate service-animal laws, although they largely relate to places of public accommodation. Texas state resources define service or assistance animals in terms of canines specially trained or equipped to help a person with a disability, and Texas law distinguishes service animals from animals that provide only comfort or emotional support in certain contexts.
For property managers and brokers, the risk-management recommendation is simple: do not improvise. Use a written intake and response process. Document the request, the information provided, the specific rule the tenant wants waived, the landlord’s decision, and the reason for that decision. When in doubt, involve the landlord’s attorney before denying a disability-related accommodation request or changing fees for an existing tenant.
For Oklahoma Agents & Landlords
Oklahoma requires special caution because Oklahoma has a specific assistance-animal statute. The Oklahoma statute defines “assistance animal” to include both a service animal specifically trained or equipped to perform tasks for a person with a disability and an emotional support animal that provides support to a person with a disability who has a disability-related need for that support.
That means Oklahoma landlords and property managers should not assume HUD’s new federal enforcement position fully resolves ESA issues under Oklahoma law. Oklahoma law allows a person with a disability to submit a reasonable accommodation request to maintain an assistance animal in a dwelling. If the disability or disability-related need is not readily apparent, the landlord may request reliable supporting documentation verifying the disability, describing the needed accommodation, and showing the relationship between the disability and the need for the accommodation.
Oklahoma’s statute also addresses fraudulent documentation. It allows a landlord to verify the authenticity of supporting documentation and states that supporting documentation acquired through purchase or exchange of funds for goods and services is presumed fraudulent. If a person knowingly makes a false claim or knowingly provides fraudulent supporting documentation, the landlord may pursue remedies under the Oklahoma Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, and a prevailing landlord in an eviction action may be awarded costs, fees, and damages up to $1,000.
For Oklahoma brokers and landlords, the bottom line is this: update your federal Fair Housing Act understanding, but do not ignore Oklahoma’s state statute.
For Tenants & Applicants
Tenants and applicants should understand that HUD’s new memo makes ESA requests harder, especially for untrained animals supported only by online ESA letters. A landlord may now be more likely to ask whether the animal is trained to perform a specific disability-related task. A request based only on comfort, companionship, or emotional support may not receive the same treatment it would have received under HUD’s prior guidance.
That said, tenants should not assume they have no rights. The Fair Housing Act still protects people with disabilities. HUD’s memo also states that private lawsuits remain available, and state law may matter. In Oklahoma, state law expressly recognizes emotional support animals within its assistance-animal statute. In Texas, tenants should carefully review their lease, any prior written accommodation approval, and applicable fair housing rights before assuming a landlord can immediately impose pet fees or remove an animal.
Tenants should make accommodation requests in writing, even if the law does not require magic words. A good request should identify that the tenant is asking for a reasonable accommodation, identify the animal, explain whether the animal is trained to perform disability-related work or tasks, and provide reliable documentation when the disability or disability-related need is not obvious. Tenants should avoid purchased internet-generated documentation that is not based on a real therapeutic or medical relationship.
Caution for Real Estate Agents
Real estate agents are often the first people asked to explain a rental policy, but agents must be careful not to give legal advice. The safest role for a license holder is to communicate the landlord’s written policy, encourage consistent procedures, and recommend that the parties seek legal advice when a disability accommodation request is disputed.
Agents should avoid statements such as:
- “ESAs aren’t protected anymore.”
- “HUD says landlords can charge all ESA tenants pet rent or deposits now.”
- “You do not have to consider that request.”
- “Just deny it unless it is a true service dog.”
Those statements are too broad. A better response is:
“HUD’s May 22, 2026 guidance changed HUD’s enforcement position for untrained emotional support animals. The landlord still needs to evaluate disability-related accommodation requests carefully, consider the lease and applicable state law, and consult counsel before denying a request or changing charges.”
Checklist for Landlords & Property Managers
Landlords and property managers should consider these steps now:
- Review pet policies or no-pet policies, animal addenda, ESA forms, service-animal forms, and reasonable accommodation procedures.
- Separate ordinary pet screening from disability-related accommodation review.
- Ask whether the animal is trained to perform work or tasks directly related to a disability when that information is relevant and not already apparent. Understand that there is no standard or requirement for training or documenting that training.
- Do not require certification papers, registration badges, or online credentials as proof that an animal is a service animal.
- Review existing leases before adding or changing pet fees, pet deposits, or pet rent for current tenants.
- For Oklahoma properties, review Oklahoma’s assistance-animal statute before changing ESA procedures.
- For federally assisted housing, public housing, student housing, or properties subject to Section 504 or program-specific rules, seek legal advice before relying on the new HUD memo alone.
Document Every Request & Response
Train agents and leasing staff not to make off-the-cuff statements about disability, medical conditions, service animals, ESAs, or pet fees. Now that HUD’s 2020 guidance is rescinded, you have more flexibility on what documentation you can and cannot request. Requiring documentation from a licensed healthcare provider who has an actual treatment relationship with the student (not an online letter mill) is now a defensible standard. You can also feel more confident rejecting obvious fraud, including online certificates and generic letters from providers with no therapeutic relationship.
What’s Next?
HUD intents to engage in formal rule-making to codify the guidance and bring it into alignment with the ADA, but agency rule-making takes time. In the interim, watch for best practices guidance from real estate and housing-related organizations to stay on the right side of the Fair Housing Act.
Bottom Line
HUD’s May 22, 2026 guidance is a major reversal. For landlords, it reduces the likelihood that HUD will pursue federal Fair Housing Act enforcement based on denial of an untrained ESA request. For tenants, it means that an untrained ESA supported only by general comfort or companionship may no longer receive the same federal administrative protection that many tenants expected under prior HUD guidance.
But this is not a simple “ESAs are gone” rule. The Fair Housing Act still exists. Trained service animals remain protected. Private lawsuits remain possible. Section 504, ADA, state law, local law, existing leases, and prior accommodation approvals may all affect the answer.
For real estate professionals, the best approach is measured, documented, and jurisdiction-specific: know what HUD changed, know what it did not change, and avoid giving categorical legal advice in a fact-specific disability accommodation situation.
This article is for general informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Landlords, tenants, applicants, and real estate license holders must consult qualified legal counsel regarding specific facts, leases, properties, and accommodation requests.
----------
Bart Stockton is Associate Broker (TX & OK) and Chief of Operations for Paragon. An educator at heart, Bart writes and instructs continuing education courses focusing primarily on the topics of contracts, law, ethics, and risk reduction. He has been using em dashes since well before the robots were taught how to write. Nothing in this post shall constitute legal advice; consult a skilled real estate attorney. ©2026 Bart Stockton Real Estate Education. All rights reserved. Reprinted by permission.
