HUD's 2025 and 2026 Emotional Support Animal Changes, Explained

Updated October 24, 2026 · 7 min read

For six years, most landlords and tenants worked from one federal document: HUD's January 2020 guidance on assistance animals. That guidance is gone, and HUD's new approach treats trained animals very differently from untrained emotional support animals. This guide sticks to what the official documents say, and links to each of them at the end.

Timeline of the changes

What HUD changed in May 2026

The May 22, 2026 memo, signed by Craig Trainor, HUD's Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, tells HUD staff how to handle Fair Housing Act complaints about animals. The main points:

• Training is now the dividing line. HUD presumes a request is reasonable when the animal is individually trained to do work or perform tasks directly related to the person's disability, the same standard the ADA uses for service animals.
• Comfort alone isn't a task. An animal that helps through its presence, which describes most emotional support animals, doesn't meet that standard.
• Not only dogs. Unlike the ADA, HUD still accepts animals other than dogs if they are trained for a disability-related task.
• Open cases are being reviewed. HUD said it would look again at pending emotional support animal complaints under the new standard.
• Regulations may follow. HUD plans to propose rules on animal accommodations. Until then, the existing regulations stay in place.

The memo is enforcement guidance for HUD's own staff. It isn't a new law or a new regulation, and courts aren't bound by it.

What didn't change

• The Fair Housing Act itself, including the duty to make reasonable accommodations in 42 U.S.C. § 3604(f)(3)(B).
• HUD's reasonable accommodation regulation, 24 CFR 100.204.
• Your right to bring your own fair housing lawsuit, generally within two years of a refusal.
• State and local fair housing laws. California's, for example, protects emotional support animals without a training requirement.
• The 2004 HUD and Justice Department joint statement, which says landlords shouldn't ordinarily ask about the nature or severity of a disability, and shouldn't require extra fees or deposits as a condition of an accommodation.
• Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, which covers housing that receives federal funds. HUD's memo is limited to Fair Housing Act complaints.

What it means for renters

If you have an emotional support animal, or you're thinking about getting an ESA letter, this is how to handle a request now.

1. Still make the request in writing. A reasonable accommodation request is still how you ask, and the Fair Housing Act still requires a landlord to consider it. Our guide on how to ask your landlord includes a template.
2. Use documentation from a clinician licensed in your state. When a disability isn't obvious, a landlord can ask for reliable information about your disability-related need. A letter from a licensed mental health professional who reviewed your situation is the clearest way to show it.
3. Check your state's law. In many places your state's protections now carry more weight than HUD's. Our state-by-state table lists the ESA statutes and complaint agencies we track.
4. Say so if your animal is trained. If your dog performs specific tasks for your disability, describe them. A trained animal is presumed reasonable under HUD's standard, and a psychiatric service dog letter documents that need.
5. Ask for pet fees and breed rules to be waived, in writing. Keep copies of your request, the letter and every reply.
6. If you're refused, start with your state agency. HUD is unlikely to pursue a complaint about an untrained emotional support animal, but your state's fair housing agency may, and you can still bring your own claim.

What it means for landlords and property managers

HUD's memo changes the federal enforcement risk, not the law. A few things are worth keeping in mind before changing an animal policy:

• The Fair Housing Act still requires you to consider reasonable accommodation requests promptly and individually. An unreasonable delay can count as a refusal.
• Tenants can still sue under the Fair Housing Act, and state and local agencies enforce their own laws.
• Accommodations you've already granted don't end on their own. Revoking one is a decision to make carefully, with advice.
• Some states have their own statutes. Tennessee's, for example, requires landlords to make exceptions to no-pet and pet-fee policies for a support animal recommended by a healthcare provider.
• Talk to a fair housing attorney before changing your policy. This page is general information, not legal advice.

Trained animals and psychiatric service dogs

A psychiatric service dog is trained to perform specific tasks for a person with a psychiatric disability. The ADA's own examples include calming a person with PTSD during an anxiety attack. Under the ADA, people with disabilities can train their dogs themselves, and there is no required certificate or registry.

Because HUD now presumes a request is reasonable for a trained animal, the difference between an emotional support animal and a psychiatric service dog matters more in housing than it used to. If your dog does disability-related tasks, document them. Our psychiatric service dog guide explains how training and documentation work, and our ESA vs PSD letter comparison shows which document fits.

State laws matter more now

With federal enforcement narrowed, state law fills more of the gap. Across the 50 states and DC, our state pages track:

• 21 states with their own laws on assistance animals in housing, from documentation rules to penalties for misrepresentation.
• 5 states (Arkansas, California, Iowa, Louisiana and Montana) that require a 30-day relationship with the clinician before an ESA letter can be issued.
• 48 of 51 with a state agency that takes housing discrimination complaints alongside HUD.

See the full ESA laws by state table, or open your state's page for details.

What happens next

HUD intends to write new regulations, which would go through public notice and comment before taking effect. Courts will keep deciding Fair Housing Act cases on their facts, and state legislatures continue to pass their own ESA laws. We check this page against the sources below and update it when the rules change.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. HUD, Notification of Withdrawal of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity Guidance Documents, Federal Register, April 6, 2026
2. Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund, summary of HUD's May 22, 2026 enforcement guidance on animal accommodations
3. HUD and U.S. Department of Justice, Joint Statement on Reasonable Accommodations Under the Fair Housing Act, May 17, 2004
4. Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. § 3604 (Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School)
5. 24 CFR § 100.204, Reasonable accommodations (Electronic Code of Federal Regulations)
6. ADA Requirements: Service Animals (ADA.gov, U.S. Department of Justice)
7. Frequently Asked Questions about Service Animals and the ADA (ADA.gov)
8. U.S. Department of Transportation, Traveling by Air With Service Animals, final rule, Federal Register, December 10, 2020
9. California Health and Safety Code § 122318 (AB 468, ESA documentation rules)

Laws and agency positions change. We last checked this page against these sources on October 24, 2026. It is general information, not legal advice.

Related guides

• Your Fair Housing Act ESA rights
• Can a landlord charge pet rent for an ESA?
• ESA breed and weight restrictions
• How to get a psychiatric service dog