HUD HCV Guidebook § 3.2.1.1

Persons with disabilities may request a reasonable accommodation for assistance animals, often referred to
as service animals or support animals, under the Fair Housing Act. This type of reasonable accommodation
request is common and is usually for an exception to a housing providers’ pet ownership rules or policies so
that that individuals with disabilities are permitted to use assistance animals in housing, including public and
common use areas.

Assistance animals are not pets. They are animals that do work, perform tasks, assist, and/or provide
therapeutic emotional support for individuals with disabilities. There are two types of assistance animals: (1)
service animals; and (2) other animals that do work, perform tasks, provide assistance, and/or provide
therapeutic emotional support for individuals with disabilities (referred to in this chapter as a “support
animal”). An animal that does not qualify as a service animal or support animal is a pet for purposes of the
Fair Housing Act and may be treated as a pet for purposes of the lease and the housing provider’s rules and
policies. A housing provider may not exclude certain types, breed, sizes or ages of animals or charge a fee or
deposit for service animals or other assistance animals even if the housing providers does so for pets.

HUD issued guidance in FHEO Notice 2020-01 that provides housing providers with a set of best practices for
complying with the Fair Housing Act when assessing requests for reasonable accommodations to keep
animals in housing, including the information that a housing provider may need to know from a health care
professional about an individual’s need for an assistance animal in housing.78

In addition, under the ADA, public entities, including PHAs, and public accommodations must permit an
individual with a disability to use a service animal as defined by the regulations implementing that statute. 79
In the context of a service animal under the ADA, a public entity may only make two inquiries: 1) if the animal
is required because of a disability; and 2) what work or task the animal is trained to perform.80 Under the ADA
no documentation is required, and, generally, the inquiries should not be made when it is readily apparent
that an animal is trained to do work or perform a task for an individual with a disability (e.g., the dog is

78 FHEO 2020-01, “Assessing a Person’s Request to Have an Animal as a Reasonable Accommodation Under the Fair Housing Act,”

available at https://www.hud.gov/sites/dfiles/PA/documents/HUDAsstAnimalNC1-28-2020.pdf.
79 See 28 CFR 35.104, 36.104.
80 See 28 CFR 35.136, 36.302.

Fair Housing and Nondiscrimination Requirements                                                                   20
US Department of Housing and Urban Development                                                            April 2025

observed guiding an individual who is blind or has low vision, pulling a person’s wheelchair, or providing
assistance with stability or balance to an individual with an observable mobility disability).81