Service animals and emotional support animals, for housing providers
For landlords
Two categories, two sets of rules, and since May 2026 a difference that reaches housing.
The definitions you are working with
- A service animal under the ADA is a dog individually trained to do work or perform tasks for a person with a disability, with a separate provision for miniature horses. The task is the definition.
- An assistance animal in housing is the broader category, and includes animals that provide emotional support without training. The Fair Housing Act has never restricted species or required training.
Why it matters in housing now
Since 22 May 2026, HUD finds reasonable cause on an animal-related complaint only where the animal is individually trained to perform work or tasks. That is the ADA test applied to a housing complaint. The distinction used to be about public access; it now shapes how a federal complaint about your building is handled.
What it does not do is give you a general permission. The Fair Housing Act is unchanged, the private right of action is unchanged, and most states have their own statute that HUD does not administer. A policy built on the headline is a policy built on one enforcement route.
What you may ask
In housing, where the disability is not obvious: reliable documentation that a disability exists and that the animal is needed because of it. That is the same question whichever category the animal falls into, and you are not entitled to more in either case.
Recording it
Note on the file whether the animal is described as task-trained and what the task is, if the tenant offers it. Not as a condition of the accommodation, and because the characterisation now matters if a complaint is ever made. Do not demand a demonstration, which you may not do.
Common questions
- Can I refuse an untrained animal now?
- Not as a policy. You can refuse on the ordinary grounds. What changed is the likelihood of an adverse HUD finding, not the underlying duty or your exposure to a private suit.