On May 22, 2026, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued new guidance concerning its enforcement of emotional support animal (ESA) complaints under the Fair Housing Act (“the Act”).

The Fair Housing Act has prohibited housing discrimination against people with disabilities since 1988. As part of this prohibition against such discrimination, the law requires property managers, homeowners associations, and others to provide “reasonable accommodations” – that is, to change or waive a rule or policy to allow a person with a disability to fully use and enjoy their home.

For decades, and most recently in 2020, HUD made clear through its fair housing enforcement actions and official guidance that ESAs needed by people with nonphysical disabilities are covered by the Act’s reasonable-accommodation mandate. Thus, for example, housing providers have generally been required to waive “no pet” rules to allow disabled persons to have ESAs that are not individually trained but provide comfort or therapeutic benefit to a person with a disability.

HUD’s May 2026 guidance rescinds its 2020 statement on ESAs and announces that it will no longer accept complaints from individuals whose emotional support animals are not “individually trained to perform work or tasks directly related to the person’s disability.”

HUD’s position now is that it will use the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) definition of service animal to assess reasonable accommodation complaints under the Fair Housing Act. Under the ADA, a service animal “is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability.” HUD’s new guidance means that the department no longer considers the emotional support, well-being, comfort, and companionship that an animal provides to qualify its owner for a Fair Housing Act-required reasonable accommodation.

Although HUD is not currently accepting these ESA complaints, housing providers should be aware that private litigants and state agencies may still file such cases. The Act’s reasonable-accommodation provision has never included a training requirement. Courts have regularly ruled or just assumed that ESAs are included in the FHA’s protections, and courts are not bound by HUD’s new enforcement posture. Further, many states and localities have their own fair housing laws that are enforced independently of HUD.

Before changing any practice based on HUD’s new guidance, check with your attorney or state fair housing agency.