Legally reviewed by: 
Medically reviewed by: Please note that on May 22, 2026, HUD stated it will no longer enforce ESA complaints. That does NOT mean ESA rights have ended or that your ESA letter is invalid. Please see this article for more details: https://esadoctors.com/hud-esa-policy-updates/
To learn about the rules for emotional support animals, refer to the latest guidelines from HUD, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. HUD is the authority for understanding what’s what when it comes to ESAs. These rules spell out how landlords and tenants should handle ESA requests under the Fair Housing Act.
This article addresses 14 important details about HUD’s rules and is intended to help tenants understand their current rights as ESA owners.
Whether you’re someone who needs an emotional support animal in your home or a property owner trying to comply, this guide will help you understand HUD’s rules.
You need an ESA letter if you want an emotional support animal
Here is maybe the most important thing to know about HUD’s ESA rules: if you want your pet to be recognized as an emotional support animal, the only way to do it is by getting an ESA letter. If you’re a landlord and you want to verify that your tenant has an ESA, the only document you can ask for as proof is an ESA letter. For an ESA letter to comply with HUD’s rules, it has to have the following:
- Written by a licensed healthcare professional (like a physician, psychiatrist, psychologist, nurse, counselor, or social worker)
- Be signed and dated by the provider
- Contain the provider’s license number and contact information
- State that the healthcare professional has a professional relationship with that patient/client
- Specify the type of animal(s) the ESA is
- State that the tenant has a mental or physical impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities
- State that the patient needs the animal(s) because they provide therapeutic emotional support
As a landlord, if you get an ESA letter that meets HUD’s requirements, you can’t ask for additional forms from the healthcare provider (more on that later).
Landlords can’t charge fees and deposits for ESAs
Under HUD’s rules, landlords can’t charge fees and deposits in connection with ESAs, including application fees. Even if the building charges a monthly fee or deposit for regular pets, ESA owners are exempt from these fees because they are considered a type of “medical device,” like a wheelchair or oxygen tank.
A landlord can, however, charge for any damage an emotional support animal causes. Landlords sometimes complain about not being able to charge fees and deposits to cover potential damages from an ESA. But, HUD’s rules confirm that ESA owners are responsible for the actions of their animals. Landlords can also deduct costs associated with damage caused by an ESA from the standard security deposit charged to all tenants.
Landlords can’t enforce breed and weight restrictions
When it comes to emotional support animals, the usual pet rules go right out the window. This is a significant point: landlords can’t tell you that your ESA is “too big” or that they “don’t allow that breed.” Even if a building has a strict “no pit bulls” or “no dogs over 30 pounds” policy for regular pets, these restrictions don’t apply to properly documented emotional support animals.
Why? Because ESAs aren’t classified as pets under the Fair Housing Act, they’re considered assistance animals that provide necessary support for a person with a mental health disability.
That said, landlords can still deny an ESA if the specific animal has a history of misbehavior that poses a direct threat to the safety or health of others. For example, if your emotional support dog has previously bitten someone or regularly destroys property, a landlord might have grounds to say no. However, this rejection should be based on the individual animal’s actual conduct, not assumptions made based on size or breed.
Landlords have to respond to ESA requests within 10 days
If you’ve given your landlord an ESA letter, they have to get back to you promptly. To be specific, HUD’s rules state that the housing providers should respond “promptly, generally within 10 days of receiving documentation.” Your landlord can’t drag their feet or prolong the process to deter you from having an ESA; you’re entitled to a fast response.
Landlords can’t require the healthcare professional to use a specific form
One common obstacle that tenants face is that landlords sometimes insist that additional forms be completed by the healthcare professional in addition to the ESA letter. Landlords sometimes also make other unreasonable demands, like asking the healthcare professional to make sworn statements.
HUD has explicitly stated that landlords can’t require a healthcare professional to use a specific form, provide notarized documents, make statements under penalty of perjury, or provide an individual’s diagnosis or other detailed information about a person’s mental impairments.
You can choose to have your healthcare professional complete landlord forms that are just confirmatory and don’t ask for sensitive details about your condition, but that’s completely up to you and your provider.
Landlords can’t request details about the tenant’s condition
Sometimes, landlords will demand to know more details about your condition and why you need a particular ESA. HUD has emphasized that housing providers can’t request specific details about your health. They also can’t request access to medical records or insist on a medical examination. HUD’s rules are clear that landlords aren’t entitled to know your diagnosis or details about the severity of your disability. That information stays between you and your healthcare provider.
When it comes to your mental health history, you have a right to privacy and confidentiality.
ESA requests can be made orally or in writing
You can request accommodation for your ESA orally or in writing. The request can also be made directly by the ESA owner or by someone else on their behalf, such as a person legally residing in the unit with the ESA owner, a legal guardian, spouse, romantic partner, or an authorized representative. You don’t need to submit a written request or use the words “reasonable accommodation,” “assistance animal,” or any other special words to request accommodation for their ESA.
Many people find that making a written request is helpful for their personal records. But, it’s sufficient to simply inform the landlord that you are requesting to live with your ESA and share your ESA letter. If you’re nervous about telling your landlord, check out our guide on informing your landlord about your ESA.
HUD does, however, encourage tenants to specify that they are requesting a “reasonable accommodation” for an emotional support animal to make things crystal clear. HUD also recommends keeping a copy of your accommodation request and any supporting documentation, which will come in handy in case there’s a dispute about whether an ESA accommodation request was ever made.
Tenants can make an ESA request before or after adopting the ESA
Under HUD’s rules, you can request ESA accommodation either before or after acquiring your emotional support animal.
HUD states that you can make an ESA request at any time, and the landlord has to consider the request even if you made it after bringing your ESA home.
You should always be transparent with your landlord about your ESA situation and inform them as soon as possible if you plan to have one. Sometimes landlords find out that a tenant has been keeping an ESA in secret and threaten to kick out the ESA or terminate the tenant’s lease.
HUD has stated that in these situations, the tenant can still submit an ESA request, but the timing may create the impression that the tenant acted in bad faith (i.e., the tenant obtained an ESA solely to skirt pet rules). That means a couple of things:
First, if you think you might qualify for an ESA, you should seek help from a licensed professional as soon as possible, and not only after you bring an animal home and your landlord discovers it.
Second, you should always try to inform the landlord prior to the ESA moving in. That’s not always feasible — for example, if you already live with a pet and then that pet later qualifies as an ESA.
The bottom line is that you should never try to hide an ESA from a landlord. Instead, aim to send your request for ESA accommodation as soon as you have your ESA letter. You can also submit the request to your landlord prior to actually adopting the animal that will become your ESA.
Dogs, cats, small birds, rabbits, hamsters, gerbils, other rodents, fish, and turtles can be ESAs.
Emotional support animals are typically dogs and cats, but many types of animals can serve as wonderful companions that provide emotional support. According to HUD, any “small, domesticated animal that is traditionally kept in the home for pleasure rather than for commercial purposes” can be an ESA. Dogs, cats, small birds, rabbits, hamsters, gerbils, other rodents, fish, and turtles are given as specific examples of animals that fall into this category.
This does not mean that other animals cannot serve as ESAs. The HUD notes that other “unique” animals, such as reptiles other than turtles, barnyard animals, monkeys, kangaroos, and other non-domesticated animals, will face a higher bar in order for landlords to accept them. HUD notes that owners of such “unique” animals will face a substantial burden of demonstrating the need for such animals, and should submit additional documentation from their licensed healthcare professional specifically confirming the need for that specific type of animal. In these cases, the health professional will have to describe the unique circumstances that justify the client’s need for the particular, unique animal.
Landlords have to engage in a good-faith “interactive dialogue” with tenants about ESA requests
Sometimes, landlords can be difficult when you ask for an emotional support animal. They might ignore your request completely, deny it without explaining why, or just refuse to talk about it, but you should know that they can’t do that under HUD’s rules.
According to HUD, landlords need to work with you through what’s called an “interactive process” before they can turn down your ESA request. In plain language, this means they have to have a good-faith conversation with you about your needs.
Your landlord must give you a reasonable chance to provide any missing documentation about your disability or your ESA. If they think your request is incomplete, they should tell you exactly what’s missing and work with you to fix the issue.
Even in cases where a landlord is concerned that your ESA might be dangerous, they can’t just say ‘no’ automatically. They have to consider whether there are ways to reduce any potential risks. For example, HUD specifically mentions that keeping an animal in a secure enclosure might be a workable solution in some cases.
Ultimately, your landlord can’t just shut down the conversation about your ESA — they’re required under HUD’s rules to work with you to find a solution.
Tenants can use the help of third parties to care for their ESAs
It probably goes without saying, but an ESA owner is always responsible for the well-being and safety of their ESA, as well as for the consequences of their ESA’s actions. HUD agrees that tenants with ESAs are responsible for feeding, maintaining, providing veterinary care for, and controlling their emotional support animal.
HUD also clarifies that as an ESA owner, you can do this on your own, with the help of family and friends, or with other third parties like volunteers or service providers.
This clarification from HUD is helpful for ESA owners who have had landlords suggest that the ESA must be in their presence at all times. HUD recognizes that ESA owners, like most pet owners, will sometimes use third parties, such as dog walkers and sitters, to care for their animal companions.
HOAs and Co-Ops are subject to ESA rules
HUD’s rules for emotional support animals apply to most housing providers, including rental buildings, homeowners associations (HOAs), and Co-Ops. Just because your HOA association or co-op has a rule about pets doesn’t mean it applies to emotional support animals. Keep in mind that some landlords of smaller dwellings don’t have to follow Fair Housing rules. For example, owner-occupied buildings with no more than four units and landlords of single-family houses sold or rented by the owner without the use of an agent may be exempt from the rules of the Fair Housing Act.
Registrations and licenses are NOT legitimate ways to qualify an ESA
To reiterate, the only way to legitimately qualify for an ESA is to get an ESA letter.
ESAs don’t require registration or a license, as these don’t confer any legal rights on an animal or confirm that the owner has a disability. This is what HUD had to say about the matter:
“Some websites sell certificates, registrations, and licensing documents… in HUD’s experience, such documentation from the internet is not, by itself, sufficient to reliably establish that an individual has a non-observable disability or disability-related need for an assistance animal.”
It’s clear that registrations and certifications purchased online are insufficient to prove you need an ESA. The same goes for accessories like ID cards, vests, and tags. While these items are nice to have, so you can show that you have a pet with ESA status when needed, they won’t be of any use unless you also have your ESA letter, written by a licensed healthcare provider.
ESA letters can come from online health professionals
Contrary to what some landlords believe, HUD clearly states that legitimate ESA letters can be issued by healthcare professionals who provide services remotely, including online.
HUD explicitly addresses online documentation in its guidance:
“Many legitimate, licensed healthcare professionals deliver services remotely, including over the internet. One reliable form of documentation is a note from a person’s healthcare professional that confirms a person’s disability and/or need for an animal when the provider has personal knowledge of the individual.”
Note that HUD states that a healthcare provider must have “personal knowledge” of you and your condition, whether they evaluate you online or in person. That means you can’t get an ESA letter unless the healthcare professional has actually evaluated your mental health and situation. That’s why you should be wary of sites where you can get an ESA letter instantly.
HUD’s Rules Affirm the Importance of ESAs and the Need to Protect ESA Owners in the Home
With their latest rules, HUD recognizes the invaluable role that emotional support animals can have in the lives of their owners. Some examples that HUD gives of how assistance animals help owners with mental illness include:
- Providing emotional support that alleviates at least one identified symptom or effect of a mental impairment
- Taking action to calm a person with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) during an anxiety attack
- Assisting the person in dealing with disability-related stress or pain;
- Assisting a person with a mental illness to leave the isolation of home or to interact with others
- Enabling a person to deal with the symptoms or effects of major depression by providing a reason to live
If you’re struggling with emotional or mental health challenges, an emotional support animal might help. If you’re wondering if you qualify, reach out to a licensed mental health professional. Don’t have one? No worries — we can connect you with a qualified provider licensed for your state who can evaluate whether an ESA would benefit your situation.
While HUD’s guidelines apply nationwide, be aware that some states have added their own requirements. For instance, California and Arkansas require you to have a 30-day relationship with your healthcare provider before they can issue an ESA letter.
Our team at ESA Doctors can connect you with professionals who understand all the current requirements in your location.
Below is a recap of the important details regarding HUD’s latest rules
If you found this article helpful, you may save the graphic below or share it with a loved one who may be impacted by these rules.
Do I need to disclose my ESA prior to signing a lease? The building allows pets but the owner of the apartment said no pets due to new floors.
You can disclose an ESA and submit your documentation before or after you sign a lease. However, you should keep in mind what effect hiding disclosure if you know you’ll need an ESA can have on the relationship with your landlord and any future friction that might create.
I manage an independent senior community in Ohio and have a tenant who currently has a “pet” but is now applying for an ESA. It is my understanding that I will return her pet deposit once she provides the proper ESA documentation. Beyond that, are there physical restrictions on the ESA as it pertains to being in common areas of the building? For instance, can I require it to be leashed outside of the tenants apartment? Is it permitted to sit on common area furnishings?
The ESA should be allowed in other common areas if dogs are allowed in those areas. Reasonable restrictions such as keeping the ESA off common room furniture (if that rule applies to all animals) is probably okay. There is unfortunately a lack of definitive guidance in this area.
My landlord is saying we can only have a animal if we live alone, small breed, and only certain animals. By this that isn’t true. My dog is slowly dying and I need a large dog he told me I could not get another dog now or after, I am disabled by the way she did jobs for me.
It sounds like you have a service dog. If that’s correct, then yes, your landlord can’t impose breed restrictions on your service animal.
I have a new ESA. My landlord refused at all to even have a conversation about ESA. He simply rolled his eyes, said “That doesn’t work here” and walked away while numbing something about eviction. How do I even get paperwork to him when he is going to deny he ever got it anyway and wasn’t willing to st me show or give him paperwork while he was standing right in front of me. My paper is legitimate, my ESA is a guinea pig that is either ALWAYS caged or ALWAYS held, the building is a 6 unit complex and the landlord does not reside here. Is my only option left to go through a HUD complaint? He made it fairly clear his answer was “That doesn’t work here” and gave no reason so I assume it’s the reason he gives for almost everything….Because he owns it and he has the say so. Surely he can’t just decide rules and things don’t apply to him, can he? How do I get my ESA to him and act on it if he wont even take it(literally)? For the little dialog there was, he never saw my ESA letter and told me no. Now what? I doubt he’s going to listen to even an authority telling him. What do I do? Wait until he evicts and handle it then? It’s already an uncomfortable atmosphere simply because I mentioned the ESA. He said no and walked away without accepting any paperwork. He didn’t even let me get that far. Any help??????
Fair Housing rules apply to every landlord in every state. If you submit an ESA letter to your landlord, they must make reasonable accommodations unless they have a valid exemption.
I’ve submitted two ESA letters from my doctor to my landlord and they keep pushing back saying I need the dates that I first and last saw them and specific symptoms/ways that my disability affects my life and specific ways that my ESA helps these symptoms. My letter states that I have the disability and that my ESA helps mitigate these symptoms and recommends I get to live with one, but the landlord said that is not specific enough. My doctor is currently deployed and my ESA has already been staying with my parents out of state for 2 months while I try and get her approved but it’s really affecting me.
I was wondering if HUD can deny your ESA? i was told today that I have to gt permission from HUD. I don’t understand. If you need an ESA and they deny it, what if the tenant commits suicide?
You do not need permission from HUD. You would submit your ESA letter and they would approve your ESA accommodation. We recommend reading this link for a guide on how it works: https://esadoctors.com/how-it-works/
When applying for new housing, do I have to disclose that I have an ESA before my application is accepted and I sign the lease? My fear is that they will discriminate if they know beforehand and come up with some other excuse to deny housing.
You’re allowed to disclose the ESA before or after signing the lease, but you should consider what effect it might have on your relationship with the landlord if they feel you were hiding the ball. We always recommend that clients be as transparent as possible.
I put in an ESA form 2 years ago to the same place i live now. they are now saying that we have to get another one and its an “accommodation” form that we have to get filled out.
If we have already given the information when we moved in and haven’t moved since, do we have to provide more information or “renew” it?
The landlord is probably entitled to a more recent ESA letter if the one they have on file is more than 2 years old.
Is there an age restriction on an ESA? Asking in regards to 12 week old puppies that are not housebroken. Doesn’t seem right to allow a landlord’s property to be destroyed with urine because a tenant needs an ESA and thinks it’s okay to get a puppy and the landlord has no say.
There are no age limits/restrictions for ESAs. As a landlord, you have the right to be compensated by the tenant if their ESA causes any damage to the property.
A prospective landlord has denied my ESA letter cause it was written by a LPC. They had their lawyer send me a letter stating that “under HUD guidelines LPC’s are counselors and not licensed medical providers and do not qualify as health care professionals.
Is this true? if so Why are these LPC advertising and seeing ESA patients and charging them for sessions nd letters they can’t back up isn’t that false representation?
Under HUD rules, ESA letters have to come from “licensed healthcare professionals”. A licensed LPC should qualify – HUD has even permitted social workers and nurses to issue ESA letters.
We have 2 ESAs in our condo community in MA. Both dogs are left alone barking constantly. We welcome the ESA dogs, but with people working from home, the barking is becoming very annoying and disturbing leisurely quite time with other residence. From what I understand that an ESA dog should not be left alone. The ESA dog is a companion to those in need. And where are the guidelines to the ESA owner of the do’s and don’ts of being an ESA owner? And no mentioning of town licenses or vet visits info.?
Hopefully you can answer my questions.
Best,
Mary
ESAs can be left alone, and that is common, but they certainly should not be creating a nuisance for other tenants. We suggest bringing this up to your condo association and having them mediate a possible solution.
Does the housing department do/ need to do an investigation on ESA approval? If so how long does it take?
HUD gets involved to investigate instances of housing discrimination, they do not get involved with every ESA accommodation request tenants make.
That is correct, an ESA only has rights for housing.
What are HUD guidelines when an animal identified as an emotional support animal attacks another animal designated as a pet, emotional support animal or service dog or attacks person living in the same building?
An ESA that attacks another animal or person can be disallowed by a landlord. Landlords are not required to accommodate ESAs that are dangerous to others.
Hello, My granddaughter has been diagnosed with a lot of mental issues, she move back to OR. from MN. she stay with me when she first come. then she move into a group home to help with her issue. they help her with life skills etc.. she came back to stay with us (family) we help her get into her first place. Her mom will be bring her dog to her in Nov. My question is.. where she lives the manger is denying the letter her doctor wrote explaining that she need her companion dog (Leo). I have look into Oregon’s law and US Dept of Housing. My granddaughter is protected according to Oregon & Federal Laws. My next question is if after talking and showing her landlord the information and she still denies my granddaughter her to have Leo what’s my next step? any suggestions would surely be appreciate. Oh Leo is a pomeranian.
Landlords can only deny an ESA in limited circumstances, such as if they determined that the ESA poses a safety or health threat to others. If you feel that you have been unfairly discriminated against because of your emotional support animal, you can file a complaint with your state or federal housing authorities.
I have an ESA where I live now. I have received my Section 8 voucher and will be moving within the month. Most places have a “no pet” policy. Understanding that she is not a pet, and already having a letter from my doctor, what is the best way to move in to a new apartment and let the new landlord know I have an ESA?
We always recommend being honest, friendly and open with landlords. If you have a valid ESA letter, you are entitled to live with your ESA under Federal law, subject to certain limitations.
It’s been a month since I have submitted my documents and my ESA’s documents and I have yet to even hear from them. Is this normal?
No, under HUD guidelines landlords should respond within 10 days. We suggest following up with your landlord ASAP.