Short answer
HUD withdrew its 2013 and 2020 assistance-animal guidance effective September 17, 2025 (Federal Register Doc. 2026-06624). On May 22, 2026, HUD said it will find a violation in animal-accommodation complaints only for animals trained to provide disability-related assistance, so an untrained ESA no longer gets an automatic federal housing accommodation. What didn't change: the Fair Housing Act and HUD's reasonable-accommodation rule are the same, private lawsuits are still possible, and some states have their own ESA housing laws. Your letter still documents your clinical need; how a request is handled now depends more on the property and your state. More: mypetcerts.com/blog/hud-esa-housing-rule-change-2026. This is general information, not legal advice.
What changed
- HUD withdrew its 2013 and 2020 assistance-animal guidance (including FHEO-2020-01), effective September 17, 2025. The withdrawal notice is Federal Register Doc. 2026-06624.
- On May 22, 2026, HUD's fair housing office said it will find a violation in animal-accommodation complaints only where the animal is individually trained to do work or perform tasks related to the person's disability. Requests to waive pet policies for untrained ESAs are no longer presumed reasonable.
What didn't change
- The Fair Housing Act still requires reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities, and so does HUD's regulation.
- HUD's memo is about how HUD enforces federal law. It doesn't rewrite state law, and private lawsuits are still possible.
- Some states have their own ESA housing laws: see ESA laws by state.
What it means for your letter
Your letter still documents your clinical need. How a request is handled now depends more on the property and your state. Our blog post on the HUD change goes into more detail.
General information, not legal advice. Last reviewed: November 13, 2026.
