Illinois ESA Housing Letter

What Illinois law says about emotional support animals

Illinois has a statute written for assistance animals in housing, the Assistance Animal Integrity Act, and its definition names emotional support animals. It works alongside the reasonable accommodation rule in the Illinois Human Rights Act and the federal Fair Housing Act.

• Under the Illinois Human Rights Act, it is a civil rights violation to refuse to make reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, practices or services when they may be necessary to give a person with a disability equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling. (775 ILCS 5/3-102.1(C)(2))

• The Assistance Animal Integrity Act defines an assistance animal as an emotional support or service animal that qualifies as a reasonable accommodation under the federal Fair Housing Act or the Illinois Human Rights Act. The definition doesn't mention training. (310 ILCS 120/5)

• A housing provider may ask for reliable documentation only if your disability or disability-related need isn't readily apparent or known to it. The documentation must be in writing, be made by a person with whom you have a therapeutic relationship, and describe your disability-related need for the animal. A provider may ask you to use a standardized form, but can't deny the request just because you didn't use it, if your documentation meets those requirements. (310 ILCS 120/10(a), (b))

• A therapeutic relationship means medical, program or personal care services given in good faith, with actual knowledge of your disability and your need for an assistance animal, by a physician or other medical professional, a mental health service provider, or a non-medical service agency or reliable third party in a position to know about your disability. It doesn't include an entity that issues a certificate or similar document without a meaningful assessment of your disability or your need for the animal. (310 ILCS 120/5)

• A housing provider may ask for more documentation only if what you first gave doesn't meet those requirements, and it may verify that the documentation is authentic. The Act says it doesn't require documentation of a specific diagnosis. (310 ILCS 120/10(d), (g), (h))

• A housing provider may not require a pet-related deposit, pet fee or related pet assessment, even if it allows pets and charges pet owners, and may not require special liability insurance for the assistance animal. It may charge you for repairs of damage the animal causes to your unit or the common areas, reasonable wear and tear excepted, the same way it would for any other resident. (310 ILCS 120/10(f))

• A provider may deny a documented request, or rescind one it granted, if the accommodation is an undue financial and administrative burden or a fundamental alteration of its operations, or if, after an individualized assessment, reliable objective evidence shows the specific animal poses a direct threat to others' health or safety or causes substantial physical damage to others' property that another reasonable accommodation can't reduce or eliminate, or has a pattern of uncontrolled behavior its handler hasn't taken effective action to correct. (310 ILCS 120/10(c))

• The Act says a housing provider isn't liable for injuries caused by an assistance animal it permits as a reasonable accommodation, and that the Act doesn't limit your rights under the Illinois Human Rights Act or federal civil rights laws. Under its May 2026 memo, HUD will find reasonable cause and recommend charges only where the animal is trained to provide disability-related assistance; that memo is HUD's own enforcement guidance, and we found no change to the Illinois Act since it took effect in 2020. (310 ILCS 120/15, 120/20; P.A. 101-518)

• Illinois's housing exemptions include renting in an owner-occupied building for no more than four families and renting rooms in a private home where the owner or a member of the owner's family lives. That list is written for Section 3-102 of the Human Rights Act, while the disability rules sit in Section 3-102.1, so if your landlord may fit one, ask IDHR or a lawyer whether it reaches your request. (775 ILCS 5/3-106(B), (C); 775 ILCS 5/3-102.1)

• We found no Illinois statute that makes it a crime to misrepresent an emotional support animal or a service animal. Illinois's service animal law is about access instead: knowingly denying a person with a disability and their service animal, a dog or miniature horse trained or being trained, entry to a public place of accommodation is a Class C misdemeanor. Refer to yours as an emotional support animal. (720 ILCS 5/48-8)

Checked November 2026 at the sources listed at the end of this page. More on Illinois ESA laws.

If your Illinois landlord says no

1. Ask in writing and keep your own copy of the request, your letter and every reply.
2. Ask for the reason in writing, and send any information your landlord didn't consider.
3. Describe your animal accurately, as an emotional support animal, not a service animal.

• File a charge with the Illinois Department of Human Rights within one year after the discrimination happened or ended; the charge is in writing, under oath or affirmation. IDHR's filing page has a Complainant Information Sheet for housing and real estate cases, which it recommends you email to IDHR.FairHousing@illinois.gov, or you can mail or fax it. IDHR is on HUD's list of Fair Housing Assistance Program agencies. (775 ILCS 5/7B-102(A)(1))

• Court is another route: under the Illinois Human Rights Act you can bring a civil action in circuit court within two years after the violation happened or ended, whether or not you filed a charge with IDHR. Time while an administrative proceeding under the Act was pending doesn't count toward the two years. You can't sue on the same violation if you agreed to a settlement obtained by IDHR or a local agency, or once a hearing has begun on a complaint IDHR issued. (775 ILCS 5/10-102(A))

• For a home in Chicago, the Chicago Commission on Human Relations enforces the Chicago Fair Housing Ordinance, which covers disability. The Commission must receive your complaint within 365 days of the incident, and there is no cost to file. (Chicago Commission on Human Relations)

• The Cook County Commission on Human Rights takes complaints of unlawful discrimination in housing under the county's Human Rights Ordinance. It says a complaint must be filed within 180 days of the alleged violation. (Cook County Commission on Human Rights)

• You can also file with HUD within one year (42 U.S.C. §3610). Under its May 2026 memo, HUD will find reasonable cause and recommend charges only where the animal is trained to provide disability-related assistance. The memo says it doesn't affect anyone's right to bring a private lawsuit in court.

If your landlord denies your request in writing, you may also be eligible for a refund: see our refund policy.

Renting in Illinois

• 32.9% of occupied homes in Illinois are rented US: 34.8%
• 1,657,539 renter households
• $1,274 median gross rent a month US: $1,413

About a third of Illinois's occupied homes are rented (32.9%), a little under the US share of 34.8%, and the median gross rent of $1,274 a month is $139 below the US median. Illinois has 1,657,539 renter households; for those whose landlords charge pet deposits or fees, the Assistance Animal Integrity Act's bar on them for an assistance animal matters, though some small owner-occupied rentals may sit outside the state's fair housing law.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates, table DP04, 2020–2024: Illinois, United States.