Assistance or Companion Animal?

An assistance/companion animal is not a pet. It is an animal that works, provides assistance, or performs tasks for the benefit of a person with a disability, or provides emotional support that alleviates one or more identified symptoms or effects of a person's disability.

Housing providers are to evaluate a request for a reasonable accommodation to possess an assistance/companion animal in a dwelling using the general principles applicable to all reasonable accommodation requests. After receiving such a request, the housing provider must consider the following:

1. Does the person seeking to use and live with the animal have a disability — i.e., a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities?
2. Does the person making the request have a disability-related need for an assistance/companion animal? In other words, does the animal work, provide assistance, perform tasks or services for the benefit of a person with a disability, or provide emotional support that alleviates one or more of the identified symptoms or effects of a person's existing disability?

If the answer to question (1) or (2) is "no," then the Fair Housing Act and Section 504 do not require a modification to a provider's "no pets" policy, and the reasonable accommodation request may be denied.

Where the answers to questions (1) and (2) are "yes," the Fair Housing Act and Section 504 require the housing provider to modify or provide an exception to a "no pets" rule or policy to permit a person with a disability to live with and use an assistance/companion animal(s) unless doing so would impose an undue financial and administrative burden or would fundamentally alter the nature of the housing provider's services.

Additional information about owner/agents responsibilities in regards to assistance and companion animals, including verification instructions, is incorporated into HUD's recent final rule.