Emotional Support Animals Service Animals - Definitions, Housing Allowances, and Reasonable Accommodation Requests

Sep 15, 2026

Upload by Grenda

Clear guidance distinguishes service animals from emotional support animals, explaining how each is trained and what public-access rights apply. The document then outlines housing-related allowances, including how emotional support animals are treated as reasonable accommodations under the Fair Housing Act and how the ADA differs. It provides a practical reasonable accommodation request process for landlords, specifying what information must be submitted, what proof is and is not required, and when providers may deny requests. It also includes ADA contact information and references service animal organizations and letter guidance.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLetters

FormatPDF

Pages4

Reading Time2 min

AccessFree to download

What is the Difference Between a Service Animal and an Emotional Support Animal?

Definitions

Housing Allowances

Reasonable Accommodation Request info

Public Allowances for Service Animals

Service Animal Organizations

ESA & Psychiatric Service Animal Letters

ADA Contact info

If you notice any changes or inconsistencies with our resources, please inform Navigation to help us stay current. What is the Difference Between a Service Animal and an Emotional Support Animal? • Service Animals are defined as dogs (sometimes horses) that are individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities. These tasks can include things like pulling a wheelchair, guiding a person who is visually impaired, alerting a person who is having a seizure, or even calming a person who suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (the tasks are not limited to this list) . However, the dog must be individually trained in skills that must be directly related to the person's disability. Service dogs may accompany persons with disabilities into places that the public normally goes. This includes state and local government buildings, businesses open to the public, public transportation, and non-profit organizations open to the public. • An Emotional Support Animal (can also be known as an assistance or support animal) is an animal (typically a dog or cat though this can include other species) that provides a therapeutic benefit to its owner through companionship. The animal provides emotional support and comfort to individuals with psychiatric disabilities and other mental impairments. The animal is not specifically trained to perform tasks for a person who suffers from emotional disabilities. Unlike a service animal, an emotional support animal is not granted access to places of public accommodation. Under the federal Fair Housing Act (FHA), an emotional support animal is viewed as“reasonable accommodation" in a housing unit that has a "no pets" rule for its residents. Housing Allowances • Although the ADA and the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) regulations have limited a “service animal” to a specially trained dog (or in some instances a miniature horse), those limitations do not apply to the federal laws that apply to housing. For more information regarding the Americans with Disabilities Act, contact the ADA information line at 1-800-514-0301. The information in this document is organized as follows: o Definitions – p.1 o Housing Allowances – p.1 o Reasonable Accommodation Request info – p.1-2 o Public Allowances for Service Animals – p.2 o ADA Contact info – p.2 o Service Animal Organizations – p. 3-4 o ESA & Psychiatric Service Animal Letters – p. 4 If you notice any changes or inconsistencies with our resources, please inform Navigation to help us stay current. • The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) uses the term "assistance animal" to cover any animal that works, aids, 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. An emotional support animal is one type of assistance animal allowed as a reasonable accommodation to a residence with a "no pets" rule. Service animals are also allowed under these guidelines. Reasonable Accommodation Request • People with disabilities may request reasonable accommodation to allow an emotional support animal to live with them, even if their housing has restrictions on pets. The issue becomes whether the person with a disability needs the animal to have an equal opportunity to use and enjoy the housing or program. o To make this argument, the person with a disability must make a request for a reasonable accommodation to the landlord, property manager or homeowners association (HOA) and provide the following information: ▪ Indicate that you have a disability. ▪ Request that, as a reasonable accommodation for your disability, you are seeking to have an emotional support animal live with you. ▪ Describe the relationship between your disability and the assistance the animal provides o If you can show each of these three things*, a housing provider or program must p

FAQs

How are service animals defined and what tasks must they perform?

Service animals are individually trained to do work or perform tasks that are directly related to a person’s disability. Examples include pulling a wheelchair, guiding someone who is visually impaired, alerting during seizures, or calming a person with PTSD.

What is an emotional support animal, and how does access differ from service animals?

An emotional support animal provides therapeutic benefit through companionship and comfort for individuals with psychiatric disabilities or mental impairments. Unlike service animals, emotional support animals are not granted access to places of public accommodation, but may be a reasonable accommodation under the Fair Housing Act for housing with a “no pets” rule.

What must a person include when requesting reasonable accommodation for an emotional support animal?

The requester must indicate they have a disability, request that an emotional support animal live with them as a reasonable accommodation, and describe the relationship between the disability and the assistance the animal provides. Housing providers generally must permit the animal unless they can show undue burden or a fundamental alteration of the housing or program.

Sep 15, 2026

Upload by Grenda