Assistance Animals

HUD Changes Rules on Assistance Animals
June 03, 2026 | Texas REALTORS® Staff

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development no longer requires landlords to waive pet policies for untrained emotional support animals.

HUD has determined that requests to waive pet policies for animals trained to perform specific disability-related services are reasonable, but requests to waive pet policies for untrained ESAs are not. HUD no longer expects housing providers to extend accommodations intended for trained assistance animals to untrained ESAs.

HUD will only investigate cases involving animals trained to provide disability-related assistance. Untrained emotional support animals will no longer be considered exempt from non-refundable pet fees in our rental properties managed by Double H Property Management LLC lic 0516066.

The Americans with Disabilities Act defines a service animal as “individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disability.” To be a service animal, the tasks performed by the animal “must be directly related” to the disability. Providing emotional support, well-being, comfort, or companionship do not constitute work or tasks for the purposes of this definition.

Going forward, HUD will use the training component of the ADA’s definition for service animals to assess animal-related reasonable accommodation complaints under the Fair Housing Act. Defining an assistance animal as an animal trained to assist with a disability is the best guarantee of evenhanded enforcement of the Fair Housing Act. (End of announcement)

PetScreening is now a required part of Double H Property Management application and lease renewal process, and we use a third-party company called PetScreening to help manage pet and animal records where you can:

* Create a profile for your pet

* Submit a “No Pet” profile if you do not have a pet

* Request an accommodation for an assistance animal and upload any required documentation

This process helps us keep accurate records and make sure all pets and assistance animals are properly registered. PetScreening also offers benefits to residents for a fee, whether you currently have a pet, an assistance animal, or may get a pet in the future.

We are committed to providing a pet-friendly residence as allowed for you and your furry family members. Residents are responsible for paying any annual fees directly to PetScreening which are separate from the one-time non-refundable pet fee charged (excluding PetScreen approved assistance animals) by Double H Property Management.