Assistance Animal Guidance – FHEO-2020-01

This long-awaited guidance was provided in January of 2020 and replaced guidance previously published in January of 2013.  This notice applies to all housing providers covered by the Fair Housing Act (FHA) and administers guidance, as well as a set of best practices for complying with the FHA and ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) when assessing requests for reasonable accommodations to keep animals in housing. This recent notice discussed the two types of assistance animals – Service Animals, which are considered those that work, provide assistance, or perform tasks for the benefit of a person with a disability, and Support Animals, which are those that provide emotional support that alleviate one or more identified effects of a person’s disability. This guidance not only provides directive in the approval of requested animals, but also provides HUD program participants with what types of animals are truly considered service animals versus support animals.  Your Tenant Selection Plan, Pet Policy, and House Rules may have required edits based upon this guidance and should be reviewed.