Assistance Animals & Emotional Support Animals in Texas: What Renters Need to Know

If you have a disability and rely on an animal for emotional support or physical assistance, federal fair housing law gives you protections that go well beyond a landlord’s standard pet policy. Here is what those protections actually are — and how to use them.

Service Animals vs. Emotional Support Animals — What’s the Difference?

These two terms are often used interchangeably, but they carry different legal protections under different laws.

Service animals are dogs (or in limited cases, miniature horses) individually trained to perform specific tasks for a person with a disability — guiding someone who is blind, alerting someone who is deaf, detecting an oncoming seizure, or interrupting self-harm behaviors, for example. Service animals are covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and have broad public-access rights.

Emotional support animals (ESAs) are animals that provide comfort and emotional support to a person with a diagnosed mental or emotional disability simply through their presence. They do not need to perform a specific trained task. ESAs are not covered by the ADA for purposes of public access — but they are covered by the Fair Housing Act (FHA) in the context of housing. That is the law that matters for renters.

What Does the Fair Housing Act Actually Require?

Under the Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. § 3604), a landlord must provide a “reasonable accommodation” to a tenant with a disability when that accommodation is necessary for the tenant to have equal opportunity to enjoy their housing.

In practice, this means a landlord with a no-pets policy must allow a tenant with a qualifying disability to keep an assistance animal — and must waive any pet fees or pet deposits associated with that animal. The animal is not a pet under fair housing law; it is a disability accommodation.

What a landlord CAN do

• Ask for documentation confirming the tenant has a disability and that the animal provides a disability-related benefit — if the disability is not obvious or already known.
• Set reasonable rules about how the animal is cared for on the property.
• Hold the tenant financially responsible for any actual damage the animal causes.
• Deny a request if the specific animal poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others that cannot be reduced by another accommodation, or if the accommodation would cause an undue financial or administrative burden.

What a landlord CANNOT do

• Charge a pet deposit or pet rent for an approved assistance animal.
• Require a breed or weight restriction to be met for an assistance animal.
• Ask for a specific diagnosis or demand access to medical records.
• Require the animal to be trained or certified.
• Refuse to consider the request simply because the property has a no-pets policy.

What Documentation Can a Landlord Ask For?

If your disability is not visible or already known to the landlord, they may ask for documentation to verify two things: (1) that you have a disability, and (2) that the animal provides a benefit related to that disability.

Acceptable documentation typically comes from a healthcare provider — a physician, psychiatrist, therapist, or other licensed professional — who has a genuine relationship with you. It does not need to name your specific diagnosis. It simply needs to confirm that you have a disability and that the animal provides a therapeutic benefit.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has flagged the rise of online ESA letter mills — websites that charge a fee and provide a letter from a provider who has never met the tenant. Landlords are allowed to be skeptical of these letters and may consider the reliability of the source when evaluating the request. A letter from your treating provider carries far more weight.

The landlord must respond to your request within a reasonable time. HUD guidance identifies 10 business days as a reasonable timeframe, though this is guidance — not a legally binding deadline — and Texas law does not set a specific statutory deadline.

How to Submit a Request at EWG Properties

If you have a disability and rely on an assistance animal, here is how to submit a reasonable accommodation request with EWG Properties:

• Put the request in writing. Submit through the Tenant Portal — which generates a timestamped record of all messages — or by email to info@eastwestgroup.io.
• State that you have a disability and that you are requesting a reasonable accommodation to keep an assistance animal. You do not need to name the disability.
• Attach supporting documentation from your treating healthcare provider if your disability is not already known to us.
• Allow reasonable time for review. We will respond in writing and work with you to resolve the request.

We are committed to complying with the Fair Housing Act in every decision we make. If you have questions before applying or before submitting a request, contact us at (210) 698-6900 or info@eastwestgroup.io. You can also review our Fair Housing statement.

Bottom Line

If you have a qualifying disability and rely on an assistance animal, a no-pets policy does not close the door. Federal fair housing law requires landlords to engage in an interactive process and make reasonable accommodations. The key is putting your request in writing and providing documentation from a genuine healthcare provider — not a letter from an online service you found through an ad.