On January 28, HUD released FHEO Notice 2020-01– Assessing a Person’s Request to Have an Animal as a Reasonable Accommodation Under the Fair Housing Act — providing new guidance when receive an assistance animal request.
This guidance replaces HUD’s prior guidance, FHEO-2013-01– Service Animals and Assistance Animals for People with Disabilities in Housing and HUD-Funded Programs.
The guidance provides a recommended set of best practices for complying with fair housing when assessing accomodation requests involving animals. It also explains how households and owners/managers should work together to document information about the disability-related need for an assistance animal. The notice also discusses requests for what many would consider non-traditional assistance animals such as snakes & spiders as well as internet verifications and acceptable sources for verification. This guidance covers all forms of housing. To access this guidance, CLICK HERE.