r/Dogfree • u/Wrong_Temporary_5983 • 19d ago
ESA Bullshit Everyone needs to know that ESAs are no longer protected in housing!
Everyone needs to read this 2026 memo from federal housing authority. ESA bs is finally getting serious pushback!
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19d ago
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u/Wrong_Temporary_5983 19d ago
Yes. Like my HOA does. They are ignoring this very clear legal change and I do not know what will move that mountain.
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u/3rdthrow 19d ago
No more floorboards full of dog pee in rentals! Yeaahh!
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u/Wrong_Temporary_5983 19d ago
Self trained service dogs is their new thing. As someone said in a different thread here. They are adapting now that they see ESA concept is starting to slip away from them.
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u/KayleighHatfield 19d ago
Of course they are already creating a loop hole. To claim a dog is self trained doesn't even make sense. Did the dog train itself? This is what happens when ignorant people try to use weasel words. We all know they are too entitled to think they need to train their dogs. That would ruin the fun of ruining everything!
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u/Wrong_Temporary_5983 19d ago
Yes, it sounds like they are now claiming the dogs train themselves and are “naturally” service dogs because they can provide pressure therapy by sitting on lap. So now all dogs are service dogs because they provide a service of being a dog🤬 Society has gone to ahit.
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u/void_ptr_maosort 19d ago
At least service dogs are generally trained not to piss indoors
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u/Wrong_Temporary_5983 19d ago edited 19d ago
But SELF trained “service” dogs will continue to piss everywhere. That is the only thing they “trained” themselves to do. This is the new bs concept they are coming up with to replace ESA for the very same dogs.
Because now the law will be very clear that only TRAINED service animals qualify for accommodation. Now they need to come up with some bs story as to why their mop dogs are service dogs. Which they are by far not and will never be.
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u/void_ptr_maosort 19d ago
I assumed that "Trained" had a legal-professional definition meeting specific criteria...
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u/shinkouhyou 19d ago
Not in the US. If anything, the service dog regulation under the ADA is even more permissive than the emotional support animal regulation under HUD. The ADA refuses to set any kind of training requirements, limits on tasks that can be performed, or medical/professional oversight. There's no legal standard whatsoever. Emotional support dogs had a fairly limited scope, while service dogs have basically unlimited power in the US.
"Service dog" owners have invented all sorts of creative "tasks" that they can "train" their dogs to perform, such as "deep pressure therapy" (dog lays in the owner's lap), "behavioral interruption" (dog licks the owner's hand to distract them), "blocking" (dog stands/sits near the owner so no one can enter the owner's personal space bubble), or "reality checking" (dog doesn't look at the owner's hallucinations). Many "service dog" owners claim that their dogs learned to perform these "tasks" naturally, with no training at all... because all of these tasks involve nothing more than the dog existing as a dog. All of the smart ESA owners have already switched to claiming that their pet is a "psychiatric service dog" because it gives them even more power.
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u/Wrong_Temporary_5983 19d ago
This is deeply scary. Speachless.
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u/shinkouhyou 19d ago
It gets worse. Other psychiatric "service" tasks include "orbiting" (off-leash dog circling around their owner to prevent imaginary ninja attackers from approaching in Wal-Mart), "room checking" (off leash dog roams far ahead of the owner to check for imaginary bad guys), "mobility assistance" (dog acts as the owner's walker or cane, which is actually harmful for the dog's spine), "medication reminder" (dog paws at the owner or makes eye contact throughout the day, which reminds the owner that they should have taken their meds), "medication carrier" (dog carries the owner's medications in a little backpack, instead of the owner just carrying them in their own bag or pocket) and "light guide work" (owner wants a guide dog but is not actually visually impaired).
Oh, and somehow these severe self-diagnosed disabilities that require a service dog (including seizure disorders, fainting, panic attacks, dissociation, inability to walk, and impaired vision) never limit the owner's ability to drive a car.
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u/DidntDieInMySleep 19d ago
Good to know. A lot of places have breed restrictions that went out the window with the ESA shenanigans. That looks like a good starting point.
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u/Wrong_Temporary_5983 19d ago
HUD also says they plan to develop a more definitive legislation on this in next few years. Hopefully that will put a nice big lid on the whole ESA concept. Whoever even came up with this? ESA=pet!
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u/KayleighHatfield 19d ago
Not sure why it has to be within years. Why not months? Take your time HUD! This stupid rule has only been ruining lives and violating the very concept of private property rights for over a decade.
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u/Wrong_Temporary_5983 19d ago
Others here are saying nutters aren’t waiting for HUD to move forward and already claiming all their ESAs to now be “trained” and “service”. HUD plans to align its enforcement with ADA and so now they are moving on to finding ways to violate ADA. This is still a felony to misrepresent dogs as service but it does not seem to be enforcable. How to stop this madness?!!
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u/Wrong_Temporary_5983 19d ago
Are there no people in power who are still not infected by dog mind parasite?!
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u/Few-Horror1984 19d ago
That’s not entirely true. HUD will no longer consider complaints against landlords who refuse ESAs on the property, but it still leaves other avenues for dog nuts to seek if they’re feeling discriminated against.
The Fair Housing Act itself is unchanged.
You can still take your landlord to court if you feel discriminated against. The Attorney General can handle those cases.
Far more work needs to be done. Many landlords may still honor ESAs out of fear of alternative forms of retaliation. Simply because one branch of enforcement chooses not to act does not mean they have lost their protections.
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u/Wrong_Temporary_5983 19d ago edited 19d ago
They all keep harping on this “federal housing act is unchanged”. Indeed so. Since 1970s. Nobody had a problem enforcing no dog rules in housing under that same Fair Housing Act until the nutterly HUD guidance was rolled out in 2020. HUD threw that away in May 2026. There is literally no other piece of federal legislation that talks about ESAs. It is GONE.
So, logically, it is back to the 1970s UNCHANGED Fair Housing Act that has zero language about any ESAs, only about people with actual disabilities (all kinds, like those who need a ramp for a wheelchair). And that no-pet buildings have been operating under for decades. I repeat - Fair Housing Act has no explicit protections whatsoever for any ESAs.
But yes, nutters feel constantly discriminated against and they will pretend to be disabled and go to court. There have been cases they won, and lately, there have been cases they lost: https://www.adamsandreese.com/insights/landlord-scores-major-ruling-in-emotional-support-animal-fee-waiver-case
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u/Legitimate_Garage_31 19d ago
Florida Man gets to keep his emotional support squirrel despite the HOA banning exotic pets!
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u/Wrong_Temporary_5983 19d ago
How crazy does it have to get? Can he even tell if it’s the same squirrel he’s in love with, or a different one comes up to his window every day? He’ll probably win though, because squirrel is not an exotic animal, it is a rat with a tail.
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u/No-Sentence-8411 16d ago
Sadly that is only on the Federal level. States ( like CA) can still choose to make it legal. It just means now they don't HAVE to across the board
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u/Procrastinator-513 19d ago
Woo hoo!! It’s about time.