Housing Rights
Equity Residential Sends Assistance Animal Requests to the Leasing Office
What Equity Residential's own resident handbook says about pets, restricted breeds, assistance animals and licenses, what it leaves out, and what HUD's documents add.
On this page
Equity Residential's resident handbook says no animal is allowed without written permission and payment of applicable pet fees and deposits, and that a community may be stricter, including no pets. It tells residents with a disability who need an animal to contact the leasing office. ESA Card has no connection to Equity Residential: its registration is the ID card you carry beside your provider's letter.
Equity Residential publishes its pet rules in its Resident Handbook and Community Policies, version 32 (National), marked "Revised 05/20" and copyrighted 2020. Everything below about Equity Residential comes from that handbook, read on November 5, 2026, with its quotes exact. It is from May 2020, so ask your community whether it has changed.
What is Equity Residential's pet policy?
Equity Residential's handbook says no animals are permitted without its specific written permission and payment of the applicable pet fees and deposits, and that the community you live in may be stricter. It reads "your community may have a policy that is more restrictive than the policy described below, including a 'No Pet' policy." It tells residents to check with the office for which pets are allowed and for any deposits, fees and other charges, and it gives no dollar amount.
May 2020
the revision date printed on the handbook
4
dog breeds named as not permitted, crossbreeds included
40
gallons, the largest fish tank where tanks are allowed
| The question | What Equity Residential's handbook says |
|---|---|
| Are pets allowed? | No animals are permitted "without our specific written permission and payment of all the applicable pet fees and deposits," and a community may have a "No Pet" policy. |
| Which dogs are not permitted? | American Pit Bull Terriers, American Bullies, American Staffordshire Terriers, Staffordshire Bull Terriers, and any dogs that are cross breeds of or related to them. |
| Which other animals are not permitted? | Wild animals and hybrids of wild animals, including wolf and coyote hybrids, monkeys, snakes, ferrets, rabbits, pot belly pigs and miniature horses. |
| What may the community ask for? | A licensed veterinarian's verification of your animal's weight and breed, and a photograph for your resident file. |
| What about an animal for a disability? | "If you or an occupant has a disability that requires the assistance of an animal, please contact the leasing office." |
| What do licenses and shots need to be? | "All pets and assistance animals must have required licenses, and tags and all inoculations must be current." |
| Does the policy cover visitors? | Yes, it also applies to pets and assistance animals belonging to occupants and guests who are visiting or staying, even briefly. |
Does Equity Residential allow emotional support animals?
Equity Residential's handbook does not name emotional support animals, but it names assistance animals and tells residents with a disability who need an animal to contact the leasing office. Its section for residents with disabilities says it is "firmly committed to the principles of Fair Housing" and that anyone who needs "an accommodation to our rules, policies, practices or services" should contact the leasing office for assistance. Four things follow from what it says:
Start at the leasing office
The handbook sends a resident who needs an animal because of a disability to the leasing office.
Licenses and shots apply
The handbook says all pets and assistance animals must have required licenses and tags, with all inoculations current.
Ask before you move in
For an assistance animal needed after move in, it says to contact the community beforehand and sign the appropriate lease documentation.
A community can be stricter
The handbook says a community's own policy may be more restrictive than the one it describes, so confirm yours.
Give your companion the card
Register your emotional support animal in about 3 minutes. Your Certificate of Registration and digital ESA Card arrive by email as two print-ready PDFs, backed by a 30-day guarantee.
About 3 minutes · Instant digital delivery
30-day money-back guarantee, no questions asked.What does Equity Residential charge for an assistance animal?
The handbook gives no dollar amount, and for an assistance animal it says to contact the community beforehand to "pay the required fees, if any." That wording comes from the 2020 handbook. Ask your community in writing which charges, if any, apply to an assistance animal there. HUD's own statement on fees is below.
How do you ask Equity Residential for an emotional support animal?
Equity Residential's handbook says to contact the leasing office, and it names no form, so the request starts with a written message to your community. Five steps keep it clean:
- Contact the leasing office before the animal moves in.
- Ask for its assistance animal request process and any form it uses.
- Put your request in writing and keep a copy of everything you send.
- Give a letter from your provider when the community asks for documentation.
- Ask in writing which fees, if any, apply, and keep the answer.
What do HUD's own documents say about an emotional support animal at an Equity Residential community?
The Fair Housing Act covers Equity Residential like any other landlord, and HUD's own statement says a housing provider may ask for reliable proof of the disability and the need, but may not charge extra fees or deposits for an accommodation. HUD and the Justice Department's joint statement on reasonable accommodations, dated May 17, 2004 and still on hud.gov when we read it, says a provider "may request reliable disability-related information" when a disability is not obvious, and that "housing providers may not require persons with disabilities to pay extra fees or deposits as a condition of receiving a reasonable accommodation." It adds that a tenant can still be billed for damage the animal causes. The 2020 handbook says to pay "the required fees, if any" for an assistance animal and gives no amount.
HUD has since changed how it enforces this. It withdrew its 2013 and 2020 assistance animal notices, effective September 17, 2025, and since May 22, 2026 its fair housing office pursues an animal complaint only when the animal is trained to do disability-related work or tasks (HUD's enforcement memo). The Fair Housing Act itself, your right to go to court and state laws did not change, and a 2025 federal decision attached to the memo found that waiving one $400 animal fee was not required on its facts, so fees are decided case by case. Our page on HUD's emotional support animal rules has the documents, and our guide to pet deposits, pet rent and fees for an ESA has the cases.
What should an ESA letter include when you give it to Equity Residential?
A letter from a licensed provider who evaluated you and can be reached, on letterhead with their license number and a signature, gives a leasing team something it can check. Our free sample ESA letter shows each part, and our guide to who can write an ESA letter covers which licenses count. The quickest route is a therapist, psychiatrist or doctor who already treats you, because they know you and can confirm the letter if Equity Residential calls. The handbook does not list the documents it asks for, so ask your community what it needs to see. The checks anyone can run on a letter are in how to verify an ESA letter.
No provider of your own? In Florida, New Jersey and New York we can book you a live video evaluation with an independent therapist licensed in your state: $120, with $80 back if they can't approve you, and the therapist alone decides on the letter. You can book in Florida, book in New Jersey or book in New York.
Other managers publish different rules. Our guides to Cortland, Essex and UDR read each company's own pages the same way, our study of what 16 large landlords publish about emotional support animals counts all sixteen, and our guide to how PetScreening reviews an ESA request covers the screening service many properties use.
Alongside the letter, ESA Card registration gives your animal a digital ESA Card with its photo, a certificate and a number anyone can check at esacard.com/verify, for $39$59$79$99 once, in about three minutes. It is handy for the everyday questions; the letter from your provider is the document a housing provider can ask for.
Your pet, on your phone
The part you actually carry
An ESA letter goes in your lease file. The ESA Card is the everyday one: your animal's photo, a certificate for the wall, and a registration number anyone can check. $39$59$79$99 once, about three minutes.
About 3 minutes · Instant digital delivery
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