Overview

Under both federal and California fair housing laws, assistance animals include both service animals and emotional support animals. Neither are considered pets, and both carry broad legal protections inside HOA-governed communities. Boards cannot apply pet rules, deposits, or breed or weight restrictions to assistance animals, and they must allow them full access to HOA common areas.

This Fact Sheet explains your right to bring assistance animals into common areas, the narrow circumstances when boards can enforce behavior rules, what laws actually apply, and how to protect yourself if your HOA refuses to comply. Homeowners who know these rules are better prepared to insist on their rights, document violations, and hold their HOA accountable.

For a deeper dive into this topic, see my full article: “Service Animals and Emotional Support Animals in California HOAs: Your Rights.” For quick-reference guides on assistance animals in California HOAs, read my Fact Sheets: “California HOAs and Service Animals: What Boards Can and Cannot Require” and “California HOAs and Emotional Support Animals: Paperwork and Illegal Board Demands.” 

You can also watch an episode of my podcast (HOA HELL), “California HOAs: Service Animals, Emotional Support Animals, and What Homeowners Must Know,” where I discuss these and other related issues.

Key Points

This checklist provides some quick facts about the laws surrounding service animals and emotional support animals, as well as a few tips you can use if your HOA attempts to violate your rights.

• Access to common areas is absolute. Assistance animals must be allowed anywhere their owner is permitted to go, including gyms, pools, clubhouses, walkways, and other recreational facilities. “No pets” policies do not apply.
• Fair-housing laws control. The Fair Housing Act and California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act govern assistance animals in HOAs. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) normally does not apply to HOAs because the ADA only applies to public accommodations. If, however, an HOA makes its amenities available to the public (e.g., renting the clubhouse to the public for weddings, etc.), then the ADA does apply.
• Reasonable control rules apply. Assistance animals may be required to be leashed or tethered (with narrow exceptions for trained service animals, who may be exempt from leash laws). In all cases, assistance animals must be under the handler’s effective control, cannot act aggressively, and their waste must be picked up.
• Deposits, rent, or other normally enforceable pet rules do not apply. Assistance animals are exempt from pet deposits, pet rent, weight limits, breed restrictions, and number limits.
• Create a paper trail. If a board tries to block access or impose unlawful requirements, put your refusal and explanation in writing. Save emails, notices, and correspondence as evidence.
• Stand your ground if challenged. If a manager or board member orders you to leave a common area because you have your assistance animal, politely refuse. State that your animal is an assistance animal protected under federal and state housing laws, and that you cannot be forced to comply with pet rules. Do not engage with residents who lack authority (ignore them). Instead, document the encounter.
• Fraud is a crime. Knowingly misrepresenting an animal as a service animal is illegal under Penal Code 365.7 and undermines the credibility of legitimate claims.

Assistance animals are broadly protected in California HOAs. Boards cannot restrict access, impose pet rules, or demand fees. California HOAs that try to block or restrict assistance animals are violating the law. Homeowners who assert their rights, document board misconduct, and escalate when necessary are far better positioned to stop unlawful restrictions and prevent future violations.

FAQs

About MBK Chapman Fact Sheets

Homeowners searching for answers online will often come across articles that appear authoritative, but are actually written as search-engine marketing content rather than by an experienced HOA lawyer. These pieces tend to prioritize keyword density over clarity, accuracy, or legal context, which often leaves homeowners more confused than informed.

At MBK Chapman, our Fact Sheets are part of our HOA Law Library and are written by Michael Kushner, an HOA lawyer with decades of hands-on experience representing California homeowners. In fact, Michael Kushner is the HOA lawyer who pioneered the systems and strategies used by some of California’s most successful homeowner-side HOA law firms.

Each Fact Sheet is deliberately concise, statute-based, and designed as a quick-reference guide to help homeowners understand key HOA laws and enforcement rules at a glance.

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