This Just In: HUD's New ESA Enforcement Rules - What Housing Providers Must Know Now

Duration: 60 minutes

Speaker: Doug Chasick

Available On-Demand

PURCHASE OPTIONS

Individual Purchase Options
On-Demand Available On-Demand. Watch the webinar recording multiple times for 180 days.	$199
Transcript (PDF) PDF transcript of webinar with handouts will be emailed. Available in 7-10 business days, after Live Event. Never Expires.	$179

ABOUT THE EVENT

HUD’s May 2026 enforcement memorandum has significantly changed how assistance animal and emotional support animal (ESA) requests may be evaluated under the Fair Housing Act. Many housing providers are still relying on outdated guidance - creating serious compliance risks, inconsistent policies, and potential fair housing complaints.

This timely webinar will break down what has changed, what documentation and accommodations may still apply, and where properties are most likely to make costly mistakes when handling ESA and assistance animal requests.

Join us for a focused, actionable, operationally relevant training built for multifamily housing professionals who want to reduce risk, improve consistency, and make better decisions.

We'll review the 5/22/2026 HUD Guidance about ESAs, which includes:

Completely canceling all previous HUD guidance about ESA/Comfort animals
Instructions to evaluate any request for an assistance animal using the ADA Service Animal Standard
Removal of the presumption that we must accommodate untrained assistance animals
What assets and programs the new guidance memo applies to

Join us as we take a close look at the incredible disappearing ESA!

Areas Covered

What do I do now that HUD has withdrawn its guidance about assistive animals?
What questions may be asked?
What documentation may be reviewed?
What standards may be applied?
How to handle requests for multiple animals?
When accommodation requests may be denied?
How to communicate decisions appropriately?
The ten most common assistance animal-related mistakes and how to avoid them.

Learning Objectives

Distinguish between service animals, assistance animals, and emotional support animals under fair housing laws
Evaluate internet-generated ESA letters and third-party documentation appropriately
Apply the “readily apparent” standard correctly
Determine what information housing providers may legally request—and what they may not
Recognize common compliance failures properties make when handling accommodation requests
Respond appropriately when assistance animals create operational issues

Who Should Attend

Community Manager/Director, Multi-site Manager (Area, Regional), Leasing Managers, Training, Compliance, and HR Professionals.

Handouts & Reference Material

A PDF copy of the presentation will be available for download.

Speaker(s)

Doug Chasick

Doug Chasick, CPM®, CAPS, Adv. RAM, SLE, That Fair Housing Guy™, is the former President of the Fair Housing Institute, Inc. With more than 46 years of investment real estate experience, he began as the Resident Manager of a 524-unit apartment property and has been the President or CEO of five real estate companies, responsible for portfolios of over 28,000 apartments. Doug was awarded his CPM® in 1979 and was a member of the IREM National Faculty for eight years. A Senior Instructor member of the NAAEI Faculty, he leads the Advanced Facilitator Training course, is the co-author of “Outstanding Facilitation Techniques”, and a co-author of the joint IREM & NAAEI “Fair Housing and Beyond” course. He is a licensed Real Estate Broker in Florida, a licensed Expert Fair Housing Instructor in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the recipient of the NAAEI Apartment Career & Education award.

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