Pet fees & assistance animals in Texas
Pets are a business decision. Assistance animals are a legal one. Confusing the two is how owners land a fair-housing complaint. Here's the clean line.
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Pets are a business decision. Assistance animals are a legal one, and confusing the two is how well-meaning owners walk into a fair-housing complaint.
Get the distinction right and pets become a way to widen your applicant pool and add income, while assistance animals become a straightforward accommodation you handle correctly. Get it wrong and a "no pets" rule applied to the wrong animal becomes a violation. Here's the framework.
Pets: your policy, your call.
For actual pets, Texas gives you wide latitude. You can allow them or not, set breed and size restrictions, cap the number, and charge for them. Owners typically use some mix of a pet deposit (refundable, against damage), a non-refundable pet fee, and monthly pet rent, and Texas sets no statutory cap on any of them, so the market guides the amounts.
The strategic case for allowing pets is real: a pet-friendly unit is open to renters with pets, which widens your applicant pool and can help you lease faster and keep residents longer. The trade is potential wear, which the deposit and a clear pet addendum are there to cover. Whatever you decide, put it in writing and apply it identically to every applicant.
Assistance animals are not pets.
This is the part that trips owners up. Under the federal Fair Housing Act, allowing an assistance animal (a service animal or emotional-support animal) is a reasonable accommodation for a disability, so your pet policy does not apply to it. That means:
- No pet fees, deposits, or pet rent may be charged for an assistance animal.
- Breed, size, and "no pets" restrictions don't apply. You generally can't refuse one because of a blanket policy.
- You must still consider the accommodation even in a no-pets building.
What you can and can't ask
You're not powerless. If the disability or the need isn't obvious, you may request reliable documentation that the person has a disability-related need for the animal, but you generally can't demand medical records or details about the diagnosis. And an accommodation isn't unconditional: you can deny a specific animal that poses a direct threat to safety or would cause substantial property damage, based on that animal's actual conduct, not its breed. Finally, the tenant remains responsible for any real damage the animal causes. You just can't charge for it up front.
One process, applied the same way.
The safe operating rule: run a clear, written pet policy for pets, and a separate, documented accommodation process for assistance-animal requests, never mixing the two. Treat every accommodation request seriously and in writing, ask only what you're allowed to ask, and keep records of the decision. Consistency is your protection here just as it is in screening: applied evenly, your policy holds up; applied by gut, it invites a claim.
Charge for pets. Accommodate assistance animals.
Keep the two lanes separate and the rest follows. Pets: your policy, fees allowed, restrictions allowed, applied uniformly. Assistance animals: not pets, no fees, minimal questions, documented decisions. Owners who blur the line create risk; owners who keep it clean turn pets into an advantage and handle accommodations without drama.
Assistance-animal requests are a fair-housing issue, which is exactly why consistent tenant screening matters. And pet deposits follow the same Texas deposit rules as the rest.
Pet policy that adds income, and stays compliant.
We set a pet policy that widens your pool and protects the asset, and we handle assistance-animal accommodations the way fair-housing law requires: documented, consistent, and clean. If you'd rather not navigate that line yourself, we will.
Talk to Alta ResidentialPrefer to talk it through? Call 214-775-0807, Monday to Friday, 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM.
Pet policies, answered.
Yes, for actual pets. Texas sets no cap on pet deposits, non-refundable pet fees, or pet rent, and you can set breed, size, and number limits, as long as the policy is in writing and applied to everyone the same way.
No. Under the Fair Housing Act, an assistance animal is a reasonable accommodation, not a pet. You can't charge pet fees, deposits, or pet rent for them, and your breed/size/no-pets restrictions don't apply.
If the disability or need isn't obvious, you may ask for reliable documentation of a disability-related need, but generally not for medical records or details about the diagnosis.
Only in narrow cases: if the specific animal poses a direct threat to safety or would cause substantial property damage, based on its actual behavior, not its breed. The tenant also remains liable for real damage it causes.
Related guides for Texas owners.
Sources: Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3604(f)), 24 CFR 100.204, the HUD/DOJ Joint Statement on Reasonable Accommodations (2004), and Texas Human Resources Code Section 121.003. HUD withdrew its 2013 and 2020 assistance-animal guidance in September 2025; the law itself did not change. This guide is general information for Texas rental owners, not legal advice. Statutes and their interpretation change. Confirm specifics with a licensed Texas attorney before acting. Alta Residential · 325 N. St. Paul St., Suite 3100, Dallas, TX 75201 · 214-775-0807.