Illinois HOA Pet Restrictions

Illinois pet restrictions at a glance

Section 1 — Overview: How pet restrictions work in Illinois

Illinois doesn't create pet restrictions by statute. They flow from the recorded declaration or community instrument, the bylaws, and rules the board adopts, while federal and state fair housing law plus the state assistance-animal statute govern assistance animals.⁶ Rule-making authority depends on community type: condominiums operate under the Illinois Condominium Property Act, 765 ILCS 605, and other common interest communities — planned communities and townhome or villa associations not organized as condominiums — operate under the Common Interest Community Association Act, CICAA, 765 ILCS 160. These run as separate statutes, not interchangeable.^1,2 Illinois has never enacted a general statutory right to keep a pet that overrides a no-pet declaration; it has nothing equivalent to California Civil Code § 4715, which requires associations to allow an owner to keep at least one pet.²⁰ Illinois's significant statutory pet content concerns assistance animals through the Assistance Animal Integrity Act, 310 ILCS 120, which remains an assistance-animal statute, not a general pet right.⁶ The dominant limit on pet restrictions is the assistance-animal reasonable-accommodation requirement of the federal Fair Housing Act, the Illinois Human Rights Act, 775 ILCS 5, and the Assistance Animal Integrity Act, with complaints filed through the Illinois Department of Human Rights and HUD; the FHA serves as the floor.^10,8 Among the states, Illinois runs as a two-statute jurisdiction with a state assistance-animal documentation framework, a Chicago municipal overlay for city condominiums, and mandatory community-association manager licensing. The framework below sets out where authority comes from, what fair housing law requires, and how each obligation is enforced.

Section 2 — The legal framework for pet restrictions

2A. Source of pet-restriction authority

Pet restrictions in Illinois associations get imposed by the recorded declaration or community instrument and by board rules, not by any pet statute. For condominiums, the board's authority to adopt and enforce rules and regulations comes from the Illinois Condominium Property Act, 765 ILCS 605/18.4.³ For other common interest communities, that authority comes from CICAA, 765 ILCS 160/1-30.⁴ The two statutes stay separate and shouldn't be cross-applied: a condominium answers to 765 ILCS 605 and can't rely on CICAA, and a non-condominium community answers to 765 ILCS 160 and can't rely on the Condominium Property Act. CICAA doesn't apply uniformly. Under 765 ILCS 160/1-75(a), an association organized under the General Not For Profit Corporation Act of 1986 with either 10 or fewer units or annual budgeted assessments of $100,000 or less is exempt from the Act unless it affirmatively elects to be covered; such a small association answers primarily to its instrument and the not-for-profit corporation statute. A separate, partial exemption in 765 ILCS 160/1-75(b), keyed to associations of 10 or fewer units or $50,000 or less in annual budgeted assessments, releases those associations only from specific sections while still requiring meeting notice.⁵ Chicago adds a municipal overlay. Chicago Municipal Code chapter 13-72 governs city condominiums, but it addresses conversion protections and resale disclosure — property reports, a disclosure summary, and an 85 percent unit-owner threshold to sell an entire condominium property under § 13-72-085, effective October 16, 2019, up from the 75 percent Section 15 of the Condominium Property Act sets for the rest of Illinois — not pet policy. Associations should treat it as a disclosure and conversion layer, not a source of pet rules.^17,18 Illinois has no general statutory pet-keeping right, and the Assistance Animal Integrity Act remains an assistance-animal statute, not a general pet right.⁶ On any pet question, precedence runs: federal and state fair housing law, the Assistance Animal Integrity Act included, mandatory, first; then the declaration or community instrument; then the bylaws; then board rules.

2B. Federal fair housing constraints: assistance animals

The Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. § 3601 et seq., bars disability discrimination in housing and requires a housing provider to make reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, practices, or services whenever necessary to afford a person with a disability an equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling (42 U.S.C. § 3604(f)(3)(B)).¹⁰ Condominium and homeowner associations fall under that coverage. Permitting an assistance animal despite a no-pet policy or a breed, size, weight, or number restriction counts as a reasonable accommodation, since assistance animals aren't pets: no-pet bans and pet fees or deposits simply don't apply to them. The FHA's "assistance animal" category runs broader than the Americans with Disabilities Act's "service animal"; it covers animals that provide disability-related emotional support, and a support animal needs no individual training. HUD issued FHEO-2020-01 on January 28, 2020 as best-practices guidance on assessing accommodation requests and the documentation a provider may seek.¹¹ That notice, together with the earlier FHEO-2013-01, was rescinded by HUD on September 17, 2025, and HUD's September 16, 2025 enforcement memorandum, "Fair Housing Act Enforcement and Prioritization of Resources," directs FHEO to prioritize cases with strong evidence of intentional discrimination and to de-prioritize enforcement of untrained emotional-support-animal accommodation claims. The rescission and memo changed sub-regulatory guidance and HUD's enforcement priorities, but they didn't amend the FHA statute or the reasonable-accommodation requirement, which courts continue to apply.¹² Under the FHA standard, for a disability or need that isn't obvious, the association may request reliable documentation, but it can't require registration, certification, or licensing of the animal, a specific breed, professional training for a support animal, detailed medical records, a pet deposit or fee, or additional insurance. An association may deny a specific assistance animal only on an individualized finding — undue financial or administrative burden, fundamental alteration, or reliable objective evidence that the specific animal is a direct threat or would cause substantial physical damage no other accommodation could reduce. A denial can't rest on breed, size, or generalized fear, and the owner still answers for the animal's conduct and any damage. The ADA stands apart: it governs public accommodations and government programs, not internal residential operations, and it doesn't displace the FHA's broader protections for residents — though it may reach association facilities open to the public, such as a clubhouse rented out to non-residents.

2C. Illinois law overlay: the assistance-animal statute and related law

The Illinois Human Rights Act, 775 ILCS 5, bars disability-based housing discrimination and requires reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, practices, or services — backing the same analysis as the FHA; complaints go to the Illinois Department of Human Rights and HUD.^8,9 The Assistance Animal Integrity Act, 310 ILCS 120, effective January 1, 2020, defines an assistance animal as an emotional support or service animal qualifying as a reasonable accommodation under the FHA or the Illinois Human Rights Act.⁶ Under Section 10, a housing provider — expressly including a condominium board or association — may require reliable documentation of the disability and disability-related need only when the disability or need isn't readily apparent; the documentation must be in writing, come from a person with whom the requester has a therapeutic relationship, and describe the disability-related need.⁷ The Act's definition of "therapeutic relationship" excludes any entity that issues a certificate or similar document without a meaningful assessment, addressing unreliable documentation head-on, and Section 10(h) lets the provider verify authenticity. Section 10(f) bars any pet deposit, pet fee, or pet assessment and any special liability insurance requirement for an assistance animal, while allowing recovery of actual damage costs on the same terms as any resident, and Section 10(g) bars requiring a specific diagnosis. Critically, Section 20 provides that nothing in the Act limits rights under the FHA, Section 504, the ADA, or the Illinois Human Rights Act — the FHA remains the floor, and the Act can't authorize denying a valid FHA accommodation.⁷ Separate from housing, 720 ILCS 5/48-8 guarantees service-animal access to public accommodations and makes denial a Class C misdemeanor — public-accommodations law, not governing the housing accommodation analysis.¹⁵ The dangerous-dog framework is the Animal Control Act, 510 ILCS 5, administered substantially through county animal control.¹³ Section 24 provides that no local regulation, policy, or ordinance may be specific to breed, restraining units of local government, not private declarations or community instruments; a private instrument may restrict ordinary pets by breed, but it may never exclude an assistance animal absent an individualized direct-threat finding.¹⁴

Section 3 — Operational rules and compliance obligations

3A. Enforceable pet restrictions (what holds up)

Properly adopted in the declaration or community instrument, restrictions on the number, size, weight, and type of pets, and leash and waste rules in common areas, generally hold up against ordinary pets.^3,4 Rules a condominium board adopts must implement, not contradict, the declaration; a rule that conflicts with the recorded instrument won't hold up, and a substantive new restriction generally belongs in an amendment rather than a board rule. Every such restriction yields to the assistance-animal accommodation requirement, whether the community is governed by the Condominium Property Act, 765 ILCS 605, or CICAA, 765 ILCS 160.

3B. Handling an assistance-animal request under the Assistance Animal Integrity Act and the FHA

When a resident requests an exception to a pet restriction for an assistance animal, the association should respond promptly and in good faith through an interactive process. If the disability or need isn't readily apparent, the association may request reliable written documentation from a person in a therapeutic relationship describing the disability-related need; it may offer a standardized form but can't deny the request merely because the resident didn't use it.⁷ The association can't demand certification, registration, an ID card, a specific breed, or professional training for a support animal, and online "ESA registration" products aren't legally required. A denial holds up only on an individualized assessment showing undue burden, fundamental alteration, or that the specific animal is a direct threat, causes substantial physical damage no other accommodation could reduce, or shows a pattern of uncontrolled behavior the handler hasn't corrected.⁷ The FHA floor controls over any state documentation requirement, and the Act's treatment of unreliable or fraudulent documentation applies to the requester's submission — it's not a general basis to deny a valid accommodation.

3C. Pet fees, deposits, and insurance

For ordinary pets, an association may charge pet-related fees or deposits where the declaration or community instrument authorizes them, and Illinois sets no statewide cap on association pet charges. For an assistance animal, the association may not require any pet deposit, pet fee, pet assessment, or special liability insurance; it may recover the cost of actual damage the animal causes, reasonable wear and tear excepted, on the same terms it applies to any resident.⁷

3D. Enforcement and disclosure

The board's fining power enforces pet violations, after notice and an opportunity to be heard: 765 ILCS 605/18.4(l) for condominiums and 765 ILCS 160/1-30(g) for common interest communities.^3,4 On resale of a condominium unit, 765 ILCS 605/22.1 requires the seller to make available, on demand, the declaration, bylaws, other condominium instruments, and any rules and regulations — disclosing recorded pet restrictions to a prospective purchaser.²¹ For Chicago condominiums, chapter 13-72 adds a municipal disclosure overlay through the property report and disclosure summary.¹⁷

Section 4 — Recent legislative and judicial activity

4A. Recent bills

4B. Recent rulings

No published decision of the Illinois Appellate Court or the Illinois Supreme Court between 2022 and July 2026 addresses condominium or HOA pet restrictions, assistance-animal accommodation, or the Assistance Animal Integrity Act. The most frequently cited authority on assistance animals in an Illinois condominium remains Stevens v. Hollywood Towers & Condominium Ass'n, 836 F. Supp. 2d 800 (N.D. Ill. 2011) — a federal district court decision, not an Illinois state appellate ruling, holding that an association need not grant unrestricted building access, but that its restrictions on an emotional-support dog must still be reasonable in light of the resident's disability-related need. Older Illinois state authority upholding recorded animal restrictions as enforceable predates both the current window and the Assistance Animal Integrity Act.

4C. Active legislative and regulatory debates

Two developments bear watching: HUD's September 2025 rescission of FHEO-2020-01 and its enforcement memorandum signaling a narrower federal treatment of untrained emotional-support-animal requests, and SB1669's stalled proposal to cap rental pet fees. Neither one alters the Assistance Animal Integrity Act or the Illinois Human Rights Act.

Section 5 — National positioning and related coverage

Most states, Illinois included, don't grant a general statutory right to keep a pet; California Civil Code § 4715, requiring associations to permit an owner to keep at least one pet, offers the clearest counterexample.²⁰ Illinois sits among the states that carry a dedicated assistance-animal documentation statute, the Assistance Animal Integrity Act, which codifies what a housing provider may and may not request and addresses unreliable documentation.⁶ Every state shares the same federal floor, the FHA's assistance-animal reasonable-accommodation requirement, which controls over any state documentation rule.¹⁰ For an operator running an Illinois portfolio, that means applying the correct statute — the Condominium Property Act for condominiums or CICAA for other communities — accounting for the Chicago overlay and mandatory community-association manager licensing under 225 ILCS 427, while the FHA accommodation analysis stays uniform nationally.¹⁶ Illinois's distinctive features: its two-statute structure with a small-association exemption, its state assistance-animal statute, a Chicago municipal overlay, and required manager licensing.

HOA Weekly's Illinois Pet Restrictions coverage updates quarterly as the legislature and the courts act. The federal FHA's assistance-animal framework applies to Illinois associations alongside the state framework.

1. Illinois Condominium Property Act, 765 ILCS 605 (Illinois General Assembly) ↩
2. Common Interest Community Association Act, 765 ILCS 160 (Illinois General Assembly) ↩
3. 765 ILCS 605/18.4, Powers and duties of board of managers (Illinois General Assembly) ↩
4. 765 ILCS 160/1-30, Board duties and obligations (Illinois General Assembly) ↩
5. 765 ILCS 160/1-75, Exemptions for small common interest community associations (CICAA full text, Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation) ↩
6. Assistance Animal Integrity Act, 310 ILCS 120 (Illinois General Assembly) ↩
7. Assistance Animal Integrity Act, full text, 310 ILCS 120/1–20 (Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation) ↩
8. Illinois Human Rights Act, 775 ILCS 5/3-102.1, Disability (Illinois General Assembly) ↩
9. Disability Rights (Illinois Department of Human Rights) ↩
10. 42 U.S.C. § 3604 (Office of the Law Revision Counsel, U.S. Code) ↩
11. FHEO Notice 2020-01, Assessing a Person's Request to Have an Animal as a Reasonable Accommodation (HUD) ↩
12. HUD Notice of Withdrawal of Guidance Documents (rescission of FHEO-2013-01 and FHEO-2020-01) (HUD) ↩
13. Animal Control Act, 510 ILCS 5 (Illinois General Assembly) ↩
14. 510 ILCS 5/24, Limitations (Illinois General Assembly) ↩
15. 720 ILCS 5/48-8, Service animal access (Illinois General Assembly) ↩
16. Community Association Manager Licensing and Disciplinary Act, 225 ILCS 427 (Illinois General Assembly) ↩
17. Chicago Municipal Code, ch. 13-72, Condominiums (American Legal Publishing) ↩
18. Chicago Municipal Code § 13-72-085, Sale of condominium property (American Legal Publishing) ↩
19. SB1669, 104th General Assembly, Bill Status (Illinois General Assembly) ↩
20. California Civil Code § 4715 (California Legislative Information) ↩
21. 765 ILCS 605/22.1, Resales; disclosures (Illinois General Assembly) ↩