Indiana HOA Pet Restrictions

Indiana pet restrictions at a glance

Section 1: Overview, how pet restrictions work in Indiana

Indiana has no statute regulating homeowners association pets. Pet restrictions come from the recorded declaration or CC&Rs and the rules an association adopts, with fair housing law's assistance-animal requirement standing as the principal legal limit.⁴

The source of rule-making authority depends on community type, since Indiana governs the two community forms under two separate statutes: condominiums under the Indiana Condominium Act, Ind. Code § 32-25, a traditional condominium statute, and homeowners associations under the Indiana Homeowners Associations Act, Ind. Code § 32-25.5, a governance statute covering meetings, records, and budgets rather than a comprehensive code.¹² These statutes aren't interchangeable. Indiana has no statutory right to keep a pet that overrides a no-pet declaration — unlike California, where Civil Code § 4715 grants owners the right to keep at least one pet — and Indiana hasn't adopted the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act.¹⁹

The operative constraint is fair housing law. The federal Fair Housing Act and the Indiana Fair Housing Act require reasonable accommodations for assistance animals, and Indiana carries a dedicated statute for emotional support animals in housing, Ind. Code § 22-9-7, enforced through the Indiana Civil Rights Commission and HUD.⁷⁵⁴ Nationally, Indiana sits with the large majority of states where pet authority runs on the declaration and the only common floor is the federal assistance-animal requirement. What follows lays out the legal framework, the operational rules, recent activity, and Indiana's national position.

Section 2: The legal framework for pet restrictions

2A. The source of pet-restriction authority

Pet restrictions in Indiana carry no statutory basis. They're private land-use restrictions, imposed by the recorded declaration or CC&Rs and by rules the board adopts under that instrument. Which statute supplies rule-making authority depends on the community type. Condominiums operate under the Indiana Condominium Act, Ind. Code § 32-25, which governs the declaration, bylaws, and administration of condominiums.¹ Homeowners associations operate under the Indiana Homeowners Associations Act, Ind. Code § 32-25.5, which applies to associations formed after June 30, 2009 — and to earlier associations that vote to be bound — and addresses budgets, records access, meetings, amendments, and grievance resolution.² The two statutes stay separate and aren't interchangeable; a provision under one doesn't apply to the other community type. Most Indiana associations also operate as nonprofit corporations subject to the Indiana Nonprofit Corporation Act of 1991, Ind. Code § 23-17, for corporate formalities.³

Indiana isn't a UCIOA state, and the Homeowners Associations Act runs as a moderate governance statute, not a comprehensive common-interest-ownership code. Neither the Condominium Act nor the Homeowners Associations Act contains a pet provision, and neither creates a statutory right to keep a pet. On any pet question, precedence runs: federal and state fair housing law, mandatory, first; then the declaration or CC&Rs; then the bylaws; then board rules. The pet rule that actually governs a given community is the declaration or CC&Rs, read against the fair housing floor — not a statute.

2B. Federal fair housing constraints: assistance animals

The federal Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. § 3601 et seq., bars disability discrimination in housing, making it unlawful to refuse a reasonable accommodation in rules, policies, practices, or services when the accommodation is 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)).⁷ Homeowners associations and condominium associations fall under that coverage. Permitting an assistance animal despite a no-pet policy or a pet restriction counts as a reasonable accommodation. Assistance animals aren't pets, so no-pet bans, breed limits, size and weight limits, number limits, and pet fees and deposits simply don't apply to them.

The FHA's "assistance animal" category runs broader than the ADA's "service animal." A service animal under the ADA is a dog, or in some cases a miniature horse, individually trained to perform tasks, and emotional support alone doesn't qualify. An assistance animal under the FHA covers both animals that perform tasks and animals that provide disability-related emotional support, with no training requirement at all for support animals. Applying the ADA's narrow definition to a residential accommodation request remains the single most common error on this topic — the FHA, not the ADA, governs assistance animals in HOA and condominium dwellings. The ADA reaches association facilities open to the public, such as a clubhouse rented out to non-residents, but not the internal residential operations of an association.

HUD's guidance had been Notice FHEO-2020-01, issued January 28, 2020. HUD withdrew that notice, together with its 2013 predecessor, effective September 17, 2025, in accordance with Executive Order 14192, "Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation," and finalized the withdrawal in a Federal Register notice on April 6, 2026.⁸ The withdrawal doesn't change the FHA statute or the underlying accommodation duty — it removes the detailed federal best-practice framework associations had used. For a non-obvious disability or need, an association may still 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, or a pet deposit, pet fee, or additional insurance for the animal. An association may deny a specific assistance animal only on an individualized finding — that the accommodation would impose an undue financial and administrative burden, would fundamentally alter operations, or that the specific animal poses a direct threat or would cause substantial physical damage no other accommodation could reduce (42 U.S.C. § 3604(f)(9)). Denial can't rest on breed, size, or generalized fear. The owner still answers for the animal's conduct and any damage it causes.

2C. Indiana law overlay

The Indiana Fair Housing Act, Ind. Code § 22-9.5, together with the broader Indiana Civil Rights Law, Ind. Code § 22-9-1, bars housing discrimination based on disability and backs the same assistance-animal analysis; the Indiana Civil Rights Commission enforces it, with a concurrent path to HUD.⁵⁶ Indiana goes further than most states with a dedicated chapter, Ind. Code § 22-9-7, Emotional Support Animals in Housing, effective July 1, 2018, which codifies that an emotional support animal needs no specific training, allows a housing provider to require written verification from a health service provider when a disability isn't readily apparent, and prohibits any fee for an emotional support animal.⁴¹¹ The Indiana Court of Appeals applied this framework in Furbee v. Wilson, 144 N.E.3d 801 (Ind. Ct. App. 2020), holding that a resident requesting an accommodation must at least inform the housing provider of the nature of the disability and the disability-related need, and that a provider may conduct a meaningful review before deciding.⁹

On service animals, Indiana regulates public-accommodations access, not residential associations: Ind. Code § 16-32-3 and the newer Ind. Code § 16-32-3.5, added in 2023, grant access to service animals in public accommodations and define a service animal as a dog or miniature horse individually trained to perform tasks.¹⁵¹⁶ Indiana has no general public-accommodations service-animal misrepresentation statute; its misrepresentation provision is specific to housing, making it a Class A infraction to misrepresent an animal as an emotional support animal, Ind. Code § 22-9-7-12.¹² Indiana's dangerous-dog framework sits in Ind. Code § 15-20-1, which imposes owner liability for bites and criminal penalties for failing to restrain a dog, and expressly preserves local regulation.¹⁷ An association's private authority over an animal adjudicated dangerous flows from its declaration and, for an assistance animal, from the individualized direct-threat analysis — not from the criminal statute. Indiana has no statewide breed-specific legislation and no statute preempting municipal breed ordinances, so breed rules for private associations remain a matter for the declaration or CC&Rs, distinct from any local ordinance.¹⁸

Section 3: Operational rules and compliance obligations

A. Enforceable pet restrictions (what holds up)

Properly adopted in the declaration or CC&Rs, restrictions on the number, size, weight, and type of pets, along with leash and waste rules in common areas, generally hold up as private covenants under Ind. Code § 32-25 for condominiums and Ind. Code § 32-25.5 for HOAs.¹² Each restriction is bound by the terms of the recorded instrument, and a rule can't exceed what the declaration authorizes. Every such restriction yields to the assistance-animal accommodation requirement.

B. Handling an assistance-animal request

If the disability or the disability-related need isn't obvious, the association may request written verification from a health service provider that the resident has a disability and a disability-related need for the animal, Ind. Code § 22-9-7-9 — but it can't demand certification, a specific breed, or professional training for a support animal, Ind. Code § 22-9-7-8.¹⁰¹³ That verification must come from a provider with adequate professional knowledge of the resident's condition, not a fee-only online letter vendor. Ind. Code § 22-9-7-12 makes it a Class A infraction for a health service provider to verify a need "without adequate professional knowledge of the individual's condition to provide a reliable verification," or to charge a fee for a verification while providing no other service.¹⁴ The association should respond in a timely, good-faith interactive manner. A denial holds up only on an individualized finding of undue burden, fundamental alteration, or a direct threat or substantial damage from the specific animal (42 U.S.C. § 3604(f)(9)); Furbee confirms a denial also holds up when the resident refuses to supply the basic information a meaningful review needs.⁹

C. Pet fees, deposits, and insurance

An association may charge pet fees or deposits for ordinary pets only where the declaration or CC&Rs authorize them. It may not charge any pet deposit, pet fee, or extra insurance premium for an emotional support animal or other assistance animal, Ind. Code § 22-9-7-13.¹¹ The resident still answers for actual damage the animal causes, and the association may still enforce the rental or governing-document obligations that apply to conduct and repairs, Ind. Code § 22-9-7-14.⁴

D. Enforcement and disclosure

For HOAs, the Homeowners Associations Act requires written notice and an opportunity to be heard before enforcement, and it requires a grievance-resolution procedure in the governing documents that must be used before litigation; the specific fine amounts and timelines come from the declaration or CC&Rs, not from statute, Ind. Code § 32-25.5-4 and § 32-25.5-5.²⁰ For condominiums, the Condominium Act supplies a parallel grievance-resolution procedure, Ind. Code § 32-25-8.5.²¹ Pet restrictions bind buyers because the declaration or CC&Rs get recorded with the county recorder and run with the land.²

Section 4: Recent legislative and judicial activity

A. Recent bills

No Indiana bill enacted or pending in the past 24 months amends the emotional support animal statute, Ind. Code § 22-9-7, the service-animal provisions, the dangerous-dog statute, Ind. Code § 15-20-1, or breed law in a way that bears on association pet authority. The dedicated emotional support animal chapter hasn't been amended since a technical change in 2019; its substance dates to its 2018 enactment.⁴ The most recent breed-preemption effort, Senate Bill 18 of the 2022 session, never became law and predates the window.

B. Recent appellate rulings

No published Indiana Court of Appeals or Indiana Supreme Court decision in the past 36 months addresses HOA or condominium pet restrictions, assistance-animal accommodation, or related enforcement. The controlling Indiana appellate authority remains Furbee v. Wilson.

Absent a qualifying Indiana bill or ruling in the window, the federal Fair Housing Act framework and Indiana's Ind. Code § 22-9-7 control assistance-animal questions.

C. Active legislative debates

Recent legislative attention to animals has focused on retail dog sales rather than HOA pet rules. House Enrolled Act 1412, from 2024, signed by Governor Holcomb on March 4, 2024 and enacted as Public Law 4, set breeder and pet-store sourcing standards, provided for random inspections by the Indiana State Board of Animal Health beginning July 1, 2025, and invalidated 21 local ordinances that had limited retail pet sales. It doesn't affect association authority over pets or assistance animals.²⁴ Breed-ban preemption has come up in prior sessions without ever being enacted.

Section 5: National positioning and related coverage

States fall into two groups on HOA pets. A small group grants a statutory right to keep a pet, and California's Civil Code § 4715 offers the clearest example.¹⁹ The large majority, Indiana included, leave pet authority to the declaration or CC&Rs, with no pet statute at all. Every state shares the same federal floor, the Fair Housing Act's assistance-animal requirement. For an operator running communities across state lines, the practical implication in Indiana is applying the correct statute — the Condominium Act, Ind. Code § 32-25, for condominiums, or the Homeowners Associations Act, Ind. Code § 32-25.5, for HOAs — while the assistance-animal analysis stays uniform nationally. Indiana's distinctive feature: this two-statute structure paired with a moderate HOA governance statute, in a state that hasn't adopted UCIOA, layered over a dedicated state emotional support animal chapter that few states have.

HOA Weekly's Indiana Pet Restrictions coverage updates quarterly as the legislature and courts act. The federal Fair Housing Act's assistance-animal framework applies to Indiana associations regardless of what the state framework says.

1. Indiana Code Title 32, Article 25 (Indiana Condominium Act), Indiana General Assembly ↩
2. Indiana Code Title 32, Article 25.5 (Indiana Homeowners Associations Act), Indiana General Assembly ↩
3. Indiana Code Title 23, Article 17 (Indiana Nonprofit Corporation Act of 1991), Indiana General Assembly ↩
4. Indiana Code § 22-9-7 (Emotional Support Animals in Housing), Indiana General Assembly ↩
5. Indiana Code § 22-9.5 (Indiana Fair Housing), Indiana General Assembly ↩
6. Indiana Code § 22-9-1 (Indiana Civil Rights Law), Indiana General Assembly ↩
7. 42 U.S.C. § 3604, Office of the Law Revision Counsel, U.S. Code ↩
8. HUD Notice of the Withdrawal of FHEO Guidance Documents (including FHEO-2020-01), effective September 17, 2025, finalized in Federal Register April 6, 2026; National Low Income Housing Coalition summary of HUD notice ↩
9. Furbee v. Wilson, 144 N.E.3d 801 (Ind. Ct. App. 2020), No. 19A-PL-1756, Indiana Judicial Branch appellate decisions ↩
10. Indiana Code § 22-9-7-9 (verification procedure), Indiana General Assembly ↩
11. Indiana Code § 22-9-7-13 (fee for emotional support animal prohibited), Indiana General Assembly ↩
12. Indiana Code § 22-9-7-12 (misrepresentation of animal as emotional support animal; Class A infraction), Indiana General Assembly ↩
13. Indiana Code § 22-9-7-8 (individuals authorized; no specific training), Indiana General Assembly ↩
14. Indiana Code § 22-9-7-4 (health service provider; excludes fee-only verification) and § 22-9-7-12, Indiana General Assembly ↩
15. Indiana Code § 16-32-3 (Rights of Blind and Other Physically Disabled Persons; service animals), Indiana General Assembly ↩
16. Indiana Code § 16-32-3.5 (Service Animals), Indiana General Assembly ↩
17. Indiana Code § 15-20-1 (Liability for Dog Bites), Indiana General Assembly ↩
18. Indiana Code § 15-20-1-1 (chapter does not limit non-conflicting local ordinances), Indiana General Assembly ↩
19. California Civil Code § 4715, California Legislative Information ↩
20. Indiana Code § 32-25.5-4 and § 32-25.5-5 (enforcement, grievance resolution), Indiana General Assembly ↩
21. Indiana Code § 32-25-8.5 (condominium grievance resolution), Indiana General Assembly ↩
22. Indiana Judicial Branch, court structure (Circuit and Superior Courts, Court of Appeals, Supreme Court) ↩
23. House Enrolled Act 1412 (2024), enacted as Public Law 4, Indiana General Assembly ↩