West Virginia HOA Pet Restrictions

West Virginia pet restrictions at a glance

Section 1: Overview — How pet restrictions work in West Virginia

West Virginia has no statute regulating homeowners association pets. Pet restrictions come from the recorded declaration and the rules an association board adopts within the framework of the West Virginia Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act, and the main legal limit on those restrictions is fair housing law's assistance-animal reasonable-accommodation requirement.¹

The statutory framework is the full unified Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act, W. Va. Code § 36B, based on the 1982 model act, which governs condominiums, planned communities, and cooperatives created on or after the July 1, 1986 effective date, with the older Unit Property Act, W. Va. Code § 36A, continuing to govern condominiums created before that date.² West Virginia has not enacted a statutory right to keep a pet that overrides a no-pet declaration, so it differs from California, whose Civil Code § 4715(a) provides that "no governing documents shall prohibit the owner of a separate interest within a common interest development from keeping at least one pet"; in West Virginia, pet-keeping is governed by the declaration and constrained by fair housing law.⁹

The dominant constraint is the assistance-animal accommodation duty under the federal Fair Housing Act and the West Virginia Fair Housing Act, W. Va. Code § 16B-18, which the West Virginia Human Rights Commission enforces.⁴ Nationally, West Virginia sits with the large group of states where pet authority is declaration-based, and it shares with every state the federal assistance-animal floor. What follows sets out the legal framework, the operational rules for boards and managers, and the recent legislative and judicial record.

Section 2: The legal framework for pet restrictions

2A. The Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act and the source of pet authority

Pet restrictions in West Virginia carry no statutory basis. The recorded declaration imposes them, along with rules the board adopts under authority the declaration and the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act confer. The Act, codified at W. Va. Code §§ 36B-1-101 to 36B-4-120, is the full unified UCIOA on the 1982 version, and it governs the three community types together: condominiums, planned communities, and cooperatives created on or after the July 1, 1986 effective date.² Condominiums created before that date remain under the older Unit Property Act at W. Va. Code § 36A, and the UCIOA reaches back to pre-existing communities only for specified provisions, chiefly under § 36B-1-204.¹⁰ Most associations are also incorporated under the West Virginia Nonprofit Corporation Act, W. Va. Code § 31E, which supplies corporate formalities such as board procedure, records, and meetings.¹¹

West Virginia adopted the full unified Act covering all three community types, which places it with states such as Alaska, Colorado, Minnesota, and Nevada that adopted the 1982 version, and distinguishes it from states such as Washington, Vermont, Connecticut, and Delaware that adopted the 2008 version.² West Virginia has not enacted the 1994 or 2008 UCIOA amendments; legislative efforts to update Chapter 36B to the 2008 model have been introduced but have not passed.¹² Because the Act permits the declaration to vary many of its provisions, the declaration remains operationally central to any pet question.

West Virginia has no statutory pet-keeping right, and the recorded declaration is the governing document. The order of precedence for a pet question runs: federal and state fair housing law first, mandatory; then the mandatory provisions of the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act; then the declaration; then the bylaws; then board rules. The rule that actually governs any given community is therefore the declaration, read against the Act and the fair housing floor.²

2B. Federal fair housing constraints: assistance animals

The federal Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. § 3601 et seq., bars disability discrimination in housing and requires housing providers to make reasonable accommodations in rules and policies whenever necessary to give a person with a disability equal use and enjoyment of a dwelling, 42 U.S.C. § 3604(f)(3)(B). Homeowners associations and condominium associations count as covered.³ Permitting an assistance animal despite a no-pet policy or a pet restriction counts as a reasonable accommodation, and because assistance animals are not pets, no-pet bans, breed limits, size and weight limits, number limits, and pet fees and deposits simply do not reach them.⁵

The FHA category of "assistance animal" runs broader than the ADA category of "service animal." It includes animals that perform tasks and animals that provide disability-related emotional support, with no training requirement for a support animal.⁵ HUD's FHEO-2020-01 notice, issued January 28, 2020, long provided the operational framework for evaluating requests, but HUD withdrew that notice, along with the 2013 assistance-animal notice, effective September 17, 2025, as part of a deregulatory review, and finalized the withdrawal through a Federal Register notice on April 6, 2026, stating that the withdrawn guidance should not be enforced or relied upon.¹³ The statutory FHA accommodation duty remains fully in force; only HUD's detailed best-practice guidance was withdrawn.

Under the framework that housing providers have followed, for a disability or a disability-related need that is not obvious, an association may request reliable documentation. It may not 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 assistance animal.⁵ 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. A denial cannot rest on breed, size, or generalized fear, and the owner remains responsible for the animal's conduct and any damage it causes.⁵ The ADA generally governs public accommodations and government programs, not an association's internal residential operations, and it does not displace the FHA's broader assistance-animal protections for residents; the ADA may reach association facilities open to the public, such as a clubhouse rented to non-residents.

2C. West Virginia law overlay: the Fair Housing Act and dog law

The West Virginia Fair Housing Act, W. Va. Code § 16B-18, bars housing discrimination based on disability and backs the same assistance-animal accommodation analysis as the federal Act.¹⁴ It was recodified from its former location at W. Va. Code § 5-11A into Chapter 16B effective February 8, 2024, as part of an executive-branch reorganization, and the companion Human Rights Act moved to § 16B-17.⁴ The West Virginia Human Rights Commission enforces the Act, and complaints may also be filed with HUD; it operates alongside the federal FHA rather than replacing it.⁴

Separately, West Virginia's White Cane Law, W. Va. Code § 5-15-4, grants service-animal handlers access to places of public accommodation, and § 5-15-9 makes it a misdemeanor to misrepresent an animal as a service animal to obtain a right protected by that statute.⁷ These are public-accommodations provisions and are distinct from the housing accommodation analysis that governs an association dwelling.

West Virginia dog law follows a mixed posture. W. Va. Code § 19-20-13 makes the owner or keeper of a dog liable for damage the dog inflicts while running at large or permitted to run at large; outside that running-at-large rule, dog-bite liability is governed by common-law principles rather than a general strict-liability statute.⁶ Dangerous-dog and vicious-dog matters are handled substantially at the local and municipal level, and West Virginia does not appear to preempt breed-specific local regulation by a statewide statute. The government's authority over an animal adjudicated dangerous is distinct from an association's private authority under its declaration, though an adjudication can support association action against the animal.

Section 3: Operational rules and compliance obligations

A. Enforceable pet restrictions (what holds up)

When properly adopted in the declaration, pet restrictions on numbers, size, weight, and type, together with leash and waste rules in common areas, generally hold up against ordinary pets. Their limits are the same limits that apply to any covenant: they must be validly adopted, consistent with the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act and the declaration, and enforced evenhandedly.² Every such restriction yields to the assistance-animal accommodation requirement, so a rule that is enforceable against a pet cannot be applied to a qualifying assistance animal.⁵

B. Handling an assistance-animal request

When an owner requests an assistance animal, the association engages in a timely, good-faith interactive process. If the disability or the disability-related need is not obvious, the association may request reliable documentation, but it may not demand certification, registration, an ID card, a specific breed, or professional training for a support animal.⁵ A denial is defensible only on an individualized finding of undue burden, fundamental alteration, or a direct threat or substantial property damage posed by the specific animal no other accommodation could reduce; a denial based on breed, size, or generalized concern is not defensible.⁵

C. Pet fees, deposits, and insurance

If the declaration or rules authorize it, an association may charge pet fees or deposits for ordinary pets. It may not charge a pet deposit, pet fee, or additional insurance premium for an assistance animal, because the animal is an accommodation and not a pet.⁵ The owner remains financially responsible for any actual damage the animal causes.⁵

D. Enforcement and disclosure

Pet violations are enforced by the association under the declaration and the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act, which authorizes the association to impose charges for violations, generally after notice and an opportunity to be heard as provided in the governing documents.² Significant disputes proceed in the Circuit Court, with civil appeals to the Intermediate Court of Appeals of West Virginia and discretionary review by the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia.⁸ Pet restrictions are disclosed to buyers through the declaration itself and, in communities subject to the Act, through the resale certificate and public offering statement required under UCIOA Article 4, Protection of Purchasers.² West Virginia does not require community association manager licensing and has no dedicated HOA oversight agency.¹⁵

Section 4: Recent legislative and judicial activity

A. Recent bills

No West Virginia bill enacted in the 2025 or 2026 regular sessions changed HOA or condominium pet rules, the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act, the assistance-animal housing provisions, the service-animal misrepresentation statute, or the dangerous-dog and breed statutes. Two identical measures, HB 2763, 2025, and HB 5251, 2026, would have added age, sexual orientation, and gender identity as protected classes under the Human Rights Act and the Fair Housing Act at §§ 16B-17 and 16B-18, but neither advanced out of committee, and neither addressed assistance animals.¹⁶ A separate dog measure, HB 3132, 2025, addressed minimum-care standards for commercial dog breeders and also died in committee.¹⁷ In the absence of qualifying legislation, the federal Fair Housing Act and the West Virginia Fair Housing Act assistance-animal frameworks control.

B. Recent appellate rulings

No published West Virginia appellate decision from the past 36 months addressed HOA or condominium pet restrictions or assistance-animal accommodation directly. The most relevant covenant-enforcement decision is the following.

C. Active legislative debates

The West Virginia Legislature meets in annual regular session, and HOA-related activity remains low to moderate, centered on periodic proposals to update or narrow Chapter 36B rather than on pet-specific measures. No active proposal specifically addressing HOA pet rules or assistance animals has turned up as of July 17, 2026.¹²

Section 5: National positioning and related coverage

Among the states, a small group grants a statutory pet-keeping right, and California's Civil Code § 4715 is the clearest example, while the large majority, including West Virginia, leave pet authority to the recorded declaration with no pet statute. Every state shares the same federal floor: the Fair Housing Act's assistance-animal accommodation requirement. For a multi-state operator, the practical implication is that in West Virginia, the binding pet rules come from the declaration, the full unified Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act on the 1982 version supplies the statutory framework for all community types, and the federal assistance-animal analysis applies uniformly. West Virginia's distinctive features are its adoption of the full unified UCIOA on the 1982 version covering condominiums, planned communities, and cooperatives, a mixed dog-liability posture, and a court structure with an Intermediate Court of Appeals created effective July 1, 2022, sitting beneath the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia.

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

1. W. Va. Code Chapter 36B, Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act (pet authority flows from the declaration and board rules adopted under the Act; no pet-specific provision) ↩
2. W. Va. Code Article 36B-1, General Provisions (Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act; applicability, definitions, variation by agreement; §§ 36B-1-101 to 36B-4-120) ↩
3. 42 U.S.C. § 3604(f), Fair Housing Act (disability discrimination; reasonable accommodation in rules, policies, practices, or services under § 3604(f)(3)(B)) ↩
4. West Virginia Office of Inspector General, Human Rights Commission (citing West Virginia Fair Housing Act, W. Va. Code §§ 16B-18-1 et seq., and Human Rights Act, W. Va. Code §§ 16B-17-1 et seq.) ↩
5. HUD FHEO Notice 2020-01, Assessing a Person's Request to Have an Animal as a Reasonable Accommodation Under the Fair Housing Act (Jan. 28, 2020) (assistance animals are not pets; permissible documentation; prohibition on fees, deposits, certification, and breed requirements; individualized direct-threat analysis) ↩
6. W. Va. Code § 19-20-13, Dog running at large; liability of owner ("Any owner or keeper of any dog who permits such dog to run at large shall be liable for any damages inflicted upon the person or property of another by such dog while so running at large") ↩
7. W. Va. Code § 5-15-9, White Cane Law (misdemeanor to falsely represent an animal as a service animal to obtain a right protected by § 5-15-4); see also § 5-15-4 (public-accommodations access) ↩
8. Intermediate Court of Appeals of West Virginia, About the Court (opened July 1, 2022; civil appellate jurisdiction subject to discretionary review by the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia); see W. Va. Code § 51-11-4 ↩
9. Cal. Civ. Code § 4715(a) ("No governing documents shall prohibit the owner of a separate interest within a common interest development from keeping at least one pet"); West Virginia has no equivalent ↩
10. W. Va. Code § 36A-1-1, Unit Property Act (short title; governs condominiums that record a declaration under the Act, including pre-UCIOA condominiums) ↩
11. W. Va. Code Chapter 31E, West Virginia Nonprofit Corporation Act (corporate formalities for incorporated associations) ↩
12. West Virginia Organization of Homeowners Associations, Legislation tracker (documenting introduced but unenacted Chapter 36B / UCIOA update bills, including SB 502 (2014) based on the 2008 UCIOA amendments) ↩
13. HUD withdrawal of FHEO Notices 2020-01 and 2013-01, effective September 17, 2025, finalized by Federal Register notice on April 6, 2026 (National Apartment Association summary) ↩
14. W. Va. Code § 16B-18-5, West Virginia Fair Housing Act (unlawful to discriminate in the sale or rental of a dwelling, or in terms, conditions, or privileges, on the basis of disability) ↩
15. West Virginia State Laws overview ("No dedicated CAM license"; light-touch approach with no dedicated state HOA oversight agency) ↩
16. HB 2763 (2025 RS), relating to unlawful discriminatory practices under the Human Rights Act and Fair Housing Act (§§ 16B-17, 16B-18); introduced, died in committee; HB 5251 (2026 RS) substantially identical ↩
17. HB 3132 (2025 RS), relating to minimum levels of care by dog breeders (amending W. Va. Code § 19-20-26); introduced, died in committee ↩
18. Bellomy v. Falcon Ridge Unit Owners' Association, Inc., No. 25-ICA-279 (W. Va. Int. Ct. App. June 10, 2026) (reversing declaratory judgment; "the circuit court erred in its application of the Uniform Act, and it failed to apply the clear language of the deeds at issue") ↩