Compliance Tips for Airbnb Hosts

Confused about Airbnb’s ESA rules? Learn the difference between service animals and emotional support animals, when you must accommodate them, and when you can charge fees or decline a booking.

Key Takeaways

• It’s important that emotional support animals aren’t confused with service animals. ESAs aren’t trained.
• Emotional support animals are not recognized as service animals under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
• Airbnb hosts cannot ask for documentation for a guest’s ESA.
• Hosts may charge pet fees or decline bookings to guests with emotional support animals, except in California and New York.

Airbnb hosts get confused about the rules concerning emotional support animals. Why is that? Hosts are free to decide whether to accept pets on their property according to the Airbnb pet policy. But emotional support animals fall into a gray area.

ESAs aren’t pets, nor are they service animals, such as service dogs that assist people who are visually impaired.

So, what are ESAs, and how should you approach guests who arrive with these animals? Can you decline the booking or charge additional cleaning fees? How to talk with guests who bring ESAs?

If you’re an Airbnb host, guest communication is one of your top priorities. iGMS, as your property management tool and official Airbnb partner, will automate most of the guest communication and management tasks through its short-term rental management platform.

What Is the Airbnb ESA Policy, and How Is It Different from the Service Animal Policy?

An Emotional Support Animal is an animal that provides emotional support or assistance to a person to help manage the symptoms of a mental or emotional health condition. Those could be household animals like dogs or cats.

It’s important that emotional support animals aren’t confused with service animals. Service animals accompany people with disabilities and are trained to perform specific tasks. ESAs aren’t trained.

Additionally, ESAs are not covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act, so they don’t qualify for public access protections.

Service animals

Service animals are trained to perform specific tasks that a person is incapable of performing on their own, due to physical or mental impairments.

Some of the tasks that a service animal might perform include:

• Assisting individuals who are blind or have vision problems.
• Assisting individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing.
• Providing physical support for people with balance and stability issues.
• Alerting or signaling the presence of allergens.
• Fetching help if a handler falls or passes out, etc.

Dogs are the most common service animals.

Emotional support animals

Unlike service animals, these animals don’t perform tasks but provide emotional support and comfort. These animals provide companionship and affection and improve a person’s mental health. Usually, ESAs are cats and dogs, but could also be birds or other animals.

The concept comes almost entirely from mental health law. As a legal category, ESAs exist almost exclusively in the U.S. Most other countries lack an equivalent framework, so animals either qualify as service animals or receive no special legal treatment.

Important to note, there is no ESA registration system in the U.S, and hosts are not allowed to ask guests about such documentation.

What actually matters under housing laws is that the legal protection is based on the person’s psychological need for the animal.

What Airbnb’s Policy Says About Emotional Support Animals

Airbnb has a policy that concerns service and emotional support animals. Here’s what you need to know about Airbnb’s policy regarding ESAs:

What are the legal rights of guests with an ESA?

• Guests are not required to provide documentation proving their animal is a Service Animal or ESA.
• Guests are not required to disclose a Service Animal before booking (though they may choose to inform the host before check-in to avoid confusion).
• If an ESA must be accommodated under local law or Airbnb policy, it must:
  • Remain under the guest’s control at all times.
  • Be housebroken.
  • Not be left alone without host approval.
  • Stay out of off-limits areas.
  • Be leashed or tethered in shared spaces.

What are the host’s rights regarding accommodating guests with an ESA?

• Standard pet rules apply for ESAs unless local law or Airbnb policy states otherwise. If specific ESA rules are not enforced, hosts may charge pet fees or extra cleaning fees, or decline bookings.
• Where ESA accommodation is required by applicable law, hosts cannot decline the reservation or charge extra fees. In that case, these animals are not treated like pets, so you can’t decline guests.
• Airbnb exemptions are possible if a Service Animal poses a direct health risk and the host lives on-site (such as severe allergies).
• Only the two permitted questions may be asked of guests regarding their animal. (learn about them next)
• Hosts should not ask for or require any documentation from guests regarding their animal.

Guide for Hosts Handling Emotional Support Animal Requests on Their Property

How can hosts handle ESA requests professionally? Follow these steps.

How to determine if it’s an emotional support animal

Accommodating guests with emotional support animals requires compliance with certain legal requirements. For example, you can’t ask guests just any question.

Hosts may only ask the following two questions about a guest’s Service Animal or ESA:

1. “Do you require your animal because of a disability?” A host may not ask the guest to describe the disability.
2. “What work or task has the animal been trained to perform?” A host may not ask for the dog to demonstrate its work or task.

If a guest says “Yes” to the first question, but doesn’t explain any specific work or task the animal is trained to do, the host should treat the animal as an Emotional Support Animal.

If the guest says “No” to the first question, the host does not have to treat the animal as a Service Animal or ESA under Airbnb policy.

Do not:

• Ask for documentation.
• Ask for medical details.
• Request proof or certification.

Determine whether ESA accommodation is required in your state

First, confirm whether your listing is in a jurisdiction that requires ESA accommodation.

If required, you must follow ESA accommodation rules and accept guests with these animals just like guests with service animals.

If not required, then you may apply your standard pet policy and make sure your Airbnb house rules clearly explain how you handle pets and ESAs.

Apply the correct policy

If ESA accommodation is required in your state:

• Do not decline the reservation solely because of the ESA.
• Do not charge pet fees or additional cleaning fees.
• Do not impose special rules beyond standard house rules.

If ESA accommodation is not required, you can look at the broader Airbnb hosting landscape and business model to decide how flexible you want to be:

Federal Laws and the Laws That Govern ESAs in Your State

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Fair Housing Act (FHA) are important laws to understand in this context. The ADA, which covers public places like restaurants and stores, only protects service animals trained to perform specific tasks for people with disabilities.

The FHA, which applies to housing and rentals, protects service animals and ESAs and requires landlords and hosts to make reasonable accommodations for guests with disabilities.

States and local jurisdictions may have additional laws that expand or clarify ESA rights. If you’re unsure how to interpret a specific rule, you can always contact Airbnb customer support for clarification. Based on the current landscape and regulations, ESAs must be accommodated in California and New York.

If your property is located in California or New York, you are required to accept guests traveling with ESAs and charge no extra fees, so it’s wise to explain this clearly in your Airbnb welcome book and house guide.

In all other U.S. states, ESAs are treated like any other pets, so Airbnb hosts can apply their standard Airbnb cancellation and pet policy approach.

FAQ

Do I need to accept emotional support animals if I don’t allow pets on my property?

As an Airbnb host, owners are generally allowed to enforce a no-pets policy. However, if a guest’s emotional support animal is covered under local law or Airbnb’s policy, you will be required to accommodate the ESA.

In those circumstances, you may only deny an ESA if it poses a direct threat to the health or safety of people on the property or for some other strong reason.

If you’re required under local law or Airbnb policy to accept guests with ESAs, you cannot charge additional fees, such as pet fees, and you cannot impose special restrictions because of the animal, but you can use clear house manuals and Airbnb host resources for guest management to set expectations.

If you are not legally required to accommodate ESAs, you may follow your standard pet policy, which can include charging additional fees.

What if an ESA causes damage to my property during a guest’s stay?

If an ESA causes damage during the stay, the guest is still responsible. Document the damage with clear photos and, just as you would when dealing with squatters or problem guests in short-term rentals, submit a claim through Airbnb’s Resolution Center.

You cannot charge upfront pet fees if you’re required to accept guests with ESAs, but you can request reimbursement from the guest or Airbnb for property damage beyond normal wear and tear or for excessive cleaning.

Should I state my animal policy in my listing description?

Your pet policy will be disclosed on Airbnb anyway, since you choose whether your property is pet-friendly. If you accept pets, you will write that in your listing description as well, as part of your broader Airbnb hosting strategy to maximize income.

Service animal and ESA rules apply regardless of your pet policy. Under Airbnb policy and applicable law, Service Animals must be accommodated, even if you have a “no pets” rule. Emotional Support Animals must be accommodated in California and New York.

Only mention a no-pets policy in your listing if you have a documented medical condition, such as severe allergies, that prevents you from hosting animals.

About the Author
Zorica Milinkovic is a B2B SaaS writer who is passionate about psychology, marketing, and, when inspiration strikes, cooking. You can find her on LinkedIn.

February 25, 2026