State pet-deposit treatment, federal Fair Housing Act assistance-animal rules, and what Pennsylvania landlords can and cannot ask.
Pennsylvania gives landlords wide latitude on ordinary pets and almost none on assistance animals. There is no dedicated statewide cap on pet deposits or pet rent, but any refundable pet deposit counts against the same security-deposit ceiling as the rest of the deposit. Service animals and emotional support animals sit in a separate legal category entirely: under federal and Pennsylvania law they are not pets, cannot be charged for, and cannot be excluded by a no-pets clause. This page covers what you can charge, what you must accommodate, and where Pennsylvania's own 2018 statute changes the calculus.
Security deposit capped at 2 months' rent in the first year, 1 month in subsequent years. Pet deposits count toward this cap.
Pennsylvania's Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951 sets no special statewide limit on pet deposits, one-time pet fees, or monthly pet rent for ordinary pets. You are free to require a pet addendum, set breed or weight limits, cap the number of animals, and charge monthly pet rent in exchange for allowing an animal.
The one hard constraint is the security-deposit cap. Any refundable pet deposit is treated as part of the security deposit and counts toward the statutory ceiling of two months' rent in the first year and one month's rent in the second year and beyond (68 P.S. sec. 250.511a). If base rent plus a refundable pet deposit exceeds two months' rent in year one, the excess is unlawful. A genuinely non-refundable pet fee and monthly pet rent are not deposits and sit outside that cap, but label and treat them consistently, because a fee you promise to return if there is no damage functions as a deposit.
Pet money folded into the security deposit follows the same handling rules as any deposit. Where the total deposit exceeds $100 and the tenant has been in place more than two years, the funds must sit in an interest-bearing escrow account, with interest paid to the tenant each year (68 P.S. sec. 250.511a).
At move-out you have 30 days to return the deposit or deliver an itemized list of deductions, including any pet-related damage you are claiming (68 P.S. sec. 250.512). Miss that window and you can forfeit the right to withhold and become liable for double the amount wrongfully retained. Document pet damage the same way you document any other deduction: dated photos, repair invoices, and a clear itemization.
Assistance animals fall under the federal Fair Housing Act and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act (43 P.S. sec. 951 et seq.), not your pet policy. When a tenant or applicant with a disability needs the animal, you must grant a reasonable accommodation even in a strict no-pets building. That means no pet deposit, no pet fee, and no pet rent for the animal, and no breed, weight, or size restriction applied to it.
Two categories exist. A service animal under the ADA is a dog (in limited cases a miniature horse) individually trained to perform tasks for a person with a disability. An emotional support animal provides therapeutic support through its presence and is not ADA-trained, but for housing it is still a protected assistance animal under the FHA and PHRA. For rental-housing purposes you treat both the same on fees and accommodation. You remain entitled to recover for actual damage the animal causes out of the ordinary security deposit, the same as any tenant-caused damage.
Pennsylvania went further than most states with the Assistance and Service Animal Integrity Act (Act 118 of 2018, 43 P.S. sec. 954.1 et seq., effective December 24, 2018), which spells out what a landlord may ask for and penalizes fraud on both sides.
You may request supporting documentation only when the disability or the disability-related need for the animal is not readily apparent. When you can ask, the documentation must be in writing, from a reliable source with direct knowledge of the tenant's disability. You may not demand the specific diagnosis or the nature and extent of the disability, and you cannot dictate a single acceptable provider type. The Act also makes it a crime for a tenant to fake it: misrepresenting a disability or need is a third-degree misdemeanor, and falsely documenting or outfitting an animal as an assistance animal is a summary offense carrying a fine of up to $1,000.
The accommodation duty is not absolute. You may deny the request, or seek removal of an approved animal, when the specific animal poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others, or would cause substantial physical property damage, and no other reasonable accommodation eliminates the risk. The analysis must be individualized: it turns on that animal's actual conduct, not on breed reputation, size, or generalized fear.
You may also decline where the request is not supported once you have properly requested documentation for a non-obvious need, or where granting it would impose an undue financial and administrative burden. Base every denial on documented, animal-specific facts, apply the same standard to every applicant, and note that local ordinances, such as Philadelphia's, can add protections beyond the state floor.
The most common mistake in Pennsylvania ESA cases is responding with a flat denial, "no pets means no pets", instead of engaging in the interactive process. The interactive process is itself a substantive duty. A landlord who refuses to consider the request, demands more documentation than HUD permits, or imposes a pet fee on an accepted assistance animal will lose at HUD even if the underlying accommodation could have been reasonably denied on its merits.
Pet-related eviction filings correlate with overall landlord-tenant litigation rates. View landlord risk and tenant-law profile by city:
This guide summarizes Pennsylvania's Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951 (68 P.S. sec. 250.511a and 250.512), the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act (43 P.S. sec. 951 et seq.), the Assistance and Service Animal Integrity Act (Act 118 of 2018, 43 P.S. sec. 954.1 et seq.), and the federal Fair Housing Act. Statutes and local ordinances change and individual disputes turn on their facts; confirm current text and consult a Pennsylvania landlord-tenant attorney before acting on a specific accommodation request or denial.
Yes, for ordinary pets. Pennsylvania sets no dedicated cap on pet deposits, but a refundable pet deposit counts toward the overall security-deposit limit of two months' rent in the first year and one month thereafter (68 P.S. sec. 250.511a). You cannot charge any deposit or fee for a service animal or ESA.
No. State law does not cap non-refundable pet fees or monthly pet rent for ordinary pets. Only refundable deposits are constrained, because they fall under the security-deposit ceiling. Assistance animals cannot be charged any fee or rent at all.
Generally no. Under the Fair Housing Act and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act, an ESA is an assistance animal, not a pet, so a no-pets policy does not apply. You must grant the accommodation unless the specific animal poses a direct threat or would cause substantial damage that no other accommodation can address.
Under the Assistance and Service Animal Integrity Act (Act 118 of 2018), you may request documentation only when the disability or need is not readily apparent. It must be written, from a reliable source with direct knowledge of the disability. You cannot require the specific diagnosis or dictate one acceptable provider.
Pennsylvania's 2018 Integrity Act criminalizes it. Misrepresenting a disability or disability-related need is a third-degree misdemeanor, and creating false documentation or outfitting a pet as an assistance animal is a summary offense with a fine of up to $1,000. You still cannot deny a properly supported request.
Yes. You cannot charge a pet deposit or fee for the animal, but you can deduct the cost of actual damage it causes from the ordinary security deposit, the same as any other tenant-caused damage, following the itemization and 30-day return rules in 68 P.S. sec. 250.512.
Federal authority: 42 U.S.C. § 3604(f)(3)(B); 24 C.F.R. § 100.204; HUD FHEO Notice 2020-01. State authority: 68 P.S. § 250.511a. Last updated August 17, 2026. For informational purposes only, not legal advice. Pet and assistance-animal questions are highly fact-specific; consult a licensed Pennsylvania attorney before refusing any request.
