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To modify the reasonable requirements that may be imposed on pet owners living in public housing, and for other purposes.
Summary
This bill modifies rules for public housing agencies regarding pet ownership. The bill prohibits public housing agencies from imposing breed, size, or weight restrictions on pets but allows other reasonable requirements such as pet deposits (capped at 10 percent of monthly rent and amortized over at least three months) and limits on the number of animals. The bill requires unused pet deposits to be returned within 30 days and prohibits agencies from withholding deposits for damage unrelated to pets or for ordinary wear and tear. Public housing agencies may still prohibit specific animal species under state or local law and may prohibit individual animals declared a threat to public safety by a court.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
7 cosponsors
Actions (2)
- Apr 20, 2026 Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services. · house
- Apr 20, 2026 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 20, 2026
Mr. Lawler (for himself, Mr. Crow, Ms. Titus, Mr. Fitzpatrick, Ms. Tlaib, Ms. Malliotakis, and Ms. Underwood) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services
A BILL
To modify the reasonable requirements that may be imposed on pet owners living in public housing, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Pets Belong with Families Act”.
SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON BREED RESTRICTIONS.
Section 31 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437z-3) is amended by striking subsection (b) and inserting the following:
“(b) Reasonable Requirements.—
“(1) In general.—The reasonable requirements referred to in subsection (a) may include—
“(A) requiring payment of a pet deposit by a tenant owning or having pets, except that—
“(i) the pet deposit—
“(I) shall not exceed 10 percent of the tenant’s monthly base rent; and
“(II) shall be amortized over not less than 3 months as part of a tenant’s rental payments; and
“(ii) any amount of a pet deposit that is unused at the termination of the tenancy shall be reimbursed to the tenant within 30 days of vacating a dwelling unit;
“(B) limitations on the number of animals in a dwelling unit or building, based on unit size or other relevant conditions;
“(C) prohibitions on certain species of animals prohibited by State or local law; and
“(D) prohibitions on any individual animal that is declared a threat to public health and safety by a court of competent jurisdiction or whose ownership is otherwise prohibited by State or local law.
“(2) Prohibition on withholding.—A public housing agency may not withhold a pet deposit described in paragraph (1) for damage unrelated to the pet, including due to ordinary wear and tear.
“(3) Limitation.—The reasonable requirements described in subsection (a) shall not include any prohibition based on the breed, size, or weight of an animal.”. <all>
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