Arizona HOA Pet Restrictions and Two Bills that Didn’t Become Law
HOA Control When It Comes to Owning Pets..
The two Arizona bills that did not pass…
Two bills in the 2026 session would have changed that for planned communities, and one of them came within a Senate hearing of the governor’s desk. The bills would have banned planned communities from placing restrictions or limits on household pets based on breed, size, or weight.
House Bill 4017
House Bill 4017 would have added a new section to the Planned Communities Act providing, notwithstanding anything in the community documents, an association may not prohibit or limit a household pet by breed, size, or weight. Any provision to the contrary would have been unenforceable, whether adopted before or after the effective date. Associations could still adopt reasonable rules about barking, aggression, leashes, waste, and animals in the common areas, so long as those rules were consistent with federal, state, and local law.
The practical effect of HB 4017 would have been to shift pet regulation from what an animal is to what it does. HOAs would not have been allowed to ban or restrict household pets based on breed, size, or weight, but could still regulate behavior and nuisance issues. A board could not turn away a sixty-pound dog because of the number on the scale. It could still fine the owner whose sixty-pound dog bit a neighbor or dug up the common-area turf.
When HB 4011 failed to get a floor vote, it was moved into SB 1582.
SB 1582
The revised proposed statute was broader and allowed HOAs to adopt reasonable rules on pet behavior. It also included a provision that would have entitled owners to keep up to six chickens in their backyards.
Neither HB 4017 nor SB 1582 were signed into law. However, the conditions that led to HB 4017 and later SB 1582 have not gone away. The pets lost this round, but there’s every reason to believe this will resurface in future legislative acts.
What HOA Pet Rules Apply Today
Your governing documents control. If your declaration or rules restrict pets by breed, size, weight, or number, those restrictions remain enforceable, and a board that enforces them evenhandedly is within its rights.
Do not rely on the 2026 bills. They did not pass.
If you have questions about the language or whether it has been uniformly and fairly enforced, please feel free to contact us.
There is one important exception. Assistance animals are not pets. Under the federal and state Fair Housings, an association must consider a request for a reasonable accommodation from a homeowner with a disability, and a breed or weight restriction generally cannot be applied to deny a legitimate assistance animal. If you have a disability-related need for an animal your CC&Rs would otherwise prohibit, that is a separate analysis, and it is one worth getting advice on before the board issues a violation.
What to expect next
Expect the legislature to reconsider pets in the next legislative session.
Until then, read your CC&Rs before you adopt.
Dessaules Law Group represents Arizona homeowners in disputes with their associations. If your HOA is enforcing a pet restriction against you, contact us.