Many condo association pet bans are all bark and no bite
Chicago Tribune
Pamela Dittmer McKuen
24 July 2017
Many condominium associations have found their pet bans have no teeth.
That's because an increasing number of residents are requesting
permission to keep assistance animals due to physical or mental
disability. Associations have little choice but to grant the exceptions.
The trend is frustrating boards and managers, who suspect that many requests are bogus.
"This seems to be the way that people are getting around the 'no-pet'
rule," said Thomas Skweres, regional vice president at ACM Community
Management in Downers Grove. "All they need is a prescription from a
doctor, in most cases, for the animal to be given a 'reasonable
accommodation.' The number of assistance animals has grown
considerably."
Assistance animals are sometimes called emotional support or therapy
animals. Unlike service animals, which are trained to perform tasks,
assistance animals mostly provide comfort and companionship. They do
not have to be dogs, but dogs are very common.
Federal fair housing laws overseen by the U.S. Department of Housing
and Urban Development permit assistance animals in no-pet buildings if
proper requests for accommodation are made.
"My opinion is that the law is being abused by people who just want a
pet," said association attorney Stuart Fullett at Fullett Rosenlund
Anderson in Lake Zurich. "This detracts from the true intent, which is
to help the disabled. Unfortunately, with fraudulent uses, it raises
suspicions on all levels."
"People find loopholes in the system," said Cathy Ryan, president and
chief executive officer at Property Specialists in Rolling Meadows.
"One homeowner was granted a second support dog because the first
support dog was depressed."
Residents who seek assistance animals have a low bar to hurdle. They
must provide documentation from a medical professional that states the
resident has a disability and that the animal will help with that
disability. The resident does not have to divulge the specific
disability or how the animal will assist.
HUD allows associations to make certain rules regarding the behavior of
assistance animals and hold their owners liable for any damage they
cause. However, associations cannot require the owner to pay a deposit,
and they cannot restrict animal breeds, sizes or weights.
"While the original intent of the law was probably for a good reason, the regulations today all side with the owner," Ryan says.
Staying on the right side of the law can be tricky. Michael Carnahan,
owner and community association manager at RedBrick Property Management
in Lombard, said he turns every request over to the association's
attorney to handle.
"It's for risk control," he said. "We want to make sure we are not discriminating against any protected class."
Fullett estimated 80 percent of his no-pet client associations
rubber-stamp the requests because they don't want to potentially spend
time or money fighting the issue, Fullett said.
Owners who chose to move into no-pet buildings, perhaps because of
phobias or allergies, are unsettled by their new four-legged neighbors,
Ryan said.
When some owners can't live with animals and others must live with animals, whose rights prevail?
A definitive answer won't be known until someone files a lawsuit.
Fullett peered into his legal crystal ball to predict an outcome:
"It will be a balancing issue," he said. "For instance, can the
person's allergies be treated with medication and to what extent can
avoidance help? Another consideration is how reasonable is the
accommodation request on the part of the person who has a disability?
If I were to guess on the result, the legitimate cases of assistance
animals will prevail."
Owners must realize that when they move into an association, policies
and rules are subject to change, such as a no-pet building becoming a
pet-friendly building, Fullett said. Or a building that permits leasing
could later prohibit it.
"If you want to live completely pet-free, you probably should own a single-family home," he said.
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