No dogs allowed? When to bend the condo rules
Is your no-pet policy doing more harm than good for condo owners?
Depending on where you live, finding a condo or apartment that allows dogs can be quite the task. If you’re looking for a more dog-friendly neighborhood, check out the area first. The attitudes of neighboring businesses will often let users know where dog-friendly areas are. Of course you can check around for dog grooming businesses and pet shops, but also keep an eye on businesses that are not usually affiliated with dogs.
For example, two dogs I regularly walked (a Maltese and a Cockapoo) were notorious for lunging in a particular direction whenever we walked out of the door. I found it curious during the first walk. But rounding the corner, I immediately noticed the dog dish of free bones and water bowls in front of banks. It was one of the simplest ways to get dog lovers to take note of neighborhood businesses all while making sure the dog had an invested interest, too.
ADVERTISEMENT ~ Amazon
As an Amazon affiliate, I earn a percentage from purchases with my referral links. I know some consumers are choosing to boycott Amazon for its DEI removal. However, after thinking about this thoroughly, I choose to continue promoting intriguing products from small businesses, women-owned businesses and (specifically) Black-owned businesses who still feature their items on Amazon. All five of my Substack publications now include a MINIMUM of one product sold by a Black-owned business. (I have visited the seller’s official site, not just the Amazon Black-owned logo, to verify this.) If you still choose to boycott, I 100% respect that decision.
But how should a condo association board handle a no-pet policy when it was included in the Rules & Regulations and/or bylaws long before they were nominated? This can become shaky, depending on the state’s policies. For example, the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR)’s “Condo Unit Owner’s Rights and Responsibilities Handbook” confirms the following:
“An association with rules limiting pets must generally exempt ‘assistance animals’ — a broad term used by the U.S. Department of Urban and Housing Development (‘HUD’) to encompass not only ‘service animals’ which are exclusively dogs that have been specially trained to perform specific tasks or do work for the benefit of a disabled individual, but also ‘emotional support animals’ which includes any animal (including, but not limited to, dogs, cats, birds, reptiles, etc.) which provides disability-related assistance to its owner but need not have been specifically trained or certified in any way.”
ADVERTISEMENT ~ Amazon
As an Amazon Affiliate, I earn a percentage from purchases using my referral links.
For board members who are pet lovers already, this is good news. These members will probably want to do away with the no-pet policy anyway. However, depending on how the other unit owners respond, this can either be an easy process or become more complicated.
Recommended Read: “Steps for getting an emotional support dog ~ Rules to understand for your emotional support dog”
Example 1: A condo owner purchased a unit while the no-pet policy was in effect and says she is extremely allergic to dogs. If another unit owner needs an emotional support dog and/or service animal, and has documentation confirming this isn’t just a desired pet, one may have just as much legal right as the other. It is one thing for the condo board (or owners) to just not like dogs. It’s a much more serious situation to reject someone who needs the dog for mental health purposes.