FURRY FRIENDS: How Boards and Managers Can Handle Service Animal Requests By A.J. Jahanian, Esq.
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he Humane Society of the United States estimates that sixty-seven percent (67%) of American households have at least one pet. That amounts to approximately 85 million households with a furry friend of some nature. Couple that with the tens of thousands of homeowners associations in California alone, many of which have some sort of pet restriction in their governing documents, and you have a conflict on your hands: How do board members and managers handle an owner’s request for an exception to those pet restrictions? Pet restrictions can be a positive tool to keep property values up, maintain some semblance of order and cleanliness and prevent nuisance complaints. Of course, boards have an obligation to enforce the governing documents, and management plays a prominent role in upholding that obligation. However, associations
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www.cai-glac.org | November/December 2021
also may have a legal duty to accommodate an owner’s service animal, even if it violates the CC&Rs, rules and regulations, etc. A “Service Animal” is defined under California state law as a dog individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities, including physical, sensory, psychiatric, sensory, or other mental disability. Tasks performed might include pulling a wheelchair, retrieving dropped items, alerting a person to a sound, etc. A common example is a guide dog, helping an individual with impaired vision. On the other hand, an emotional support animal or comfort animal (such as a therapy dog) is one that isn’t necessarily trained to perform a task, but provides therapeutic help to improve the individual’s social, cognitive, or emotional functioning (i.e., depression, anxiety, loneliness, certain phobias, etc.). Federal law prohibits housing discrimination on the basis of a disability and requires associations to make reasonable exceptions in their rules, regulations and policies, to afford people with disabilities equal opportunities. For example, a rule that says “no pets over 50 pounds allowed,” or “no pets in the pool area,” may be subject to an exception, if the animal is a service animal for the resident. Similarly, the California Fair
CAI-Greater Los Angeles Chapter