No cats or dogs, Board allows cats

I live in a condo building that has a no cat or dog policy. The Board has taken drastic and severe actions against dog owners or anyone who attempted to get a new dog. The Board has acknowledged that there are illegal cats, but they have never taken any action against a cat owner.

Some dogs were living in the building legally but those dogs were replaced with illegal dogs. The Board sent those residents a letter informing them they had to get rid of their dogs in 30 days. No letters were sent to cat owners, even though the Board had an idea of who might have a cat. Throughout the last 10 or so years, the Baord has taken no action against any cat owner, but they forced a dog owner out of the building threatening fines when she replaced her grandfathered dog. The Board has denied every request for reasonable accommodation for assistance dogs for disabled residents.

When the local newspaper asked Management for their Pet Policy, the response was "cats only." This is not the official Pet Policy, but it is the one they have been following.

The Board claims that they can enforce the Pet Policy against dogs because they know who has them, but they don't know who has a cat, so they do nothing. At one point, they had a list of registered cats, but they didn't use it to see who had a cat.

If a non-disabled resident wanted to get a dog, what recourse do they have if the Board has not been following their own Pet Policy for over 11 years? Is the doctrine of Estoppel applicable? The Bylsws say that the failure of the Board to carry out a policy does not give others the right to break the rules.

"Policies" MIGHT be able to be overruled by the Membership, depending on where, exactly, this "policy" is stated.

If you think that this "no pet" rule is enforced unequally and you think people should be able to have dogs AND/OR cats, start your own petition to bring this issue to a Member vote.

Thank you for your responses.

The basic policy is no cats and no dogs. However, since all of the legal pets were gone, the HOA has taken a blind eye to the hundreds of illegal cats in the building. They had a document they could have used that had a list of illegal cats, but they took no action against them. They sent the residents with illegal dogs a letter telling them they had to get rid of their dogs within 30 days or face a fine of $100 per day. This was in 2000. Since then, they forced out a Board member who replaced her dog. They have refused every request they have ever received from disabled residents who have requested assistance dogs. (My dog is an assistance dog). There is a bias against dogs, while they take no action against illegal cats.

The HOA is not enforcing their Bylaws and Rules fairly. This building will not vote for a Bylaws change to allow dogs or cats. There is almost an understanding that the HOA will not take action against illegal cats. I reported one twice and the woman still has her cat. (This woman has publicly harassed me with foul language four times because I take my dog "legally" into common areas of the building.) When they told the newspaper "cats only," that was not consitent with the Bylaws, but it was consistent with how they HOA has dealt with cats.

If a HOA does not enforce their Bylaws and their Rules fairly, what is my recourse other than a vote of residents to change the Bylaws?

Thank you .

steve is right. vote them out. put someone in who will enforce the policy properly.