Pets allowed in Illinois?

Hi all, its been awhile since I posted anything here. In the past 7 months, I have resigned as pres. of my assoc and also from the board. Here's my question: I am looking to buy a condo in Illinois, and very few assoc. allow cats, of which I have two, and so far, I have not found a condo assoc. that allows dogs. is there something about assoc. laws in Illinois that "discriminates" against a condo buyer who owns a cat or dog? Or is it just the assoc. BOD that determines whether you can own a pet in Illinois?

What Douglas said. MAYBE you are moving to a more urban area where it is perceived that pets cause more problems. For you, the reason (if any) doesn't matter if the CC&Rs are correctly formulated.

I agree with most of the comments here.

The issue may not be so much about discrimination as it is about irresponsible pet owners. I'm sure you're not one of them, but there are people who let their critters bark all day and night, bite anything that moves and of course there's the smell from poop (and people who don't brush or wash the animals once in a while). If you're living in a high rise, there may also be issues with people who are very sensitive to pet hair.

That usually explains why the CCRs may prohibits pets altogether or limit the size and sometimes the breed (e.g. you've heard about communities banning pit bulls). State and local law usually address things like the pets have to be on a leash when outside, owners can't leave them outside in bitterly cold weather or you can't own certain types of animals at all (e.g. chickens) if you live within city limits. Otherwise, I've never see any that say you can't own pets AT ALL in X condo.

The CCRs can be amended by homeowners, so in some cases, you can persuade enough people to change them. However, that should probably be accompanied by rules that encourage responsible ownership. So keep looking - hopefully, you will find a condo that you and your pets can move into. Just be sure you do what's necessary to ensure they don't cause a lot of noise or odors.

I'd like to think that when associations are newly formed its the residents who are going to be living there at the time that ultimately make that decision and what stipulations there will be if pets are allowed.

That said, I recently moved from NE IL to SE WI.

At the time I moved, I really wanted to stay in NE IL, but it didn't take me to long to realize just how difficult it was to find a pet friendly association there and one that would be okay with all the pets I have. (I have 2 dogs, 2 birds and a fish myself.) When I started looking at associations in SE WI, it didn't take me long to realize that it was much more pet friendly across the state line.

I'm so thankful we moved across the state line because the cost of living in IL is a heck of a lot more than WI and I love how WI as a whole is so pet friendly compared to IL.

Don’t think I would want to start out in my new community by trying to change their CCRs, or R&Rs ...

Thy likely have those rules for a reason ....

I manage several condo associations around Chicagoland, and while some of them have weight/breed restrictions for pets, most of them do allow pets, especially cats.