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What accomodations have you had to make?

Started by TamaraW • 14 replies • 1723 views

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TamaraW (Ohio)
Posts: 193
Posted:
Since some threads are speaking of the disabled/handicapped and making reasonable accommodations in order for them to enjoy their limited common area's. I thought I would be interested in seeing what you all have had to accommodate and share what we have done here.

An elderly couple, one terminal with cancer and the other undergoing radiation and chemotherapy could not sit out on their porch/deck because they were not permitted by their Doctor to be in the sun, due to their disability. It just so happens their home sits on the street that gets full sun all day.

Their son requested an awning for them so they could enjoy the rest of their lives doing something they so enjoy. Sitting on the porch watching the grandkids/kids play. Upon request a small conversation engaged and it was clear they wanted a retractable awning/screen system. After explaining to the BOD that were defiant due to ignorance of the discrimination clause in our bylaws, what the FHA and ADA had to say, this was accepted.

Another child had an injury several years after living here. His mother requested we put in a cement ramp in the front of their house so the child could more easily get to the school bus and car. After seeing that the association could not expense their accommodation, I looked into charities that may be able to do this for them, we also took a large collection for them from our neighbors. Knowing this family had been faced with the financial burden due to their child's accident. Charities would not help, and if I remember correctly it was mainly because we were private property vs. city. The family could not afford the cement ramp itself so they bought a portable and that seemed to work fine for them.

We have another family that has two residents in wheelchairs, they were injured in the Bosnian war. They want wheel chair ramps placed in the front and back of their home. I have only spoken with the residents about this and they have not saught approval from the BOD yet. This home has not paid their dues since they have moved in, are looking at getting a lien on their home and brought into foreclosure or heavy payment plan. Our R&R's clearly state: no architectural exterior improvement plan shall be approved unless current on fees. I am sure this does not trump the law, but am interested in seeing on the other BOD will respond when and if this comes across our desks.
GeorgerwilliamsW (Indiana)
Posts: 975
Posted:
Of this, Tamara, I can speak first hand. I have a registered and certified (most recently in July for two years) service animal. Because the dog needs to be free to seek help (by running home and nosing an exterior emergency call button) should I have a seizure while out walking, the dog cannot be on a leash. (Once help arrives, the dog is trained to lead people back to me.)

I can't tell you how many times I am scolded by unknowing neighbors and other ignorant people that my dog is "required" to be on a leash. They become very indignant. Sometimes, I respond with a simple, "thank you" and keep walking. Explanations don't seem to do much good with some indignant people.

And, it seems that about once a year whenever a new person is elected to the board, I will receive a dreaded "covenant violation letter" telling me that drastic action will be taken if I do not keep my dog on a leash.

What bothers me most, I suppose, is the arrogance of ignorant people. Instead of asking in a neighborly way, "shouldn't your dog be on a leash?", people are commanding, "your dog is supposed to be on a leash!".

And it seems that for board members, history begins when they are elected. They act and think (if they think at all) as if nothing existed before they assumed their position as a petty potentate.

For those interested, here are a couple of Department of Justice web pages that are written in plain English.
Service Animals and Commonly Asked Questions about Service Animals
    * Businesses may ask if an animal is a service animal or ask what tasks the animal has been trained to perform, but cannot require special ID cards for the animal or ask about the person's disability.

    * People with disabilities who use service animals cannot be charged extra fees, isolated from other patrons, or treated less favorably than other patrons. However, if a business such as a hotel normally charges guests for damage that they cause, a customer with a disability may be charged for damage caused by his or her service animal.

    * A person with a disability cannot be asked to remove his service animal from the premises unless: (1) the animal is out of control and the animal's owner does not take effective action to control it (for example, a dog that barks repeatedly during a movie) or (2) the animal poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others.

    * In these cases, the business should give the person with the disability the option to obtain goods and services without having the animal on the premises.

    * Businesses that sell or prepare food must allow service animals in public areas even if state or local health codes prohibit animals on the premises.

    * A business is not required to provide care or food for a service animal or provide a special location for it to relieve itself.

    * Allergies and fear of animals are generally not valid reasons for denying access or refusing service to people with service animals.

    * Violators of the ADA can be required to pay money damages and penalties.
TamaraW (Ohio)
Posts: 193
Posted:
That is unfortunate. I would ask your PM, if you have one and/or BOD if they keep files on homeowners. This way they could keep record and verify a special situation before sending that letter.

What kind of dog were you given? I have seen on TV some amazing things dogs can do to help people with challenging and unexpected health issues.
GeorgerwilliamsW (Indiana)
Posts: 975
Posted:
She is a 50/50 border collie lab mix. Very trainable, very smart, very responsive. A perfect off-leash dog. And, with the umbrella principle at work, I have not had a seizure in the five years the dog has been with me.
MaryA1 (Arizona)
Posts: 7,043
Posted:
Tamara,

You may be interested in the following info written by an HOA attorney here in AZ:

Fair Housing Act vs Americans with Disabilities Act:

1) The Fair Housing Act requires the assn to allow the owner to make the reasonable accommodation, but the assn may require the owner to pay for the accommodation.
2) The Americans with Disability Act requires the org. to make the accommodation, if reasonable, and to pay for the cost of the accommodation.
3) If an assn opens up its facilities to the public, and rents them out to the public, it will then, most likely, be subject to the requirements of the A.D.A.
FrancescaM (Washington)
Posts: 264
Posted:
There has been a recent incident in our building that I will not go into detail other than it was an item that was needed to help transport items from the car to the home. OUR hoa wrote the disabled man a letter and when the ADA was brought up and that this accomondated his needs to have a good quality of life, it quieted them down. Many HOA"s DO NOT UNDERSTAND.>>> how ignorant ( yes to the ADA laws etc ) that they were. Often you are so right HOA Boards think they know it all, honestly, it's an oin going job you give time and do not get paid. It takes ongoing education and knowlege, your PM is suppose to guide you but in the end the HOA is responsible.... and with liabilities being a hot ticket these days, nobody is afriad to sue.
TamaraW (Ohio)
Posts: 193
Posted:
Quote:
Posted By GeorgerwilliamsW on 09/14/2008 6:31 AM
She is a 50/50 border collie lab mix. Very trainable, very smart, very responsive. A perfect off-leash dog. And, with the umbrella principle at work, I have not had a seizure in the five years the dog has been with me.

Border Collies are amazingly smart as well as labs. My friends 3 border collies highly entertain me. I swear you can have conversations with these dogs. Glad to hear you have been seizure free. My oldest had those when he was younger, just a baby, very scary and now my dog; Precious the Cocker Spaniel has a seizure disorder. She can have up to 3 a day.
GeorgerwilliamsW (Indiana)
Posts: 975
Posted:
Tamara,

Check this out from today's newspaper . . .

Dog calls 911 after owner has seizure
    Clark said police are dispatched whenever 911 is called, but that Stalnaker's address was flagged in Scottsdale's system with a notification that a trained assistance dog could call 911 when the owner was incapacitated.

    Clark said Stalnaker adopted Buddy at the age of 8 weeks from Michigan-based Paws with a Cause, which trains assistance dogs, and trained him to get the phone if he began to have seizure symptoms. Buddy, now 18 months old, is able to press programmed buttons until a 911 operator is on the line, Clark said.

    Clark said Buddy has made two other 911 calls when Stalnaker was having seizures.

    He said Stalnaker's seizures are the result of a head injury he suffered about 10 years ago during a military training exercise.

TamaraW (Ohio)
Posts: 193
Posted:
Amazing, maybe I should get a dog like your guy's to alert me when my dog is going have a seizure. All we can really do for her though, is make sure she does not flop into something hard and hurt herself.

BrianB (California)
Posts: 2,820
Posted:
Mary (and others) make great points in that the board should look carefully at the law being cited, the unique situation of the HOA itself (is it a condo? single family homes? private clubs, or open/rented to public areas?), and seek clarification. The FHA and ADA are two separate laws, covering different aspects of American life, and while some aspects are similar, you need to know which is which, and where the HOA stands in relation to both. Don't take someone's "word" on it (especially some armchair lawyer/street lawyer), check out the law itself, it isn't actually that hard to access and understand.

read carefully, think about the request, and as mentioned, have conversations! conversation is so much better than confrontation.
GeorgerwilliamsW (Indiana)
Posts: 975
Posted:
Somebody in this situation is being irresponsible. No, make that just plain stupid. Who do you think it is?
    Amputee, condo spar over leashes

    LONGWOOD - Kent Nauman has an artificial leg and two tiny dogs. When he walks them, he uses a pair of leashes 24 feet long. His condo association, though, has a rule limiting leashes to 4 feet.

    "It's just plain too short," said Nauman, 57, a former physician. "They'd be under my foot."

    The two sides have been at war over that rule for six years. Now, the Florida Attorney General's Office has filed suit against the condo board, the Springwood Village Condominium Association of Longwood Inc., accusing it of discriminating and retaliating against Nauman because he's disabled.

    The issue isn't so much that the rule is unfair, according to the suit. It's that the association enforced it against just one person -- Nauman. That was the conclusion of a state arbitrator.

    The arbitrator ruled the association was in the wrong, even though it offered to let Nauman use a 10-foot leash, a deal he rejected.

    Despite that loss, the association just kept citing Nauman, according to the attorney general's suit, which was filed two weeks ago in state circuit court in Sanford.
TamaraW (Ohio)
Posts: 193
Posted:
I can see the problem with a 24 foot lead for dogs. Depending of course on where he lives and where he walks them. A lead that long could cause problems with traffic here, other dogs and kids. We are a "close in quarters" community. I think the BOD was wrong for fining him and should remove those from his account. I think the BOD was right in trying to compromise, just too bad it had to go this far to get that. Would be interesting to see how this rules in court.
KirkW1 (Texas)
Posts: 1,665
Posted:
Now here is where a few details could change a picture entirely. For instance, we are talking about a 24 foot plain lead, then I have a real problem with the arbitrator's decision and don't blame the Board for proceeding to another venue. (Though I wouldn't be fining the owner while process is underway.)

Now the 24 foot length does interest me because that is the length of my "flexi-leashes." They reel out and in and you can lock them from going out. I don't have a problem with the idea that the man can let out additional leash when needed because of obstacles.

The heart of the matter is that reasonable accommodation does not release an owner from proper control of the dogs. Further, in most cases a properly controlled dog won't generate attention on a leash such as the "flexi-leash." I have never had someone approach me because I control when the dog is allowed out and contain my dog. There are times when the leash plays out. But I limit how far into a yard the dog goes. I also recall my dog at the first sign of an approaching person. There is never a question of control of my dog and that is what most want. I would even say this has happened in front of an animal control officer in a city with a 6 foot leash law.

Unfortunately, I have also seen disabled people running rampant and letting their dogs be terrors to other people. I saw one who never picked up after her supposed hearing dog. (I never saw the dog perform a supposed duty and even saw it fail miserably in a demonstration.)

So I really don't know if the Board is being jerks, or if the disabled person is milking the system. But if they offered a 10 foot leash, I would tend to think the Board wanted to be reasonable while bringing the dogs into control.
GeorgerwilliamsW (Indiana)
Posts: 975
Posted:
Kirk,

I disagree with you. You are assuming facts not in evidence. You are assuming that the owner did not have proper control of the dogs. There is nothing in the article that suggests that.

The real problem here, as I see it, is that the state attorney general has filed suit against the association. The board has placed the association in legal jeopardy.

There is also the perceived issue of selective enforcement and retaliation.

My guess is that the resident is being a jerk, but since it is well known that he is mentally disabled it is up to the board to deal with the situation in a way that does not lead to a lawsuit by the attorney general. This board appears to be acting in an utterly irresponsible way.

KirkW1 (Texas)
Posts: 1,665
Posted:
And if there is selective enforcement there is a problem. Remember, that I did leave that I don't know all of the facts of the case. The thing is that you don't know that he does have control. One thing about the press is that they leave details out all the time. And don't believe for an instant that the Attorney General's office is above grabbing some headlines as well.

In fact, the office in Texas has come under fire for having created a video department to capture busts on video for release to the press. The concern is that this could be an underhanded attempt to boost his re-election efforts. (And that fear is not without merit.)

Unfortunately, it is possible that the charge is to hit the newspaper and appear to be standing up for the unfortunate. It will be interesting to see if the end of the story makes the news or not. I have seen cases where such charges are quietly dropped. Heck consider that Nifrong tried that in the cases against Duke students. In light of that how can we ever say that something is above the office?

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