Pets

Started by SheilaP • 3 replies • 1707 views

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SheilaP (Texas)
Posts: 1

Posted:

Brief history, the association has Owners who live on site and other owners who rent their condo thru the management company hired by the Association, and there are owners who rent their units on their own and not use the management company. The original Decs and bylaws were 'One pet per condominium allowed'. The owners who rent on their own allow their guests to bring their pets. The Board has ammended the Bylaws to read 'only a Owner may have a pet and only one pet per condominium'. Then added a fine for violating the no pet rule for renters. My question is the Owner in question claims this can not be done and has filed a lawsuit which is costing the association. Can the Board change rules regarding pets and who can have them? Or would this owner be grandfathered in somehow? We are talking only for rental guests bringing pets.

WilliamT (Arizona)
Posts: 489

Posted:

Sounds like you need a legal opinion, and if the association has an attorney defending the lawsuit then s/he is the one that should answer your question.

The courts can go either way, and it seems that if something is not clear in the bylaws they tend to go toward what is reasonable.

You did not explain if the owner lives in the apartment and has a pet, or more than one pet, or if a tenant lives there with more than one pet.

My guess is that if the owner had a lease with the tenant and if at the time the lease was signed, the bylaws allowed renters to have a pet, then the owner is legally obligated to honor that lease. Therefore, the owner would automatically be grandfathered.

In changing that type of covenent in a declaration it would have been best to have anticipated the impact on the community where it was known that owners have leases that were in obeyance of the bylaws and allowed pets.

If the owner had two pets in obeyence with the bylaws, and the bylaws were changed to allow the owner only one pet, then that would be unreasonable in my opinion, to try and force the owner to get rid of one of their pets.

RogerB (Colorado)
Posts: 5,067

Posted:

Sheila, the Board can not change rules (restrictions) which are in the Declaration by simply amending the By-laws. If the original wording is in the Declaration then just changing the By-laws means nothing. The Declaration would have to be amended since it overrules any conflicts with the By-laws. The owner's claim may be valid.

HaroldS (Arizona)
Posts: 906

Posted:

Can the Board change rules regarding pets and who can have them?>> Absolutely not! Your CC&Rs do not address the issue of tenants' pets. The board cannot amend the CC&Rs - the member owners must vote by whatever % your documents require to make changes to the CC&Rs. The board can adopt rules to further define a provision of the CC&Rs as long as it does not change the meaning of the CC&R. They can never by themselves amend or change the meaning of the CC&Rs. Obviously your board does not know the law and their limitations. Where was the management company while the board was doing this? If the board does not know their CC&Rs and/or state laws, the management company should. Sounds like it is going to be an expensive lesson that could have been avoided. Harold

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