Tarazet: Co-op Loses, Dog Wins

August 11, 2004

Co-op Loses, Dog Wins

I've reported stories like this before with condo-associations, etc. Finally, some good news on one case from Yahoo/AP:

A judge has upheld an order blocking an apartment complex from evicting a woman who says she needs to keep her late mother's dog because it helps her fight depression over the mother's death.

Christine Emmick has a disability and is entitled to keep her Shih Tzu, Max, despite the no-pets rule at Royalwood Cooperative Apartments, the Michigan Civil Rights Commission ruled.

The apartment complex "refused to reasonably accommodate her mental disability by allowing her to keep a dog," and violated the state's Persons with Disabilities Civil Rights Act, the commission ruled earlier this year.

The ruling was upheld last week by Oakland County Circuit Judge Fred Mester.

"I was skeptical of the case at first," Mester told the Detroit Free Press on Monday. "But when you look at the facts of the case, the cooperative was violating the law.

"This is not a case where somebody says, `I have a headache, and a dog would make it better.' This woman had a well-documented disability and was able to prove that the dog helps her in coping with that disability."

Now, I'm glad the dog can stay but I do realize there are two sides to every story. I've never lived in a co-op or condo. And it could be that if someone spends a lot of money to live somewhere and they don't want to be bothered with barking dogs, they have the right to protest such a ruling. A condo or co-op group ought to have the right to set their rules and requirements. How do you all feel about this?

Posted by Jeff Soyer at August 11, 2004 12:23 PM

Comments

My decision would hinge on time-lines. None are given. How did the dog get in in the first place if there was a no pets policy? When did Mom die? How long does the daughter need the dog to fight depression? Has she tried Prozac in order to abide by the lease? I'd vote for the condo association on this one. (And yes, I have dogs: 2; in addition to 3 cats. But I'm not breaking any laws or association rules.)

Posted by: Indigo at August 11, 2004 11:38 PM

Dog wins for now. I would make her sign an agreement that she would maintain the dog, pick up after it and no noise problem, once there was documentable evidence that the dog was a problem then out.
A co-op or condo is YOUR home and I do think that people should have the right to have small pets. (30lbs or less.)After all you bought it and pay the fees. This ladies little powder puff of a pooch is not going to be a problem. If she needed a Great Dane for sanity, or the thing was a yapping trouble making dog, thats another matter.

Posted by: DancingRainGirl at August 12, 2004 03:07 AM

When my landlord first got his lab, it barked non-stop for about a year and drove me absolutely crazy. I finally went to him and said, look, I'll pay for the bark-control collar... They said no, but they did then get the dog trained to no longer bark. They also started keeping him indoors.

Posted by: Jeff Soyer at August 12, 2004 07:49 AM