Our team previously wrote about pet restrictions in a 2014 article located here. Nearly six years later, pet restrictions continue to be a breeding ground for confusion, particularly with respect to fair housing and discrimination laws and as those laws relate to recent legislation which took effect in July 2020.

According to statistics provided by The Humane Society of the United States, approximately 67% of all households throughout the United States had a pet based on data collected from 2019-2020. While pets have become a mainstay in most American households, they are not necessarily as common in condominium and homeowners association. The governing documents of many community associations impose limits on the types and number of pets a member or tenant may keep in a unit or home.

These pet restrictions take varying forms; sometimes, the goal is to curtail what are deemed to be aggressive or dangerous breeds as defined by the governing documents. In other instances, a restriction may limit the number of pets a single owner may keep, or may define what types of animals are deemed domesticated and permitted to be kept as a pet at all.

Proceed with caution

Continue Reading Pet restrictions revisited: Community associations continue to navigate pet restrictions as new Florida law addresses fraudulent emotional support animal claims and documentation

dog in windowMany condominium and homeowner’s associations have pet restrictions, ranging from prohibiting all pets to allowing only pets of a certain size and/or breed. These restrictions are increasingly being challenged and associations are finding it harder to enforce them and subjecting themselves to liability if they attempt to enforce them.

Exceptions Mandated By Federal Law

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