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The Obligation to Permit Pets Notwithstanding No-Pet Provisions

BY Alexander Lycoyannis
February 27, 2013

Generally, courts will enforce prohibitions on maintaining pets contained in residential and proprietary leases or condominium and cooperative house rules. However, exceptions arise from the provisions of the federal Fair Housing Act (FHA), the New York State Human Rights Law (NYSHRL) and the New York City Humans Rights Law (NYCHRL), which, under certain circumstances, require landlords and boards to permit residents with disabilities to keep pets. As one court put it, “the legislative advances protecting the disabled ' require the no-pet clause to bow upon proof of a specific, particularized need to keep a dog, which need arises out of the handicap.” Oceangate Associates Starrett Systems, Inc. v. Dopico, 109 Misc.2d 774, 441 N.Y.S.2d 34 (Civ. Ct. Kings Cty 1981).

'Reasonable Accommodations'

Under the aforesaid statutes, landlords and condominium and cooperative boards must make “reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, practices or services, when such accommodations may be necessary to afford the handicapped individual an equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling.” Hubbard v. Samson Management Corp., 994 F.Supp. 187, 189-190 (S.D.N.Y. 1998) (citations and internal brackets omitted). Whether a particular accommodation is required is “highly fact-specific, requiring case-by-case determination.” Id. at 190. If a court finds that a reasonable accommodation should have been but was not offered, the court may award compensatory and/or punitive damages, attorneys' fees and appropriate injunctive relief. See 42 U.S.C.A. ' 3613(c); Mozaffari v. New York State Division of Human Rights, 63 A.D.3d 643, 881 N.Y.S.2d 437 (1st Dep't 2009).

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