“No Dogs Allowed: Except Pit Bulls”

If condominiums ever go to the dogs you can bet, right up to your last dollar, that the last breed of dog they go to will be Pitbulls. 

Pet restrictions are found in virtually every declaration of condominium in the state of Florida. The restrictions are written by lawyers, but the limitations placed on pets are usually dictated by developers claiming to be listening to their marketing departments; or maybe they are listening to the little voices speaking to them inside their heads which come from their own prejudices, personal fears or past experiences.

Some pet restrictions are species-based. (“No dogs or cats, but cockatiels and rattlesnake hat-bands are okay.”) 

Some pet restrictions are based on breed. (“Cats okay. Dogs okay as long as they are not Doberman pinchers, Rottweilers, bullmastiffs, cadaver dogs, or that wrinkly-breed that always makes me want to rush out to the nearest hospital for an emergency face-lift.”)

The majority of pet restrictions seem to be weight based. (“No pet that weighs more than 35 pounds. No pet-owner that exceeds 21% body fat. Oh, wait…”)

If you think this is funny, well, what may be funnier is that all of these restrictions are likely to hold up in court. (Except the one about body-fat.)

Florida’s Condominium Act, Section 718, gives condo developments tremendous latitude in pet restrictions. As long as the rules are clearly spelled out in the governing documents and consistently enforced throughout the association, they will usually be upheld. 

Efforts to change the limitations after-the-fact, once recorded with the county clerk, become something beyond ”tough”. Most declarations require a 2/3rds majority for passage of any amendment, including those that allows such things as a fierce, fat, Fido onto the property as a permanent resident.

Pet-loving, potential condo buyers should read the declaration carefully before signing on the dotted line and if they do not see anything specifically addressing the issue of pets, they should not take the word of the real estate agent or seller of the property that none exists. They should contact either a board member of the association or an officer (not an employee) of the association’s management company in order to get a definitive answer to the question of pets that are allowed by owners, or by renters, of the property. 

When asking keep in mind: there are always restrictions. The likelihood that NO pet restriction exists in the governing documents of a condominium is about as likely as Pitbulls replacing Dalmations on fire-engines. (They may not be as pretty but then again, you don’t have to worry about anyone messing with the firehoses.) 

Mediation Solves Problems

Going to court can cost you money.

Mediation costs money, too, but not as much.

When Florida homeowners violate community restrictions, association boards look for ways to persude them to come back into compliance. If persuasion didn’t work, court was the only solution up until 2004. That’s when the legislature passed a law requiring mediation before court.

This was a move in the right direction, but the 2004 statute was cumbersome. The program was overseen by the Dept. of Land Sales, the filing cost was high, and it took six weeks just to find out whether or not the Department would assign a mediator to your case.

Those stumbling blocks were pushed aside in a 2007 revision of the statute. Mediation is still required but now an association can go directly to the homeowner with their request. The homeowner, in turn, has 20 days to agree to the voluntary mediation before a court action can be filed. The cost of the mediation is evenly divided, but this can be negotiated.

After more than a dozen mediations since passage of the new law, I have yet to see one case go to court. This works out best for everyone involved, except maybe the lawyer who doesn’t get to charge those billable hours in preparing for and going to court to resolve what should be issues more easily resolved between, what amounts to, neighbors.

It’s one source of revenue this particular lawyer doesn’t mind missing out on because the real goal in any such dispute is to keep those restrictions and covenants contained in every Declaration doing what they are supposed to do: unite the homeowners behind a set of ideas that work to the benefit of each person living in the community.