Pets

[hillcrestpres]

Hello,

I am the President of the Board of Directors for a condo in Florida. Our By-Laws state that no pets are allowed in the building. However, there are at least a few people that have cats. Before the Board decides on whether or not to take action, I am trying to research the tendancies of court judgements. We don't want to proceed unless we are certain we have a good chance at a judgement.

I was recently told that courts tend to have sympathy for the condo owner because they realize that pets are essentially a part of the family and ordering someone to get rid of their pet is akin to telling them to get rid of a child.

Additionally, I would like to find out if, in these types of cases, the defendant (the cat owner) would also be responsible to pay back court and legal costs to the condominium in the event of a judgement against them.

Any advice on these matters would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

Mark

 

[HomeGuru]

Hello,

I am the President of the Board of Directors for a condo in Florida. Our By-Laws state that no pets are allowed in the building. However, there are at least a few people that have cats. Before the Board decides on whether or not to take action, I am trying to research the tendancies of court judgements. We don't want to proceed unless we are certain we have a good chance at a judgement.

I was recently told that courts tend to have sympathy for the condo owner because they realize that pets are essentially a part of the family and ordering someone to get rid of their pet is akin to telling them to get rid of a child.

Additionally, I would like to find out if, in these types of cases, the defendant (the cat owner) would also be responsible to pay back court and legal costs to the condominium in the event of a judgement against them.

Any advice on these matters would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

Mark

**A: my advice is to have the HOA hire an attorney to provide a legal opinion on the subject after reading the CC&R's and case laws.