I'm not sure my fellow board-members read me carefully.

I did say there would be political ramifications if you made an exception.

But I reiterate: There would be NO LEGAL PRECEDENT. A corporate board is NOT a court of law. ONLY COURTS set legal precedent. A corporate board CAN make exceptions if, in its view, there are legitimate reasons for doing so.

One person here sarcastically asked if I a offering legal advice. There's no need for sarcasm, particularly over semantics. I'm repeating what attorneys have said in print. Is that legal advice? Well, it's about the law. And you could call it advice or suggestion or, as I would, reportage. Being sarcastic muddies the issue, which is only necessary to do if one can't make one's point with logic.

Anyway, we're getting off-point. A board is prefectly entitled to make an exception for -- depending on the case, and not necessarily speaking of this case in particular -- humanitarian, long-term, emergency or strategic reasons, along with a half-dozen other valid reasons any reasonably intelligent person could name.

Will there be policy repercussions? That depends, as much of politics does, on how you present it. And in the case of an elderly cat -- which, unlike a dog, doesn't bark -- I can imagine being able to make a case based on compassion. That's a component of what is called, seriously, in legal terms "good will" -- which is so tangible a component that for tax and valuation reasons, it is considered part of a corporation's worth.

And even aside from this, a corporation needs flexibility to make nimble decisions. I'm not sure if affects the corporate bottom line any more to say "euthanize your quiet cat" than to say "we're making an exception on compassionate grounds." (Of course, if you have a howling cat, thereby interfering with neighbors' "quiet enjoyment" of their domicile, then you certainly have a hard decision to make on quality-of-life grounds.)

No good corporation lasts with rigid inflexibility. That's been the downfall of many a company.

While I agree with you in principal I must say that my years of experience in this industry would lead me to not make an exception. I have been a victim/sacraficial lamb many times over for using what I call common sence. Unfortunately the saying no good deed goes unpunished is all too common in this industry. I respect your compassion here but sad to say the world we live in has changed for the worst.

MRM

If it's a policy, there is no precedent.
If it's in the bylaws or property lease, there is one.

One must ask himself what is intended with a "no pet policy": noise, odors, hygiene ...
And what does pet include: dog, cat, a golden fish or bird.

You can't reject an application because of a pet. You have no way of defending this decision in front of a judge ... should the applicant go that far.

SaL states that an applications cannot be denied because of a pet! The Corp policy states No Pets, so if the applicant has a pet of any age/condition and wishes to bring it with them-why can't the Board reject?

RE: >> "If it's in the bylaws or property lease, there is [precedent]."

I don't know how else to say this: NO, there is NOT.

Corporate boards are NOT courts of law. Only courts of law can establish legal precedent. Co-op boards are not courts! Only courts can set precedents! How much more simply can this be explained?!

The board CAN reject. The point is, it isn't REQUIRED to reject. See my just-posted response to CDT.

Bear in mind, I'm someone who likes living in a no-dob building, so I'm not arguing from the standpoint of a pet fanatic. I just hate seeing armchair attorneys talking about "precedent" without fully understanding what it means. Too many episodes of "Law & Order," I guess.

This gets me curious, though, as to why a blanket no-pets policy. I'm wondering what the rationale is to ban goldfish, hamsters and turtles, say, not to mention cats, which for all their faults are usually quiet and don't need to be taken out on the grounds or elevators. But goldfish? Really?

Above should read "no-dog building," not "no-dob building." Which is funny, since "dob" is the initials of the Department of Buildings...!

I believe all these legal issues began many years ago when an older grey bearded man had two of each animal as pets on his property. He kept them even during times of heavy rain and floods.

Noah

For goodness' sakes, get over yourselves. A co-op board is not a court of law. It's a board room. You are not setting legal precedents even internally.

So why post the question in the first place. All people did was take time out to try and help. Am I missing something here.

Bob

Because it's factually incorrect to say it sets "a precedent," and gives bad, bad advice to the person who asked. Self-important board members act like they're Supreme Court justices and their decisions set "precedents." We're corporate boards, and a good corporate board is nimble and flexible and deals with individual situations in the best long-term interests of the corporation.

We are ALLOWED to make exceptions when need be. All we have to do is justify them on reasonable grounds, and if need be deal with the political fallout, if any.

And in this particular case, the thing to do is make an exception based on compassionate grounds. If the cat in its dotage then starts howling (which the initial questioner did not indicate was the case), then it becomes an issue of noise that would be dealt with the same as with someone's noisy TV. All these people saying, "No, no, no! That would set a PRECEDENT!" are giving bad, factually inaccurate "advice." I don't think there's anything there's anything wrong with thinking before we speak, or maybe doing a little research before giving advice.

So I guess you just answered your own question then? Best of luck with whatever you decide

Bob.