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Help! Our building is being overrun by "supposed" Emotional Support Animals (ESA). For those of you currently dealing with this situation in a NO PET BUILDING as I am, how are you protecting the rights of those that bought and moved in because of the NO PET POLICY? We recently had a gentleman let his ESA run off leash, go to the pool where the dog jumped on furniture and barked. Grandfathered pets, which are currently registered are not to be replaced, and are not allowed anywhere except the garage, service elevator and the hall the owner lives on. We now have issues with barking dogs that are home while the owner is at work, which makes no sense if it is an ESA, shouldn't it go to the office with the person requiring an ESA?
At an open meeting a resident asked what our liability was if a person, allergic to pets, who bought in our NO PET building, suffered a severe reaction due to a pet or ESA on a service elevator. Many of us just want peace and quiet and want the rules of our COOP adhered to. We are forming a committee to research how to protect the rights of all. We have no problem with properly certified ESA. Can we require all ESA to wear vests as service animals do so that all know which are ESA or service and people don't complain unnecessarily? When a "doctor or ESA certified letter" is submitted, what further info do you require to substantiate that it is legitimate? We want to start investigating all letters to make sure they are legitimate and the rights of all are protected.
Please comment if you are dealing with this currently. Thank you!!
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I don't currently have this problem but I do want to comment on it. According to US Federal Law, although your board is entitled to ask for supporting materials which document the need for an emotional support animal, federal law does not require the tenant to provide proof of training or certification of the animal. A doctor or therapists letter identifying the need is sufficient "supporting materials". Note that the tenant need not disclose the details of the disability, nor provide a detailed medical history. Nor is it appropriate that an ESA dog wear a service vest; if you had an emotional problem would you want to be "branded" as such? I don't think so. The incident that you refer to of the dog being present in the pool area sounds like a "one-off" and should be treated as such reminding the tenant of the rules and regulations for pets on the premise. For the elevator if a person was severely allergic (or afraid) of dogs, why would they even considering entering an elevator with a dog? To alleviate this type of encounter, you could develop a house rule that makes everyone responsible: if an elevator has a person in it, the dog owner must wait for an empty elevator. Conversely, if an elevator has a dog in it and the person entering has a severe allergy, they need to wait for the next available elevator. Dogs barking, incessantly should be treated as a regular "noise nuisance" complaint.
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