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WHY ALLOWING EMOTIONAL SUPPORT ANIMALS IN CONDOS?
By
Jan Bergemann
Published April 16, 2021
We all
know that there are lots of different kinds of condos with
specific rules, like for example 55+ and NO-PET communities.
These different kinds of condos were created for a reason. They
allowed people with different priorities to chose a place of
living that fit their personal needs and preferences.
One of
these “specialized” communities created was a NO-PET
Condominium, designed for people who have serious allergies or
just don’t like to deal with neighbors’ pets.
But our
legislators, in their infinite wisdom, allow these normally
strict rules to be violated by owners, who, after moving into a
NO-PET community, decided that they need a pet for
their “emotional” welfare.
Normally,
when complaining about certain rules in these communities,
owners are being told that a contract (CC&Rs) is a contract and
that they signed on the dotted line. But in these cases the
legislators chose to ignore their normal point of view and
allowed these exemptions.
Funny
enough, they only allowed it in these NO-Pet communities, while
they clearly stated that other “public accommodations” don’t
have to allow ESAs, like for example restaurant, hotels etc. So,
while condo owners need to put up with a neighbor’s ESA, the
same person may not be able to bring his/her ESA to his/her job
or take it with them to a restaurant.
But I
guess that’s what our society is nowadays all about: Accommodate
the folks with certain problems or preferences to the detriment
of a wide majority trying to follow the rules they agreed to
abide by some time ago.
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Jan Bergemann is president of Cyber Citizens For Justice,
Florida
's largest state-wide property owners' advocacy group.
CCFJ works on legislation to help owners living in
community
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associations. He moved to
Florida
in 1995 - hoping to retire. He moved into a HOA, where the
developer cheated the homeowners and used the association dues
for his own purposes. End of retirement!
CCFJ was born in the year 2000, when some owners met in
Tallahassee
- finding out that power is only in numbers. Bergemann was a
member of Governor Jeb Bush's HOA Task force in 2003/2004.
The organization has two websites to inform interested
Florida
homeowners and condo owners:
News Website: http://www.ccfj.net/.
Educational Website: http://www.ccfjfoundation.net/.
We think that only owners can really represent owners, since all
service providers surely have a different interest! We are
trying to create owner-friendly laws, but the best laws are
useless without enforcement. And enforcement is totally lacking
in
Florida
!
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