Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Pet policy

[R Philip Dowds (rpdowds]

That is not at all the answer I was expecting.  In most cases, no citizen, HOA, 
church, whatever, has any responsibility at all for enforcing the law on other 
parties.  By extension of this reasoning, if a homeless undocumented alien is 
found sleeping behind your bushes, you could get prosecuted and fined, maybe 
even jailed, if you do not discover him and turn him in.  But I don't think so. 
 Maybe my neighbor is acting fishy, but I will never be prosecuted for not 
calling the police.

I was actually working toward a different point altogether.  If you "allow" 
pets, you may get sued by those who are damaged by the pets.  On the other 
hand, if you "prohibit" pets, you may get sued for denial of property rights 
otherwise guaranteed by your master deed and bylaws.  Best way to stay out of 
court, therefore, is to do nothing.  Ever.

This, of course, is not good.

RPD
 
On Apr 24, 2012, at 3:02 PM, Sharon Villines wrote:

> 
> 
> On 24 Apr 2012, at 1:00 PM, R Philip Dowds wrote:
> 
>> What if your community is totally silent on dogs?  That is, you neither 
>> allow nor prohibit any specific actions re dogs, cats, birds, snakes, 
>> whatever.  It has never even occurred to you discuss the matter.  Are you 
>> then still liable?
> 
>> From what little I know, ignorance of the law is not a successful defense. 
>> The Board is responsible for ensuring that the law is followed on condo 
>> grounds. Even if we had no policy, the city policy applies. And in our case, 
>> residents had complained to the board that the law was not being followed.
> 
> "Liability" may only apply if you get to court, but the city will impound the 
> dog and levy a fine, which makes you look very guilty. If the fine is on the 
> community because it allows the practice by policy or lack of enforcement, it 
> can be sured. It is a much better target than an individual because it has 
> more money and more ability to borrow money. In our neighborhood, our 
> building looks pretty rich.
> 
> Sharon
> ----
> Sharon Villines
> Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
> http://www.takomavillage.org
> 
> 
> 
> 
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