jmckenz5150
08-13-2007, 12:34 AM
Can a condominium association under the "COMMON INTEREST OWNERSHIP ACT" amend the rules for specific unit owners and not the rest of the community?
Specifically, the rules state, no dogs are allowed... But there are unit owners who have dogs and are allowed to keep them. There was never any changes to the rules, amendments that allowed dogs, but the board voted and allowed certain unit owners to keep them. Is this legal???
Concerned Condo Owner :confused:
Troubleshooter
08-16-2007, 12:35 PM
Do those owners have grandfather rights? (Grandfather rights are conditions which pre-exist the creation of a regulation, and are allowed to continue until a change of ownership occurs.)
Grandfathering is often required by law. It protects owners who are already involved in an activity on a piece of property from new regulations which would otherwise force them to move. Zoning laws must usually have grandfathering. If a man is already operating a business, it is not right for government to change the law so he can not have a business on the land he bought for the purpose. So he is grandfathered, having the right to operate his business in violation of a new zoning law, until he either ends the business or sells the property.
jmckenz5150
08-17-2007, 02:23 PM
None that I believe... When the condominum was built, the rules stated no dogs were allowed.
Troubleshooter
08-23-2007, 09:51 PM
There is one other possibility of grandfather rights. That is if the "favored" owners were in a different deal with a different condo with the same developer, and something happened (e.g. the building was condemned, eminent-domained, or burned down) that caused a court judgment.
jmckenz5150
08-29-2007, 05:44 AM
Nothing like that has happened...
The way it was explained to me by the management company for the condominium was as follows...
The board felt that since there were such few owners who had dogs, dealing with the problem was to allow them to keep their dogs.
I am unsure if the association ever fined the particular owners for violating the rules.
My question is, do I have a leg to stand on for legal action against the association and/or unit owners who have dogs?
#1 - changing the rule and allow dogs since some are already present?
#2 - buying a dog and not have legal action taken against me, since it has been allowed for other owners?
