Don’t let an overzealous pursuit and lack of common sense end up costing your association. Sometimes we run across board members that feel being on the board makes them all powerful, but this is simply not true. It does however; seem to have been the case for the Sabal Palm Condominiums of Pine Island Ridge Association, Inc. when they acted like they were exempt from federal law and Fair Housing Act (FHA) requirements to make a “reasonable accommodation” for a disabled owners’ service dog.
In the end, this lack of common sense is going to cost every owner, as the association finally reached a $300,000 settlement to avoid more litigation. Though stated in the linked article, we have to wonder how this simple matter could have been allowed to go so far.
Why didn’t the manager, attorney or both tell the association this was a losing battle that would only waste resources and end with a bad result. Anyone that has dealt with ADA or FHA laws that protect the disabled could have and should have seen these results coming long before any legal action took place.
