By Herb
Milgrim, Esq.
Published
April 15, 2011
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I
am sure many of you have been reading the recent articles in our newspapers
dealing with Service Animals and Emotional Support Animals. Many of
these news articles appear to be one sided trying to paint a picture that
the majority of claims out there are fraudulent attempts to get by
Association Pet Restrictions or restrictions on bringing animals into public
venues. They fail to write about the disabled owner that already
has been granted a reasonable accommodation from her Association but
nevertheless gets screamed at by her neighbors or gets harrasing phone
messages telling her that she is not allowed to have a dog.
The type of tags and identification discussed in the Sun Sentinel Article
help to identify the animal to people who would ordinarily not be aware that
the animal qualifies as a reasonable accommodation under Federal Law.
Writers like Wayne K. Roustan of the Sun Sentinel or Donna
Gehrke-White of the Miami Herald need to take the time to report both sides
of the spectrum rather than bowing to pressure from their editors that the
stories be shorter.
While
there will always be some people who try to abuse any system of rules,
the majority of cases I have seen involving emotional support animals are
legitimate claims. These animals are truly vital components to the
daily lives of people living with disabilities. The problem
is that many Association Lawyers have found a way to milk some extra fees
from the Associations by unnecessarily attacking and delving into these
claims.
Associations
have tried contacting Doctors when not authorized to do so. They have
asked for certificates to support specialized training when they know or
should know that Emotional Support Animals do not need specialized
training.
”Emotional
support animals by their very nature, and without training, may relieve
depression and anxiety, and/or help reduce stress-induced pain in persons
with certain medical conditions affected by stress.” See, Overlook
Mutual Homes v. Spencer, 2009 WL 3486364 (S.D. Ohio 2009).
They
have asked for owners to take out insurance coverage for the animal naming
the Association as an additional insured. For the same reason an
Association or Landlord cannot charge a “pet deposit”
for someone with an emotional support animal, it is equally clear
that asking an individual to pay for extra insurance would also be violative.
Many
Association Attorneys take the view that unless you are blind or deaf your
request for a reasonable accommodation is fraudulent. The fact remains
that the
ADA
states that the term “disability” with respect to an
individual, is a physical or mental impairment that substantially
limits one or more major life activities of such
individual. Major life activities include, but are
not limited to:
“…caring
for oneself, performing manual tasks, seeing, hearing, eating, sleeping,
walking, standing, lifting, bending, speaking, breathing, learning, reading,
concentrating,
thinking, communicating,
and working.”
In
addition, major life activities now include “major bodily
functions” such as normal cell growth. This now means that
people with cancer qualify under the
ADA
. Mitigating measures such as medication, assistive technology or
behavioral modifications will not be considered. The
ADA
has chosen to broaden the definition of Major Life Activities
for a reason. According to Congress, the purpose in passing the ADA
Amendments Act was to provide a clear national mandate for the elimination
of discrimination.
If
you or somebody you love has a service animal or emotional support animal
and your Condo Association or Homeowner Association has not made reasonable
accommodations for you or worse, is trying to enforce Pet Restrictions that
don’t apply to your animal, you need to contact us to discuss your
rights. In most cases you could be entitled to damages, as well
as, reimbursement of your Attorney’s Fees and expenses.
The Law Offices of Herb M. Milgrim, P.A.
is a Florida Law Firm, with offices near
Fort Lauderdale
and
Miami
, that represents Condo Owners, Homeowners and
Cooperative Owners that have disputes or are contemplating
Litigation or a Lawsuit against their Association. Don’t try
to deal with the matter on your own. Seek out legal advice
from an experienced Attorney that focuses on helping condo
owners. Your Association keeps expensive Florida Law Firms on
Retainer so they can fight and delay your claim and they pay these
expensive Law Firms with your money. Contact us now and find
out if you have a case.
Website:
http://floridacondoattorneys.com/
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