A rule is only a rule if it is enforced.

Is this correct?

Agree or disagree?

When I was living at 230 King Street, a new property manager told those of us on the second floor who owned barbecues that we had to remove them.  We weren’t told why, we were just told that we had seven days to do so.

The property manager showed me the condominium’s Declaration, where a vague reference to “incendiary devices” on common elements was being used as a reason for removal of our barbecues, but there was no actual mention of barbecues.

I began searching for a way out of this, and I found a ruling where the judge had determined that a rule that is not enforced, is not enforceable.  That is to say that if a rule exists within a condominium, and it is never enforced, and the residents have no expectation that the rule ever would be enforced, then management cannot simply begin to selectively enforce it.

I believe I also quoted the Propane & Storage Handling Act, and got an inspection and letter from the fire marshal on Front Street as well.  But when the property manager caved, I have to think it was that court case about “an unenforced rule not being selectively enforceable.”

Consider where else this might apply within the context of condominium living.

How many of you live in a condo, and own a pet?

How many of you don’t own a pet, but believe that your neighbor’s pet is a nuisance?

How would you define “nuisance” anyways?

Would it surprise you to know that every condominium in the downtown core has rules and regulations about “nuisance” pets, and rules outlining when management can force a resident to permanently remove the pet?

This rule is a lot more common than you would think, although it’s not enforced very often.

Within the condominium’s Status Certificate, there is usually a note about pets in the “Rules,” and then a further note in the “Declaration.”

Usually the rules spell out something simple, ie. how many pets one may own, and the Declaration hammers home the strict legalese.

Then some condominium’s Status Certificate simply repeat in the Declaration what was in the rules.  Every condominium’s Status Certificate is different, and while there are many similarities, you need to read both the “Rules” and the “Declaration” sections pertaining to pets.

For example, I just went through the entire 312-page Status Certificate for one particular condominium, and while the following appears in “Rules and Regulations,” there is nothing about pets in the Declaration:

No animal, live stock, or fowl, other than a pet, shall be kept on the property, and no pet that is deemed by the board or the manager, in its absolute discretion, to be a nuisance shall be kept by any owner in any unit or in any other part of the common elements.  Each pet owner must ensure that his pet does not defecate upon the common elements, and if an accident does occur, any such defecation must be cleaned up immediately by the pet owner, so that the common element areas are neat and clean at all times.  Should a pet owner fail to clean up after his pet as aforesaid, the pet shall be deemed a nuisance, and the owner of said pet shall, within two weeks of receipt of written notice from the board or manager requesting removal of such pet, permanently remove such pet from the property [A pet shall be kept within the unit or may be kept in the exclusive use common element areas appurtenant to such unit only if such pet is kept on a leash]

This is a very typical example of the “Pet Rules” as you would see in the Declaration, and often this is repeated in part or in whole in the “Rules & Regulations.”

No animal, live stock, or fowl, other than a pet, shall be kept on the property, and no pet that is deemed by the board or the manager, in its absolute discretion, to be a nuisance shall be kept by any owner in any unit or in any other part of the common elements

Really?

Oh, something tells me your run-of-the-mill condo would have a hard time with this one!

Just picture a resident in a 3-year-old downtown condo watching his dog crap in the main lobby, and then walking right past it.  Do you really think that the average downtown condo is going to a) attempt to, b) succeed in, forcing the removal of this pet?

Fat chance.

Especially when this happens all the time, in every building, and the rule is not specifically enforced in a matter of routine.

Now, let’s say that a particular pet owner lets his dog crap in the 8th floor stairwell twice per day, every day, for two years.  Then maybe the board of directors huddles together, says, “enough is enough,” and starts the proverbial ball rolling on a forced removal of the pet.

But how long does it take them?  What is the process?  And how hard would the condominium corporation fight it?

Now the other important point I will make about this italicized paragraph above is that it doesn’t really flush out what type of pet may be kept.  It merely reads “pet,” and that can be problematic.

Here’s another example from another condominium:

No animal, livestock or fowl of any kind other than household pets, being cats, dogs, canaries, budgies, or other small caged birds, or an aquarium of goldfish or tropical fish, shall be kept or allowed in any Unit.  No pet, which is deemed by the Board or the property manager, in their absolute discretion, to be a nuisance shall be kept by any Owner in any Unit.  Such Owner shall, within seven (7) days of delivery of a written notice from the Board requesting their removal of such pet, permanently remove such pet from the Property.  No breeding of pets for sale or otherwise shall be carried on, in or around any Unit.  Notwithstanding the generality of the foregoing, no pet deemed by the Board, in their sole and absolute discretion to be an attack animal or otherwise to be a danger to the residents of the Corporation, shall be permitted in the Condominium building or any Unit.  The decision of the Board is final and binding on the owner of the condominium and in the sole discretion of the Board, the Condominium Corporation shall have the animal removed from the condominium with whatever legal means are available, the cost of which shall be added to the owner’s common expenses and collected by the condominium as provided in this Declaration or by the By-Laws or pursuant to the Act.

 

This example, which is included in the Declaration, contains the same essential process for removing a “nuisance” pet as the first example, but this one goes further with the respect to the type of animal that is permitted.

No animal, livestock or fowl of any kind other than household pets, being cats, dogs, canaries, budgies, or other small caged birds, or an aquarium of goldfish or tropical fish, shall be kept or allowed in any Unit.

You have to assume that these are all written and/or edited by the same handful of lawyers that deal with condo law, and yet there are major differences here in terms of the examples of pets that are given.  The first example merely says “No animal, livestock, or fowl, other than a pet,” and yet the second example describes cats, dogs, types of birds, and even fish!

When in doubt, flush it out.  “Flush” in terms of avoiding brevity for the sake of brevity, and providing more detail.  Everybody, from residents, to management, would benefit from avoiding confusion and uncertainty here.

Take a look at this next one:

No animal, livestock or fowl, other than a household pet being cats, dogs, small caged birds or an aquarium of tropical fish or turtles (in respect of dogs and cats, restricted to a maximum of two dogs or two cats or one of each in any one unit) shall be kept upon the Common Elements or in the Units, including those parts thereof which any Owner has the exclusive use.  When on the Common Elements, all pets must be on a leash.  No pet that is deemed by Board or the Manager, in its absolute and sole discretion, to be a nuisance shall be kept by any Owner upon the Common Elements on in the Units.  Such Owner shall, within 2 weeks of receipt of a written notice from the Board or Manager requesting removal of such pet, permanently remove such pet from the Common Elements and the Unit.

For those of you skimming, note the following: (in respect of dogs and cats, restricted to a maximum of two dogs or two cats or one of each in any one unit)

Here we see a building where a restriction is put on the number of pets, provided they are dogs/cats, and not, say, twenty fish in a tank.

This is also common downtown, and as a buyer, you need to know how many dogs/cats you can legally have in a condo, or be forced to deal with the condominium board.

As I said at the onset, I have a hard time believing that a condominium corporation is going to deem your pet a “nuisance” as defined by the Declaration, and begin the lengthy and costly process of forcing removal of the animal, just because your dog takes one crap in the lobby, or you fail once to pick up said defecation on the sidewalk out front.

I don’t, however, have a hard time believing that condominium corporations will enforce the rule regarding the number of pets, because I have seen it before.

Do you know what else I’ve seen condominium corporations enforce?

The weight of the pet.

Among other things, as you’ll see in the next example…

I don’t want to cast judgment, so let me just say, to each, their own.

If a particular condominium corporation wants to outline twenty-one rules or bullet-points about pets in their “Rules & Regulations,” then that’s their prerogative.

Take a look at this:

I mean, nursery period?

I have to hand it to these people, they really thought of everything here!

Somebody in this condo must really, really not like pets.

Point #3 is the deal-breaker, however.  No pets over 30 pounds.  More on this in a moment.

Point #12 is interesting.  I would love to see how that’s enforced.  Isn’t dog poo worthy of the green bin?

Point #20 is really tough to swallow too.  When we visit my mother-in-law, we bring our dog every time, since our dog loves our mother-in-law’s dog.  This is one of the few examples I’ve seen in Toronto where guests are prohibited from bringing pets on site.

In any event, I recently had a listing in this building, and when I was asked about the 30-pound weight rule, I told the agent on the other end of the line, “Who knows how strictly they police this.”

I thought about most condos, and most rules regarding pets, and figured that there was probably some grey area.  But then called the property manager just to be safe, and wow, did I get an earful.

The property manager told me that not only can residents not have a pet over 30-pounds, but that the building can request to weight the animal at any time.

She explained to me that this was non-negotiable.  Her explanation was comparable to a “refusal to blow” when you’re asked to take a breathalyzer by a police officer.

The crazy part was, she had excitement in her voice.  I could feel it.

And my suspicions were confirmed when she said, with glee, “We’re actually litigating right now against a unit-owner to either force the removal of the dog, or force the sale of the condo.”

Well, that is certainly a new one!

So I told her, “You sound proud, to be honest.  What gives?”

And the earful continued, this time about the “community” that the residents had built, and the hands-on management among the Board of Directors, etc.

When I hear about the Board having their “hands” in day-to-day activities, I run the other way.  We’ve all lived in condos where self-anoninted demigods try to rule with an iron fist, and many cause problems just so they can implement solutions.

I had to be up front with potential buyers for this condo, and I disclosed this to buyer agents.

On offer night I was told by not one, but two buyer agents that without a shadow of a doubt, their buyer would have made an offer on the property if not for the 30-pound pet rule.  Both agents were distraught, since the buyers loved the condo, but had larger dogs.

That rule cost my sellers money.  No question about it.

And I have to wonder if the residents, on the whole, really, truly like this rule (and all the others), or if it were thrust upon them by the Board.

If you’re a buyer out there, and you have a pet, or think you might have a pet in the future, you have to read the Rules & Regulations of the condo, as well as the Declaration section pertaining to pets.

Either that, or send Fido to go live with your parents for six years…