Q: My husband and I’ve lived in a co-op in Westchester County for 37 years. It’s a three-story constructing that prohibits canines as pets, and we’ve all the time had a fantastic relationship with the opposite residents. However 9 months in the past, our upstairs neighbors acquired an emotional help canine for his or her teenager. The canine runs backwards and forwards for half-hour at a time. No less than three nights per week, it scratches a bed room rug, waking us up all through the evening. We’ve shared our issues with the neighbors, asking them to crate the canine at evening and stroll him when he’s rambunctious. They appeared receptive, however the issue persists. How can we stability the rights of individuals to have emotional help animals with our proper to dwell peacefully?
A: So long as this canine isn’t biting folks, it’s most likely not going anyplace. Help animals are protected lodging beneath county, state and federal fair-housing legal guidelines. Your co-op board could possibly be responsible for discrimination whether it is discovered to be hostile to this canine proprietor, and so might you. So tread calmly.
“A neighbor may be sued in Westchester,” mentioned Andrew Lieb, a New York housing discrimination lawyer, noting that the legislation permits your neighbor to sue you for emotional misery and attorneys charges.
As tough because it may be to dwell under this canine, attempt to think about the state of affairs from the proprietor’s perspective and what they may be coping with of their household. “If I used to be the neighbor and wished to do one thing, I’d go on a pleasant marketing campaign,” Mr. Lieb mentioned.
Legally, the constructing can’t cost additional charges to this resident or restrict the canine’s dimension or breed. Focus any complaints you will have on components of the state of affairs that violate your constructing’s guidelines, equivalent to unreasonable noise. You would use a decibel reader to indicate how loud the noise is and the way lengthy it lasts, to ascertain that it’s unreasonable, after which make a criticism to your co-op board so the sound may be mitigated.
You may also test the constructing’s bylaws to see in case your neighbor has ample carpeting. Some buildings require residents on higher flooring to have 80 p.c of the ground carpeted.
“Emotional help animals are protected, however they nonetheless must obey any home guidelines,” mentioned Jonathan Roman, an actual property lawyer who practices in Westchester.
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