I don't believe that you can prohibit pets in any condo assoc. The courts always agree with the pet owners. This is in SC.

Florida here: I think the no pets allowed is due to people not taking care of them, like picking up the waste and letting them roam.I have a cat who is not allowed outside and has never been outside for 18 years. Note our condo does not have that rule.

Our condos allow pets.. .but the board has always had trouble with pet owners letting their dogs mess up the property. We now have laws in place of where to walk your pets with fines attached. We would like to eventually ban all pets or force residents to move. We have been told that this has been done at other condo complexes. I live in a cluster of 8 condos in one building, six units have dogs.. some units have two dogs.

We have a NO DOGS By-Law (except for 'service dogs' BUT if you want to have a dog, there is a $200 initial charge and then a $50.00 a day fee. Believe it or not, we had woman who was willing to pay these charges. [Her dog died before she moved in. She had paid $8000 in vet fees in the year prior to the dog's death!]

You are selling your condo. It is the buyer realtor's obligation primarily, the buyer's obligation secondarily, to obtain and review all the associations governing documents prior to the sale. As a seller, you need to be prepared to provide all those documents to your realtor or anyone who asks. That is the "best practice." 
 
Whether or not an association permits, limits, or bans pets is an association decision, as is the enforcement and subsequent fines.

No one answered her question that I also have. 
 
Question: If a seller and realtor know a condo pet rule is being ignored and/or not enforced [meaning there ARE cats/dogs in Condo], do they have a legal responsibility to reveal such even if not asked? The Condo docs are de facto different than the published docs. Some people are allergic to cats, for example.

You cannot probhibit dogs in a condo. This is your home. You may however adjust the rules to what size of dog you may have. Will that stop everyone from doing so? Probably not. 
 
We have a clause that when the dog dies, you are to habve no more dogs your pet cannot be replaced. That did not work for us. They do as they please. 
 
Now to the answer the question. It only takes one person to not follow the rules and move in with a big big dog and there goes the rules. What do you do then? 
 
For the second part of your question There is no way you can Legally say No Pets when there is some already there. You could state the by laws say NO but there are owners who don't abid and until the board does something about it then I guess you would be off the hook. 
 
You are selling with a No Pet clause. Let it go at that and let the new owner fight it out with the association. Good luck

There is NO WAY your Bylaws can legally tell people they cannot have pets. The condo association cannot tell people what they can and cannot do inside their unit. They can tell them what they can do outside their unit but only as it applies to the common areas. So to answer your question. Pets are allowed and you Board needs to address the concerns of how to enforce pet rules in common areas.

If the condo docs say "no pets" then you are obligated to state that even though the board does not enforce the rule. As for whether or not the board has the authority to enforce a "no pets" rule, unless a court has declared the rule unlawful, they can enforce it. Boards that choose not enforce certain rules -- or any of the rules for that matter -- are setting themselves up for a lawsuit. Depending upon the wording in the declaration the board may have a duty to enforce the rules/restrictions or they may only be obligated to enforce if they so choose. Check your wording very closely. There is case law in AZ when an HOA was found guilty of not enforcing a particular restriction simply because the declaration said they had "the duty" to enforce.

One: Pets are a lot of comfort to people who live alone in a Condominium. I do not believe they should be prohibited. The Condo Association usually does have authority to rule what you can and cannot do once you are outside your unit. Therefore normally the Condo can enforce a “no pet rule” in the common area outside the Condominium unit itself.  
 
Two: In Washington State you are required to tell a potential buyer about anything that may have a detrimental effect on the sale. Otherwise the buyer can come back on you legally. I would suggest for your own protection that you and your real estate agent must disclose the no pet law and the lack of enforcement.  
 

most owners of pets are reponse-able owners - it's a hand full that cause most of the problems for all. look at the society in the USA... a few trouble makes and we all pay --- owners allow dogs to bark on a on going basics and never take care of this - in condo land this is just not going to work - we have a ccr rule no pets at all - this way all are on the same level

Here is how we are dealing with the NO Pet issue in a Florida condo. The key to the "No pets rule" is your governing documents and the board enforcing the rules. For years our our rules were not enforced. When I was president they would have enforced the rules but our attorney said our documents needed to be revised. So we started revising documents that had not been revised in 19 years. We surveyed our owners and 70% still did not want pets. Of course, service animals must be allowed by law. Our attorney revised the state medical opinion form that a physician must complete in order for a resident to have a service animal or an emotional support animal. These animals are not pets. Prescriptions are not acceptable. This document states that if the physician does not answer the questions truthfully he/she could be commiting perjury. It also asks are they willing to testify. Without this document no animal may come on the property. Animals that were living here prior to a "clean slate" letter being sent to all residents are allowed to stay until they die but may not be replaced. The board appointed a (No)Pet Committee to develop a registration process and rules and regs. I volunteered to chair the committee. No one else wanted it. We finished our job in 3 weeks. Look at your counties rules dealing with pets they are very good rules and regs with a little tweeking. When the majority of our residents return we will be registering every animal. We are taking pictures and shoulder measurements to prevent people from replacing animals illegally. Weight changes but shoulder height doesn't on adult animals. If we have concerns a vet will determine the animals age and if the animal is the same one that was registered. Noncompliance with the rules can result in fines and/or the animal being removed. So far so good. I recruited many residents both pro and con pets to serve on the committee.

The board has the right to add to the R&R's no more dog's and then notify all unit owners by sending a copy, but record the action first. Then it takes 66-67% of ownership to turn it over. But you would have to grandfather all dogs that ae living there. It can be done/ As far as in the By-Laws OR Declaration's are binding. Send the board a certified letter, so they can not say they did not receive it stating you are going to get a Lawyer to correct it and the board is liable for the Lawyers fees.It will be a fight, check and see if the Lawyer is familiar with condo rulings, not all Lawyers know what they need to in condo operations. Good luck, be sincere when you start!!!!

Our Declaration and By-Laws have nothing written about pets. The Declaration and By-Laws are legally registered documents. The Rules and Regulations which are dictated from the Board have a one sentence item which states that "no pets are allowed".....this document is not a legally registered document. Since there is no mention of pets in our legal documents and the rule was dictated by the Board I feel that the one sentence rule has no legal legs to stand on. Am I correct?

Being that the board is looking the other way about the pets, I thought all association members are supposed to be treated the same way. Shouldn't they then have an announcement that everyone can have pets?

Your HOA Rules and Regulations, voted on by the homeowners, can stipulate No Pets. However, if your neighbor has a pet it is possible they also have a script, from a doctor, for a Comfort or Companion Pet.

We bought a unit in an over 55 owner managed condo community in August 2011, in Broward County, Florida. The initial bylaws allows dogs, with certain parameters. The later revised bylaws also accepts dogs. There is no size or weight specified or restriction in either printing. Many residents have cats, birds and a few have dogs under 50#.  
I obtained a letter from my family doctor attesting to the need for me to have a pet in my condo. I sent them the letter and a picture of my dog. The president of the association telephoned me to say I could not have a dog over 25#; had to have two doctors notes; and/or he had to be a service dog.  
I have requested a letter to this effect, but have not received one, (I do not expect one). She kept saying all this is law. 
 
I would like to know if there is indeed a Florida, or Broward County statute that specifies size/weight. I want as much info as possible before I contact an attorney, or just take my dog with me when I go down for the winter.

if this is a service dog or a medical dog or pet from an MD, the BOD should recieve letter from attorney advising them that taking this on will cost them thousands of dollars - you can hold a person personelly liable on something like this ---

Our By-Laws have nothing about pets, in fact the word pet or animal, bird, etc. are not mentioned in By Laws at all. But, the Board did put, "No pets allowed" in the Rules and Regulations. No amendment has ever been made to add a pet position in the By Laws. I believe that to make such a change in the association's living arrangements that there must be an amendment. Am I wrong?

you better check with a few agencies on this- The ADA laws in this country will trump you and the state laws will trump you and the city and attorneys also will trump you CCR- it's better to come to a agreement outside on a court house steps. The minute you step before a judge on a issue like this, the meter will be ringing up into the thousands - though I do understand your docs and CCR may read thsi way, to move forward and not at a stand still from yesterday, issues and items do change as science changes day by day- Good luck on your quest--