Council Considers Pets in Housing Bill

By Elinor Molbegott

Amidst barks and meows, Councilmember Stanley Michels announced at a press conference on Sept. 30 on the steps of City Hall that he will introduce legislation to protect tenants with pets.

The bill, Intro 1056, has two basic provisions. One would bar evicting senior citizens from a multiple dwelling or denying them occupancy in one on the sole ground that they have pets. The other would clarify the city’s existing pets-in-housing law. Under current law, a no-pet clause in a tenant’s lease is waived if they openly harbor pets and the landlords fail to enforce the clause within three months from the date they find out. Under the Michels bill, the no-pet provision would be waived for the duration of a tenant’s occupancy, not just for the lifetime of any particular pet.

“We need to reinforce the protections granted to pet owners throughout the city when the Council passed the current law in 1983,” said Michels (D-Manhattan). “As a result of a recent court decision, tenants with pets are in a state of flux, fearful they may face eviction if they get a new pet, especially after the death of one that was allowed under current law. This bill is necessary to avoid undue hardship for these tenants as well as to establish a clear right for senior citizens to have pets.”

Tenants whose pets cause damage, create a nuisance, or interfere with the health, safety or welfare of other occupants are not protected. Like the current law, the Michels bill would not apply to the New York City Housing Authority, which is governed by the Public Housing Law.

In 1983, Congress outlawed discrimination against tenants or prospective tenants with “common household pets” in federally assisted rental housing for the elderly or handicapped. Essentially, Intro 1056 extends the protection afforded to seniors under that federal law to those seniors who live in multiple dwellings in New York City.

But in 1996, in the case of Park Holding Company v. Emicke, a state appeals court ruled that landlords could enforce a no-pets clause against a tenant’s new pet. The tenants had kept a dog in their apartment since 1987. After that dog died, they acquired another one. The Appellate Term First Department held that the no-pet clause was only waived for the original dog, and that the landlord had an additional three-month period to enforce the no-pet clause against the second dog.

The city’s current pets-in-housing law clearly states that the no-pet provision shall be waived if the landlord does not act to enforce it within three months. There is no provision in the law for the revival of the no-pet clause once it is waived. As the Park v. Emicke decision is inconsistent with other cases on this same issue, it is causing confusion for tenants and their attorneys. More importantly, this decision has paved the way for landlords to use no-pet clauses as an excuse to evict tenants—not because of concern about the pets, but to co-op a rental apartment, raise rents, or retaliate against particular tenants.

Numerous studies demonstrate the importance of pets in the lives of many people, particularly senior citizens. According to these studies, senior citizens with pets are less likely to suffer from depression and are more likely to be in better physical health. Apparently, talking to dogs can even lower blood pressure. Interaction with pets may reduce a sense of loneliness and result in improved health and well-being.

According to Joseph Breed, executive director of St. Margaret’s House, federally assisted rental housing for the elderly and handicapped, there have been no significant problems there since pets have been allowed. In fact, Breed, who attended the September 30 press conference to show support for the Michels legislation, said that pets have enhanced the lives of people in St. Margaret’s House.

Animals will also benefit greatly if Intro 1056 is enacted, says Virginia Chipurnoi, president of the Humane Society of New York. The bill “will likely save the lives of many animals, because people threatened with eviction for having a pet frequently turn their pets over to already overburdened animal shelters. Approximately 40,000 homeless animals are euthanized each year at city-funded shelters. Countless lives would be saved if people could keep their pets with them or were able to adopt a pet to keep in their apartments in New York City.”

The bill is cosponsored by Councilmembers Kathryn Freed (D-Manhattan) and Sheldon Leffler (D-Queens) and is supported by tenants’ groups, including Met Council.

To support Intro 1056, write to Council Speaker Peter Vallone; Archie Spigner, Chairman of the Housing and Buildings Committee; and committee members Enoch Williams, Martin Malave- Dilan, Guillermo Linares, Helen Marshall, Antonio Pagan, David Rosado, and Thomas Ognibene, at City Hall, New York, NY 10007.

Elinor Molbegott is legal counsel to the Humane Society of New York.