Three years ago, I moved into my girlfriend's apartment with two good dogs. We rent, but it's a co-op building with 5 units.
About a year in, our crazy neighbor tried to get us kicked out because of the dogs. The NYC Pet Law saved us. But this neighbor then persuaded the board (which he is on) to impose a pet "surcharge" on our landlord of $250 a month -- supposedly for "wear and tear" by the dogs. She raised our rent by that amount (my girlfriend had a lease at one point, but it expired long ago).
We have been paying the extra rent. But it seems excessive, and punitive, and not in the "spirit" of the Pet Law. (For example, what if the "surcharge" was $1000 a month?)
So my question is: Is it legal for the building to impose an arbitrarily high "pet fee," out of the blue? especially after the pets have already been in the building?
I'd appreciate anyone's good advice on this...