Illegal Pet Fee?

[bgifford]

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...

[lofter1]

You'd have to check the rules of the co-op that are specified in your girlfriend's co-op contract.

Often co-op boards have the leeway to impose charges as they see fit for the general good of the co-op.

However I agree that this one seems onerous and punitive -- and might violate the pet law. But fighting the board the could be very expensive, and without some legal precedent to back up the pet owner's position there's no surety that the pet owner would win in the end.

[TenantNet]

Except ... the relationship between the board and the unit owner is one thing, and the relationship between the tenant and the unit owner is something else. Nothing says the owner must pass on a cost to the tenant. The anti-retaliatory law might play into this. Look at the Real Property Law for that.