Enforcing a no-animals policy, it turns out, is no simple matter. In recent years, a growing number of co-op shareholders and condo unit-owners have asserted their right to have a service or support animal in their apartment as an accommodation for a physical and/or mental disability – even in buildings that prohibit animals. When the board refuses to allow the animal to be present, the resident may bring legal proceedings alleging that the refusal violates the board’s obligation to provide reasonable accommodations to residents with disabilities under federal, state, and/or city civil rights and human rights laws. In several high-profile cases, governmental authorities have also brought lawsuits on behalf of people whose requests for a service dog were refused, sometimes resulting in substantial settlements.   Read the article………………………