{"id":2978,"date":"2021-02-22T17:56:21","date_gmt":"2021-02-22T21:56:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/propertyonion.com\/education\/?p=2978"},"modified":"2021-02-24T18:05:15","modified_gmt":"2021-02-24T22:05:15","slug":"condo-board-sues-poor-old-lady-for-feeding-her-cats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/propertyonion.com\/education\/condo-board-sues-poor-old-lady-for-feeding-her-cats\/","title":{"rendered":"Condo Board Sues Poor Old Lady for Feeding her Cats!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Cat Lady in Condo Quandary!<\/p>\n<p>A 78-year-old woman in Tampa had a lawsuit filed against her earlier this month for feeding a stray cat in the common areas of the Tampa Racquet Club Condominium.<\/p>\n<p>Joan P. Hussey is accused of breaking the condo rules by feeding and attracting \u201cstray cats\/animals\u201d in the building where she lives.<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_82_2 ez-toc-wrap-left counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">In this Article:<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/propertyonion.com\/education\/condo-board-sues-poor-old-lady-for-feeding-her-cats\/#The_Cats_Out_of_the_Bag\" >The Cat\u2019s Out of the Bag<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/propertyonion.com\/education\/condo-board-sues-poor-old-lady-for-feeding-her-cats\/#How_Should_You_Handle_Such_a_Hairy_Situation\" >How Should You Handle Such a Hairy Situation?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/propertyonion.com\/education\/condo-board-sues-poor-old-lady-for-feeding-her-cats\/#Compromise_Is_the_Answer\" >Compromise Is the Answer<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_Cats_Out_of_the_Bag\"><\/span>The Cat\u2019s Out of the Bag<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The lawsuit claims that \u201cthe continued presence of the stray cats may also induce unwanted health issues to those surrounding neighbors and\/or tenants and could cause unwarranted damage to the Association\u2019s common elements.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It doesn\u2019t specify how many cats Hussey is feeding. Still, Hussey told the Tampa Bay Times that she only feeds one black-and-white cat which she calls Cleo. She added that she puts a bowl of dry cat food under her car parked in a covered parking space. Once Cleo is finished, Hussey picks up the bowl.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The condo association says that Hussey has continued to feed stray cats even after numerous attempts at asking her to stop this practice.<\/strong> This is not their first legal action against her. Last year, the <a href=\"https:\/\/propertyonion.com\/education\/can-hoa-condo-associations-legally-do-that\/\" target=\"_blank\">condo association<\/a> took its case to the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation for arbitration, which is a process you can use before a condo dispute goes to court.<\/p>\n<p>Hussey did not respond to the petition. She later stated that she did not understand all the \u201clegal jargon\u201d when she received the paper. An order was issued for her to stop feeding the cats located at the property. Hussey didn\u2019t respond.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201cI\u2019m terribly surprised, I\u2019ve had cats all my life, and I do it respectfully,\u201d she states. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>According to the association\u2019s attorney, Stanford Rowe, the board\u2019s position is that Hussey must comply with the order. Hussey\u2019s response: \u201cI go to bed at night, and I can\u2019t sleep thinking about this thing.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_Should_You_Handle_Such_a_Hairy_Situation\"><\/span>How Should You Handle Such a Hairy Situation?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Enforcing community covenants is ultimately the responsibility of the HOA board, and pet restrictions are no exception.&nbsp;If a member refuses to comply after being notified of a violation, <strong>the board can impose a fine or take legal action<\/strong>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Some communities do have property rules about feeding stray animals with wording such as &#8220;FEEDING ANIMALS OUTSIDE.&nbsp;Tenant agrees to refrain from feeding stray animals and from leaving food outside for animals, as this can attract stray pets, wild animals, and insects to the property. Bird feeders are allowed but should be at a sufficient distance as to lessen the chances of bird droppings falling on personal property.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Saveacat.org states the following guidelines on their website:<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<strong>If you are feeding feral cats in your neighborhood, make sure that you understand and are up-to-date on the laws in your area. <\/strong>This can help protect you and the cats by keeping you informed and making sure you have any needed documentation (medical records, etc.). If the laws in your area prohibit you from caring for feral cats, you should contact your government officials and urge them to modify their outdated laws. Ask them to make exemptions in existing laws for feral cats and feral cat caregivers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The American Bar Association supports this viewpoint and states, \u201cConsistent interpretation and\/or adoption of laws throughout the country that allow for TNVR programs would provide much-needed guidance to state, local, territorial, and tribal government entities, as well as for private entities and individuals, as they seek to manage community cat populations effectively and humanely.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Compromise_Is_the_Answer\"><\/span>Compromise Is the Answer<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Maybe Ms. Hussey needs to <a href=\"https:\/\/propertyonion.com\/education\/pet-entrance-interviews\/\" target=\"_blank\">adopt a cat<\/a> that she can care for inside her condominium apartment without violating her HOA rules. As the famous psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud stated, <em>\u201cTime spent with cats is never wasted!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cat Lady in Condo Quandary! A 78-year-old woman in Tampa had a lawsuit filed against her earlier this month for feeding a stray cat in the common areas of the Tampa Racquet Club Condominium. Joan&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2981,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[185],"tags":[78,223,71,318,221,69,144,76,219,142],"class_list":["post-2978","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new-article","tag-attorney","tag-cats","tag-condo","tag-condo-association","tag-condo-board","tag-florida","tag-hoa","tag-legal","tag-pets","tag-tampa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/propertyonion.com\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2978","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/propertyonion.com\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/propertyonion.com\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/propertyonion.com\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/propertyonion.com\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2978"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/propertyonion.com\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2978\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3003,"href":"https:\/\/propertyonion.com\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2978\/revisions\/3003"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/propertyonion.com\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2981"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/propertyonion.com\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/propertyonion.com\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/propertyonion.com\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}