Owners' Rights

May 17th, 2007

I want to thank Lawrence Goodman for his nice article about me and my organization, Citizens for Pets in Condos Inc. (“Getting Her Fur Up,” The Classes, March/April). I have a few corrections to make.  Unfortunately, the article did not include my full name, so classmates who did not see Waldner might not recognize me after so many years, even though my first name is unusual.

Also, Mr. Goodman said my campaign is to help seniors and that we aim “to get legislation passed similar to a 2001 California statute that gives tenants in condos and co-ops the right to keep at least one pet in a unit.” First, a condominium is a form of housing ownership. According to Merriam-Webster, condominium means individual ownership of a unit in a multiunit structure (as an apartment building) or on land owned in common (as a townhouse complex); also a) unit so owned, b) a building containing condominiums.

The issue that we are fighting for is to allow homeowners in association-run housing to be able to have pets. Our petition (via www.petsincondos.org) is for people of all ages, not just seniors. Just because most of the no-pet deed restrictions occur in fifty-five-plus housing, this lifestyle-limiting restriction is not found only in senior communities.

Maida Waldner Genser ’64

Tamarac, Fla.

maidawg@comcast.net

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Related Issue
May / June 2007