Court Awards Homeowner Punitive Damages After Association Denies Owner’s Request for an Accommodation from Association’s “No Pets” Policy

This case involved a dispute between a homeowners association (“Association”) and a homeowner (“Owner”) over Owner’s right to have an accommodation from Association’s “no pets” policy in order to retain her pet Chihuahua that she contended was needed to enable Owner to cope with her severe emotional and mental distress.

Owner had lived within the community governed by Association for nearly five years before she acquired the Chihuahua in 2009 after the loss of six people who were close to her, including an immediate family member, in an approximately six-month period. Following these unfortunate occurrences[…]