NYC Seniors and Pets May Benefit from Proposed Bill

by Patricia Collier

New York City pet lovers got some heavy-duty celebrity support recently. At a public hearing December 9, Rue McClanahan of "The Golden Girls" showed up in city council chambers to throw in her support for a proposed bill which would make it harder for landlords to evict older tenants just because they have a pet.

The bill is being sponsored by Councilwoman Melinda Katz of Forest Hills and supported by Councilwoman Gale A. Brewer of Manhattan.

The proposed legislation would limit the ability of landlords to evict tenants age 62 or older from apartment buildings if the units are privately owned and serve more than two families, despite any no-pet clause in the lease.

The new legislation could also bar landlords from turning down rental applications from seniors just because they have a pet.

"All too many tenants are alone because they are afraid to get a new pet for fear of evictions," testified Elinor Molbegott, legal counsel of the Humane Society of New York.

Not everyone is as enthusiastic as McClanahan and others who rallied with her at the hearing. Some people feel the proposed new rules would trample on the rights of New Yorkers to determine the rules in their own buildings.

"A cooperative is a private entity and the shareholders are also the tenants, and as such, we make house rules that are geared for our local community," said Jordi Reyes-Montblanc, president of HDFC Council, a group of low-income co-ops.

Currently, the law allows 90 days for landlords to object to a pet. But things get a bit vague when a pet dies and the owner wishes to get another animal. The proposed law would apply to the duration of the tenant's residency and would include any new pet.

Supporters said the portion in the new law which forbids elderly residents from being refused or evicted from a housing situation because they have a pet is particularly important.

Landlords, they said, are sometimes too anxious to get rid of older tenants in rent-regulated or rent-controlled units.

Mary Max, an animal-welfare advocate, has been instrumental in giving voice to the proposed legislation. Max has gathered more than 9,000 signatures across the city with her campaign called "Your Apartment or Your Pet."

Max said she's also received some negative response to the idea.

"The reception I've gotten has been overwhelmingly enthusiastic," she said. "But there was one area of town, around Tudor City, where I did encounter some people who - let me just be blunt - if they had a machine gun, they would shoot any companion animal. The people were just: 'I don't want them around. They're dirty. I hate them.' "

But Max and many others feel the city might become a better place, if pets were allowed to freely be part of the residents' lives.

"It's a hard city to live in," Councilwoman Brewer said after the public hearing. "Some of us need children for companionship. Some of us need pets."

© 2003 Animal News Center, Inc.