On December 1, 2005 and December 2, 2005, I wrote articles about comfort animals. At that time, I noted that the 9th Circuit was likely to rule whether a comfort animal must be specially trained to ameliorate a disability. The Hawaii Federal District court ruled in Prindable v. AOAO 2987 Kalakaua, 304 F.Supp. 1245, 2003 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 23744 (D. Haw. 2003) that in order for an animal to be covered by the reasonable accommodation provisions of the Fair Housing Acts, the animal must be individually trained to ameliorate the effects of the disability. While on appeal, the owners’ unit was foreclosed upon for failure to pay maintenance fees. The owners of the unit had been permitted to keep the animal temporarily until they were removed the unit after the foreclosure. The 9th Circuit Court ruled in Dubois v. Association of Apartment Owners of 2987 Kalakaua that because the owners had never been prevented from having the animal, there was no valid claim of a Fair Housing violation. Although the Hawaii District Court decision was affirmed, the 9th Circuit did not address the issue of an association’s obligations with respect to comfort animals. At this point, the law in Hawaii appears to be the District Court’s decision that a comfort animal must be specially trained to ameliorate a disability.

Note: Due to this recent decision, the planned posting on the applicability of the Recodification to existing condominiums will be delayed a short time.