Senate bill would force landlords to allow pets
By Gordon Y.K. Pang
Advertiser Capitol Bureau
Alice Johnson owns her own home, where her cat Missy can roam free in the yard.
Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser
But she recalls when she lived in a Waikiki condominium complex that didn't allow pets, and was forced to lie about having a cat.
Alice Johnson, 86, who moved out of a condo where she had to lie about her companion, Missy, is among the O'ahu pet owners who support a bill in the Senate that would force landlords to allow pets.
It was only a few months before she moved to a house. "I wasn't very happy about that," the 86-year-old widow, who lives alone, said of the ban. "When you can't have a pet, that isn't very good. I think senior citizens need pets."
A majority of O'ahu households have pets. Johnson said she supports Senate Bill 2675, which would force landlords to allow pets.
The bill, which has moved out of the Senate Human Services Committee and now goes to the Judiciary Committee, has won support from the Animal CARE Foundation, Hawaiian Humane Society and other animal advocates, but drawn strong opposition from the Hawai'i Association of Realtors and others.
Supporters say pet owners face discrimination and have a difficult time finding housing. Opponents say landlords should not be forced into a situation that could diminish the value of their properties if pet owners are irresponsible.
Cynthia Keolanui, community outreach manager for the Hawaiian Humane Society, said 56 percent of O'ahu households have a pet. The non-profit organization has a Web site dedicated to identifying "pet-friendly" condominium and apartment complexes.
She said the top reason pets are brought to the humane society is that families move into housing where pets are banned.
Supporters point to the positive aspects of having pets.
"Research from social and medical sciences confirms that companion animals can and do meaningfully improve a person's health and happiness," Keolanui said. "A pet's companionship can provide meaning and a sense of connection to life for the isolated and elderly."
Ira Keisman, who purchased a unit at the Hawai'i Kai Retirement Center, said he has had dogs and cats all his life, and "it would be devastating living alone without a pet." Keisman, 76, a psychologist, says pet ownership is therapeutic. "I think it's more important the older you get."
Makiki resident Kelly Nitahara said she and her husband were forced to leave her maltese dog with her parents in California because her condominium does not allow pets. "We really can't afford to live anywhere else," Nitahara said.
Pets not for everyone
The issue is divisive. Not even pet owners support the legislation unanimously.
Alex and Marlene Preiss fought with their condominium association for five years to have pets allowed in their unit but said they don't believe the law should require that.
They developed a set of pet rules to satisfy association members, including a deposit for pets and fines for different violations.
"We always had the choice of leaving and moving to another place," Alex Preiss said. "If I have a building full of people who don't like pets, why should that be forced upon them? When you come in and try to legislate, that's when there's a problem."
Said Marlene Preiss: "People have as much of a right to not like animals as they do to like them."
William Ramsey, legislative committee vice chairman for the Hawaii Association of Realtors, said the bill would create a new protected class of individuals.
"The idea of protective classes is to protect those individuals who have a situation that they have no control over," such as one's disability, age or gender, Ramsey said.
"But with pets, you have a choice as to whether you want to go down to the pet store and buy a pet."
He noted that guide dogs for the blind and service animals recommended by doctors for emotional help are allowed, regardless of no-pet clauses.
Question of fairness
Ramsey said the Realtors association takes issue with potentially exposing homeowners to irresponsible pet owners in their rented properties.
"If you rent to an irresponsible pet owner, it is a very good possibility that you are going to have a unit that is not as desirable to rent afterwards," he said.
The latest version of the bill also poses a fairness question, he said. Introduced originally to prohibit discrimination against pet owners in all real estate transactions, the committee draft applies only to rental units.
Ramsey said it doesn't make sense for a renter in a condominium to be allowed to own a pet when owner-occupants may not be allowed to have pets under association rules.
Frank De Giacomo, a supporter of the bill and vice president of the Animal CARE Foundation, said there should be no distinction between animals that are trained and those that are not. "We should treat them all the same," he said.
De Giacomo, whose group spoke with Human Services Chairman Suzanne Chun-Oakland, D-13th (Kalihi, Nu'uanu) about introducing the bill, said he would like to see a ban on no-pet rules apply to all residential properties, not just rentals.
He noted that military and federal low-income housing allow pets.
Reach Gordon Y.K. Pang at gpang@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 525-8070.
