Help with cat in leasehold flat - Director with passive/aggressive behaviour

Luisaandhercat

Hi, I hope people with experience with these issues can help me with this matter.

My partner and I bought a flat 4 months ago and moved in with our lovely 1-year-old cat. Everything was going well and the neighbours are all lovely but for one of the Directors, who lives in our building and exhibits some passive/aggressive behaviour (e.g. power/control).

A few weeks ago, during a group conversation on the residents' WhatsApp chat about the snowy weather, my partner mentioned our cat was enjoying seeing the snow from the first time through the window. A couple of weeks later we received a letter from the Managing company saying it had been reported we had a cat in our home.

We were shocked as we never thought that could be an issue (we both come from countries where having a cat as a homeowner is not a problem; and although we read the lease, we weren't expecting to see anything important regarding pets so we did loosely: lesson learnt). That was our mistake and upon receipt of the letter, we re-read the lease carefully, which states: "Not to keep any animal on the Property without the prior written consent of the Company or the Management Company".

However, this passive-aggressive Director said that: "the lease clearly says pets are not allowed", to which another Director replied: "It does not say that, but they need to ask for permission". We then replied to the Managing company, admitted having our cat in our home, apologised for the breach of procedure and asked to please advise on how to seek retrospective consent. We explained we truly never thought that could be a problem and never hid the fact that we had a cat, as we live in a ground floor flat with 10 windows, so the blinds are always opened and we even posted about our cat on the chat.

More important, we explained that the cat is a necessity for my fiancee's chronic lung condition, which was diagnosed 5 years ago and can be triggered by stress, etc. During the early part of the lockdown, my fiancee was off sick for 2 months with anxiety due to the new restrictions and being classed as an extremely vulnerable person and forced to shield under Governments' guidelines. As my fiancee and I have no other family in the UK and with me working as an essential worker, she was left at home alone on a daily basis. Hence, I looked at various options to assist with her healing process and that's when I got her the cat, which has greatly improved her emotional wellbeing. To date her health remained stable; however, upon receipt of the notification on this matter and a response from the Managing company 3 days ago denying our request and simply stating the cat needs to go, my fiancee has again fallen ill, unable to do her work properly and she is now off sick with anxiety and a persistent cough.

We feel the decision is biased and unfair based on various facts. Firstly, the same Director that reported our cat is the one that gets to decide (with the others) whether the cat stays or not. Secondly, we understand that having an indoor microchipped vaccinated kitten residing in our household bears no nuisance to anybody in our apartment block. Thirdly, we see around a dozen dogs with their owners from our ground floor windows daily; indoor cats in various windowsills; and other cats strolling freely outside. Additionally, we have never complained about a visitor who comes every Saturday to our building with 2 lovely but very loud dogs. When we see all these pets in our Estate, we are trying to be empathic and compassionate neighbours who understand that pets are as important as any family member for their owners under any circumstance; and even more so during a global pandemic. 

We have now replied asking for an explanation on the decision-making process and reasonable grounds for denial. We have said we hope they will reconsider their decision, as  alternatively, as a last resort I shall be compelled to seek legal guidance on this matter. However, in the meantime, my fiancee is anxious about the matter and the whole situation seems unfair. I will be grateful for any advice on this matter. Thank you very much.

seradane

Have you actually had a response to your request yet or are you just assuming they will refuse?

Tiglet2

"Not to keep any animal on the Property without the prior written consent of the Company or the Management Company".
The Management Company should act reasonably to your request and not withhold consent unnecessarily.  Obviously you should have sought prior consent from them (would incur a fee), but a cat is not a nuisance in a block of flats and doesn't usually cause a disturbance which might result in complaints from the neighbours.  I would have thought retrospective consent would be given in these circumstances.  Have a look at the Management Company papers, which you would have received as part of your purchase of the property, and see what the procedure is for obtaining retrospective consent for your cat and then make an application for the consent.

Really hope it works out for you both.  Cat lover here.

Racky_Roo

Wait for the outcome before panicking.
However, you need to acknowledge you are in the wrong.  You didn't read the lease, you then broke the lease, so I wouldn't be getting the residents backs up by moaning about other residents visitors and pets. For all you know, they have applied for permission and it was granted.

Soot2006

From the OP

a response from the Managing company 3 days ago denying our request and simply stating the cat needs to go

deannagone

I dislike 'passive aggressive' labels.  They can be used quite judgementally.  The director could just be a stickler for following the rules, which without any ill intent, you haven't followed.  I hope this will be resolved.., but it might be helpful if you stopped 'girding your loins' in advance of needing to
. I'm afraid it could be a case of pot kettle black here lol.  I mean this nicely, just trying to get you on the most successful path to getting what you want.

AdrianC

Luisaandhercat said:

the lease ... states: "Not to keep any animal on the Property without the prior written consent of the Company or the Management Company".

A very common clause. It's a pity you didn't read it before getting the cat - or, ideally, before buying the flat if you intended to get a pet...

We then replied to the Managing company, admitted having our cat in our home, apologised for the breach of procedure and asked to please advise on how to seek retrospective consent.
...

however, upon receipt of the notification on this matter and a response from the Managing company 3 days ago denying our request and simply stating the cat needs to go

Unfortunately, that's simply a fact of life living in a leasehold flat with a lease that requires permission.
The lease says you need permission. You asked permission. Permission was not granted. Keeping the cat is in breach of your lease.

There's often something about permission not being unreasonably withheld, but it may be perfectly reasonable to refuse permission if there have previously been issues around pets in the building.

More important, we explained that the cat is a necessity for my fiancee's chronic lung condition, which was diagnosed 5 years ago and can be triggered by stress, etc.

Do you have any documentary medical evidence of that "necessity"? A letter from her GP?

We feel the decision is biased and unfair based on various facts. Firstly, the same Director that reported our cat is the one that gets to decide (with the others) whether the cat stays or not.

And...?

Thirdly, we see around a dozen dogs with their owners from our ground floor windows daily; indoor cats in various windowsills; and other cats strolling freely outside.

But they don't belong to people living in your building, right...?

We have now replied asking for an explanation on the decision-making process and reasonable grounds for denial.

Of course you can ask for that. But they do not have to provide it, and you do not have to agree with it...

as a last resort I shall be compelled to seek legal guidance on this matter.

You cannot compel the management to grant permission to keep a pet.
You may be able to persuade them to reconsider their decision, but that doesn't mean they can't come to the same answer.

Does anybody living in your building have permission to keep a pet?

princeofpounds

Sorry that you find yourself in this situation, but a few home truths to cover first:

- You knew about the clause, you chose to break it. The situation you have found yourself in is your fault, not that of the Director. Even if she is behaving unreasonably in some respects, she didn't plant the seed of the conflict.

- Your partner's health situation is unfortunate, but let's be honest, a cat is not a medical necessity for a chronic lung condition. That's not to deny that it does help, but this isn't California, where people take therapy iguanas on planes or whatever. Overdoing it on this point doesn't help as much as you think it does.

I'm a pet owner myself, so I hope you do get to keep your cat. OK, with that said, what are the ways ahead?

- You do not need to remove the animal at this stage. What their decision does, potentially, is put you in breach of your lease. If they like, they can take you to court to seek a remedy. The next step would be a lawyer's letter, then initiation of proceedings. Those proceedings are likely to mean an order to remove the animal, and potentially considerable court costs. It is quite possible that the management company never progresses to initiating proceedings, viewing it as a waste of time for something trivial. In that case, nothing more happens. If you receive a letter, it's around that time that you probably need to make a decision on what to do, including whether to get legal advice to assess your chances of fighting a case.

- What is the exact set-up of the freehold in your block? Given that you have multiple Directors on-site, it sounds like it would be a share-of-freehold block, where each leaseholder (but possibly not all) has a share in the freehold company. 

If that is the case, then you should contact the Directors, who effectively run the management company, individually. Find out if they agree with the decision or not. If you find any are sympathetic, you should lobby them to reverse the decision. It is possible that this one Director has made a unilateral decision (the fact that she is also probably the complainant does not matter) and instructed the refusal to be sent, when in fact the Board of Directors as a whole may not support that decision.

If the Directors are supportive of the refusal, then you need to consider whether you can remove some or all of them as Directors. To do this, you would need support from a large portion of the leaseholders. A good place to start would be the other leaseholders who appear to have pets in their flats; point out to them that they are next, if this Director gets her way. With enough support, you could force an EGM and a Director election, and install some friendlier Directors. But all this depends on the specific situation regarding the ownership of the flats and the freehold. Please clarify it.

- Can this be fought in court? Potentially, but I would think it is a high-risk strategy. Freeholders are not supposed to withhold permission unreasonably, but reasons for withholding permission are allowed to be relatively trivial as long as they are genuinely valid and consistently upheld. So no-one could reasonably object to a stick insect in a small tank, for example (indeed there have been cases about that point in the European Courts!), but a dog that barks can clearly be a nuisance. A indoor cat is somewhere in between. Possibly at this point the medical grounds could be considered, if you can get a doctor to write supportive evidence. The other main ground you might have is the apparent tolerance of other, more potentially disruptive animals in the building. But you will need to provide real evidence that they are there, and, even better, if they are owned by some of the Directors or have been given permission.

But this is where you get to the point where you may want actual legal advice. 

greatcrested

You bought the lease to a flat without properly reading the lease you were buying. Considering you probably paid several hundred thousand pounds for the lease, that was.... unwise.

The lease says clearly you need permission for a pet. You moved a cat in without seeking permission.

Breaching the terms of your lease is .... inadvisable.

Breaching the terms of a lease can in extreme cases lead to forfeiting the lease. Not, you'll be pleased to learn, in a case like this, but I mention it to show that lease terms are serious. They are there for a reason.

You can certainly ask for an explanation for the refusal, which might or might not be forthcoming. It could simply be the result of previous bad experiences, or complaints by other leaseholders - smell? fleas? Noise? Faeces?. (Yeah yeah! You know and I know that your cat does not smell, maiow or have fleas, and always uses  a litter tray, but other leaseholders don't know that..)

You can also of course seek legal advice, and/or take legal action. This is likely to be costly, and highly uncertain in outcome- but it is your right to try.

Ditzy_Mitzy

One more thing to consider: you live there and, having just bought, will need to continue living there for the foreseeable.  It's not the best idea, when living in a flat in the same building as other flats, to make a mess on one's own doorstep.  Attempting to pit the various members of the board of directors against each other might well do just that.  By all means pursue the matter, but exercise caution and be prepared to back down and ditch the cat if push comes to shove.  Hostile neighbours can make life unpleasant, to say the least.

Splatfoot

What  can they do if you don't comply?