Woman Ordered to Give Up Therapy Dog, O.C. Landlord Reach Settlement

After drugs fell short in helping their patient cope with emotional and mental problems, the three doctors prescribed another therapy for the woman.

They suggested she get a dog.

So the 52-year-old woman brought Lady, a poodle, into her Anaheim apartment building, which had a ban on dogs.

When the landlord complained about Lady, the woman reluctantly took her to a kennel. And then, the woman carved the dog’s name into her arm and attempted suicide.

While at the kennel, the ailing Lady died.

This week, the woman and her husband reached a tentative $185,000 settlement with their landlord, after the couple’s lawyers argued that the federal Fair Housing Act entitled her to a dog, regardless of the apartment building’s pet prohibition.

“The law has long allowed people with disabilities to have an animal,” said John Ward, the attorney representing Howard Cole and his wife. The law requires landlords to make “reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities. That includes making an exception to a no-pet rule.”

The landlord, L’Abri Property Management of Cypress, entered into mediation with the Coles because its insurance company chose to settle the matter, said L’Abri attorney Steve Soltman.

“There is no admission of liability or wrongdoing in the settlement agreement,” said Soltman.

However, he said, the insurance company’s representatives believed that if the matter went to trial, the woman would be “a very sympathetic witness.”

The settlement is awaiting the landlord’s signature, Soltman said.

Cole asked The Times to withhold his wife’s first name so that she could avoid embarrassment and possible employment problems.

Connie Der Torossian, community relations director for the Fair Housing Council of Orange County, said her review of recent disability housing settlements involving companion animals in California showed none greater than this one.

“We see this as a big victory,” she said. “Typically, [landlords] will help people with physical disabilities. When they can’t see the disability, they are less likely to do something.”

Frances Espinoza, executive director of the Housing Rights Center in Los Angeles, said she also believed the settlement was the highest involving companion animals in the state’s history. A recent $155,000 settlement in a similar case handled by her office was, until now, the highest ever, she said.

The Anaheim case “is a great victory for people with disability. We see these cases all the time,” Espinoza said. “Landlords don’t know the law. They are unaware there are federal protections for people with disabilities.”

Cole said a provision in the settlement barred him from speaking about it. The Coles have since acquired another dog.

The Coles, who moved into the two-bedroom apartment in 1999, got the dog in 2001 after doctors prescribed a companion animal for her emotional support, said Joel Ibanez, investigator for the Fair Housing Council of Orange County.

But their landlord told her in 2002 that the dog violated a no-pet policy, even though other tenants had pets, Der Torossian said.

The woman was told to get rid of her poodle or find a new apartment, Der Torossian said.

The Coles complained to the Fair Housing Council, which took their case to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on their behalf.

The settlement, reached Monday, comes nearly a year after the Coles filed suit in Orange County Superior Court, Ward said.

“Just telling her she couldn’t have the dog caused so many other problems,” said Ibanez. “Hopefully, this is a bit of justice for her.”