Condo Owner Dogged by $1,600 in Fines for Walking Her Pooch

Every time Pamela McMahan takes her mixed-breed cocker spaniel through the lobby of her ocean-view condo to go for a walk, it costs her $25.

That’s because her Long Beach condominium association said she is violating the rules by allowing Ginger to walk through the lobby rather than be carried.

But McMahan, 61, who gets around with a cane since a back injury left her partially disabled 10 years ago, said she cannot lift the 20-pound pooch.

“Can you believe it?” McMahan asked Wednesday. “It’s so ridiculous.”

So far, McMahan has racked up $1,600 in fines for violating an association rule that bans loose dogs from common areas, even if they’re on a leash. She is charged $25 when she leaves the building and another $25 when she returns. So far, she’s paid $600 of the fine but doesn’t want to pay any more, she said.

Property manager David Dickter said the association is simply enforcing a long-standing rule designed to protect residents from unruly dogs.

“A lot of elderly people live in the building, and a dog can jump up on them and they can get tangled in the leash,” he said.

Dickter said the other dog owners in the building either use the alley exit or carry their pet outside. Nearby condo towers on Ocean Boulevard have similar rules, he added.

“The rule was in effect before she moved in,” Dickter said.

This is far from the first time homeowner associations have clashed with residents who own pets. Many associations ban pets altogether. And some that allow them have strict rules about where they can be and even how much they can weigh.

In one celebrated case, a Newport Beach condo association moved to enforce a rule limiting the weight of dogs in the complex to 35 pounds or less. That prompted a legal fight involving owners of a 48-pound Labrador retriever and 100-pound Airedale. A third dog was placed on a diet to meet the weight requirement.

McMahan said she hopes her dispute can be settled without much rancor.

She has owned her condominium in the International Towers since 1994 but moved in only three years ago. She said she suffered nerve damage during back surgery and cannot lift more than 5 pounds.

Other than carry Ginger through the lobby, McMahan could go down to the basement parking garage and exit through a dead-end alley. But she said homeless people congregate there, and she’s anxious about using that route.

McMahan’s appeal of the homeowners’ association no-walk rule was denied. Now she says, she will take her complaint to the state Department of Fair Employment and Housing.