No, not everyone in Aspen is stupid. But this kind of a story is a national embarrassment and every rich person in this glittery ski town should be down the necks of the idiots who are allowing this to continue.
I’ve written about this service dog dispute before. The board of the Aspen View Condominiums on Midland Avenue has spent months harassing the owner of a condo because he rented it to a woman who has a service dog to help her deal with her epilepsy. After months of the most incredible nastiness toward this woman, she moved out.
But Aspen View bullies wouldn’t quit. They began assessing fines against the condo owner and have liened his home.
If you want to sleep tonight, do not read the Aspen Times story linked below. If, however, you want to see how low and morally degraded some HOAs get, then have at it. And think about sending a note to this disgraceful board.
(The Aspen Times makes you answer a question before the text appears. Just click a box and you’ll be able to read it.)
(link to story on service dog flap)
“Since HOAs are very local and small, participants are often neighbors and hence have incentive to settle disagreements in a civil manner.”
– The Independence Institute ( which describes itself as “Colorado’s Free Market Think Tank” ). “Free Market Alternatives To Zoning”. February 28, 2009.
This is another one of those things you might want to ask Jon Caldara about the next time you see him.
( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ya0px16jYoY ).
I understand that passing off ordinary pet dogs as service dogs is a problem, but the ADA is pretty specific about service animals in business: you can ask if the animal is a service animal and you can ask what it is trained to do for you. That is all. If the animal is out of control or a nuisance that is one thing, but HOAs have no right to question the legitimacy of just having a service animal. If the person says it’s a service animal it is.