Homeowners’ Association Had Power to Direct Property Owners to Remove Chickens

The Fourth Department, over a two-justice dissent, determined the plaintiff homeowners’ association acted properly when it directed defendants to remove two chickens from their property.  The “Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions…” gave the board “the absolute power to prohibit a pet from being kept on the Properties…”:

“It is well settled that, [s]o long as the [B]oard [of directors of a homeowners’ association] acts for the purposes of the [homeowners’ association], within the scope of its authority and in good faith, courts will not substitute their judgment for [that of] the [B]oard[ ]’ ” … . The Declaration provides that plaintiff’s Board “shall have the absolute power to prohibit a pet from being kept on the Properties, including inside residences constructed thereon.” Here, plaintiff established that its Board was acting for the purposes of the homeowners’ association and within the scope of its authority when it directed defendants to remove the chickens from the property. In addition, there is no evidence that defendants were ” deliberately single[d] out . . . for harmful treatment’ ” inasmuch as no other residents of the subdivision had chickens or were in violation of the applicable restrictive covenant …, and defendants otherwise ” failed to present evidence of bad faith . . . or other misconduct’ ” … . Preserve Homeowners’ Assn Inc v Zahn, 2014 NY Slip Op 03047, 4th Dept 5-2-14