The Dog’s Vote, The Fine Print and The Clean Slate — prepared by Edmund Bogen
About half of US homes have a pet: 49.6% in the Census Bureau and HUD’s 2021 American Housing Survey, including 56% of owner households and 38% of renter households. For many of those buyers, sellers and renters, the pet is part of the decision. A home that doesn’t work for the dog, the cat or the building’s rules often gets crossed off, however good it looks online. That is a large group of clients with one specific problem, and an agent who solves it well gives that group a reason to come back and to refer. This session gives you three systems, in order. The Dog’s Vote: a home that fails the dog fails the deal, so ask every buyer and renter the same ten questions about their animals before the first showing, and check each home’s fence, floors and measured distances to the park and the vet. The Fine Print: before your clients fall in love with a condo, find out if their dog is allowed in it, by quoting every pet rule from its own document and page, or writing NOT FOUND and asking in writing. The Clean Slate: the pets leave for the showing, and the truth about the floors stays: known damage is fixed or disclosed, never hidden or edited out. You leave with a 30-day plan for Jan 13 to Feb 12, 2027.
About half of US homes have a pet: 49.6% in the Census Bureau and HUD’s 2021 American Housing Survey, including 56% of owner households and 38% of renter households. For many of those buyers, sellers and renters, the pet is part of the decision. A home that doesn’t work for the dog, the cat or the building’s rules often gets crossed off, however good it looks online. That is a large group of clients with one specific problem, and an agent who solves it well gives that group a reason to come back and to refer.
We will master 3 systems live, together:
1 · The Dog’s Vote — A home that fails the dog fails the deal. Ask before the first showing.
2 · The Fine Print — Before they fall in love with a condo, find out if their dog is allowed in it.
3 · The Clean Slate — The pets leave for the showing. The truth about the floors stays.
Register for the SessionEvery page of the 53-page course study is on this page, in order — the PDF is the same content, formatted to print. Jump to any section:
Three systems, in order: ask what the pets need before the first showing, find out if the dog is allowed before anyone falls in love, and send the pets out for showings while the truth about the floors stays.
| # | Module | The skill it teaches | Pages |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Why pet owners, and what “the dog has a vote” means | Who counts pet homes; how pets shape the search; the money case | 4–8 |
| 2 | The rules | Assistance animals, breed and bite laws, insurance, condo and lease rules, ads, disclosure, calls | 9–17 |
| 3 | System 1: The Dog’s Vote | Ten questions for every client, the home check, the pet column | 18–22 |
| 4 | Search and showings with pets | From the MLS “yes” to the documents; showings; renters | 23–26 |
| 5 | System 2: The Fine Print | One pet-rules page per property, quoted or NOT FOUND | 27–31 |
| 6 | System 3: The Clean Slate | The pets line, showing instructions, odor and wear, photos | 32–36 |
| 7 | Your 30 days | Jan 13 to Feb 12, with three counts | 37–38 |
| ✓ | Assessment and appendices | Answer keys, Fine Print card, prompts, client lines, questions, glossary, sources | 39–52 |
Six exercises sit where each skill is taught. All use invented sample data: Riley Quinn of Sample Realty Group, clients and pets with invented names, Sample Bay Towers and other places with “Sample” in the name. Do them on paper, then check Appendix A, which gives the reasoning, not just the answer.
No earlier book promised this session. Where the library already teaches something, we point to it instead of teaching it twice.
| When you need… | Use this | From the workbook |
|---|---|---|
| The condo document set, “No quote, no flag,” NOT FOUND, and the 7-day review window | The Document Pull; the Scorecard’s “Use restrictions” row | The Condo Due-Diligence Brief (Oct 7, 2026) |
| An HOA-packet prompt that includes pet rules; the tone for telling a buyer about a limit | The HOA-documents prompt | NotebookLM for Realtors (Aug 21, 2026) |
| Quoting a lease or association clause, with its page | The Permission Map | The Airbnb Agent (Oct 21, 2026) |
| A fair-housing scan of listing copy and search notes; what never goes into AI | The Fair Housing Firewall; The Data Line | Keeping AI Compliant (Sep 23, 2026) |
| Is the niche worth it; fair-housing lines; partners without referral fees | The Niche Scorecard; the PERSON row; The Partner Web | Death of the Generalist (Sep 9, 2026) |
| The seller’s written sign-off; a separate, unticked permission box | The Seller’s Yes | Selling to Nosy Neighbors (Dec 16, 2026) |
| A pet business at an open house; no referral pay to unlicensed people | The Sponsor Sort; The House Rules | Pooling Resources (Jan 6, 2027) |
| Florida calls and texts; a renter “with a date” | Lesson 2.7 | Holiday Networking (Dec 2, 2026) |
| MLS rules on altered and virtually staged photos | Lesson 3.6 | AI in 2027 (Nov 25, 2026) |
| Coding showing feedback | CONDITION; PHOTOS DIDN’T MATCH | The Price-Cut Conversation (Oct 14, 2026) |
| Seller intake: who lives in the home and how showings would work | The seller-intake questions | Private, Preview, or Public? (Nov 11, 2026) |
| The renter-to-buyer money talk; the lender owns the numbers | Illustration labels | The Golden Handcuffs Conversation (Nov 18, 2026) |
| The dog-park hour as a local landmark; no recognizable faces | The Landmark Library | Neighborhood Famous (Sep 16, 2026) |
New here: assistance animals after HUD withdrew its guidance in 2025; Florida’s 2023 breed law and who it does not bind; dangerous dogs and bite liability at showings; breed questions in insurance; pet deposits and fees in Florida leases; pet amendments with no statutory grandfather; and disclosure of known, hidden pet damage. Pet owners fit the PERSON row of the Niche Menu in Death of the Generalist (Sep 9, 2026). Run its Niche Scorecard before you claim it.
Keeping AI Compliant (Sep 23, 2026) says HUD confirmed in 2024 that fair-housing rules apply to AI-generated advertising. The HUD guidance behind that line, its Apr 29, 2024 guidance on advertising through digital platforms, was withdrawn effective Sept 17, 2025 (91 FR 17291, Apr 6, 2026). The Fair Housing Act itself still applies to every housing ad (42 U.S.C. 3604(c)).
Older prompts that ask for crime statistics, “walkability after dark” or “who lives here” are replaced by this book’s walkability prompt: distances, sidewalks, park hours and rules (Prompt 2, page 44).
For many buyers, sellers and renters, a home has to work for the animals too. That is the title’s joke, and it is true. Here is what it means, and what it never means.
A buyer with a 60-pound dog cannot use a condo with a 25-pound limit. A renter whose lease bans pets has a problem the day the cat moves in. A seller whose dog barks through every showing has a different one. In each case the animal shapes the decision: the home, the building, the lease, the showing plan. This course calls that the dog’s vote. It covers dogs, cats and other pets; the title names the dog because the dog usually has the strongest opinion about the yard.
| Where the pet shows up | What changes for the client | System |
|---|---|---|
| The search | Yard and fence, floors and stairs, a park and a vet within reach | The Dog’s Vote (Module 3) |
| The rules | Number, weight, breed and species limits in condo, HOA and lease documents; insurance questions about the dog | The Fine Print (Module 5) |
| The sale | Where the pets go for showings and photos; odor and wear, fixed or disclosed | The Clean Slate (Module 6) |
| The lease | Pet rules, deposits and fees; a renter who may buy one day | The Dog’s Vote and The Fine Print (Modules 3–5) |
The joke stays with the pets. Everything in this book that says the dog “likes” a home, “votes” on a yard or “needs” a park is about pets. None of it is about an animal someone has because of a disability, and none of it is about the people in the household.
Three serious sources give three different answers. Name the publisher, its interest and the year every time.
| Publisher (who they are) | What they found | How they measured it | Use it as |
|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Census Bureau and HUD, 2021 American Housing Survey (government) | 63.8 million of 128.5 million occupied homes (49.6%) had at least one pet. Dogs in 49.0 million households, cats in 28.2 million. Owners 56%, renters 38%. | Households were asked about pets, including foster pets and excluding service animals and livestock. | The government count. Lead with it. |
| American Veterinary Medical Association (the veterinarians’ association), 2025 Sourcebook, as reported by dvm360, May 5, 2026 | 77.5 million households (58.6%) owned at least one pet in 2025. Dogs in 42.6% of households, cats in 32.6%. | AVMA’s own survey. Its method was not available to us; we read a trade-press report of it. | A second count, labelled “as reported.” |
| American Pet Products Association (a pet-industry trade group), 2026 State of the Industry, released Mar 26, 2026 | 95 million US households owned a pet in 2025. Dogs in 53% of households (71 million), cats in 39%. | APPA’s National Pet Owners Survey. No sample size, dates or survey firm on its public pages. | The industry’s count. Its dog figures imply about 71% of households (our arithmetic). |
Metro by metro (Census and HUD, 2021). Of the 15 largest metros, Phoenix had the highest share of homes with a pet, 55.0%, and greater Miami (Miami–Fort Lauderdale–West Palm Beach) the lowest, 28.5%. Our reading for South Florida: fewer homes have pets here than in any other big metro, so ask every client the same questions, every time. And where a condo, an HOA or a lease is involved, the limits are in its documents, not in the listing (page 28).
The roughly 71% figure comes from the American Pet Products Association’s industry survey, not from NAR, and the Census Bureau’s own survey says 49.6% (2021). Say instead: “Depending on who counts, between about half and about seven in ten US households have a pet. The Census Bureau says about half, the veterinarians’ association 59%, and the pet-industry trade group about 71%.”
Census Bureau and HUD, “2021 Household Pets” (2021 AHS; published 2022). AVMA figures via dvm360, May 5, 2026 (secondary). APPA, 2026 State of the Industry and release of Mar 26, 2026. The Census Bureau’s survey has asked about pets in at least 2013, 2017 and 2021 (per secondary sources); check whether the 2025 survey repeats the question.
NAR (the National Association of REALTORS®, the agents’ trade association) has asked buyers and its own members about pets. Here is what they said, with the year, because most pet-housing numbers are older than they look.
| Finding | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Recent buyers who said being near a vet and having outdoor space for their pets mattered when choosing a neighborhood | 16% | NAR 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, reported by NAR economists, Oct 27, 2026 |
| Buyers who weighed pets vs those who did not: nearby parks · walkability · larger lots or acreage | 35% vs 29% · 31% vs 19% · 26% vs 16% | Same |
| Recent buyers whose main reason to buy was a better home for their pets | 1% | Same |
| US households willing to move or change their living situation to accommodate a pet | 43% | NAR, “Animal House: Pets in the Home Buying and Selling Process,” April 2020 |
| REALTORS® who said community animal policies influenced clients’ decisions to rent or buy in a community | 68% | Same |
| REALTORS® said their clients rated these “very important” in a home search: fenced yard · a home big enough for household and pet · flooring | 49% · 27% · 24% | Same |
| Prospective buyers with pets who said they would pass on a dream home that didn’t accommodate their pets | 72% | Realtor.com, survey by HarrisX, Dec 2022: a portal’s own survey, online, 3,001 adults; subgroup size not given |
NAR’s 2020 report: consumer figures from 2,710 phone interviews, Jan–Mar 2020; member figures from 4,532 responses, Feb–Mar 2020. Fieldwork was before the pandemic, so say the year. The 2025 Profile covers purchases from July 2024 to June 2025.
NAR published two: February 2017 and April 2020. News stories in 2021 repeated the 2020 figures, and one turned “43% of households” into “43% of pet owners.” Cite NAR, April 2020, and say “households.” And do not put NAR’s 2025 “16%” next to its 2024 “about one-fifth” in one sentence: they come from different surveys, worded differently. Pick one and give the year.
Pet owners are a large group of clients with a specific problem. Solve it well and you give that group a reason to refer you. We found no data that measures how often, so this book gives you no rate.
The case is simple. About half of US homes have a pet. Many of those clients share the same few questions: will the home work for the animals, will the rules allow them, and how do we show the house with them in it? An agent who answers those questions the same careful way every time solves a real problem for a large group, and any referrals would come from that same group. That is the whole money case. It is a reason to be good at this, not a forecast.
| What the data shows | What is missing |
|---|---|
| Pet owners are a large group: 49.6% of homes, 56% of owner households, 38% of renter households (Census Bureau and HUD, 2021 American Housing Survey). | Any conversion rate or return on investment for pet-niche marketing with a stated method. We found none. |
| NAR members reported that a median 38% of their clients in the past year owned a pet, companion animal or service animal, and 18% had represented clients who moved solely because of their animal (NAR, April 2020). | Any source that tracks renters with pets into homeownership. Claim no conversion rate. |
| Renters with pets pay for permission: medians of $25 a month in pet rent, a $300 refundable deposit and a $300 non-refundable fee among the properties that allow pets, in a study of 27,284 rental properties in four metros (Neal, Cornelison and Muriello, Frontiers in Built Environment, Aug 24, 2026; peer-reviewed; one author works for Michelson Found Animals; no Florida data). | Data on whether a pet résumé changes a board’s or a landlord’s decision. A statistic for a “typical” South Florida condo pet limit. |
| Pet-friendly rentals on Zillow leased about eight days faster in 2024, and nine days faster in the Miami metro (Zillow press release, Jul 2, 2025; the portal’s own analysis of its listings). | Independent data on what pet damage costs to repair. Only vendor estimates exist. |
Death of the Generalist (Sep 9, 2026) drew the line: niche by property, situation and profession, never by a protected class. Owning a pet is not a protected class, so pet owners are a fine niche. “People with service or support animals” is never a niche, a segment or an ad audience, because that is a disability niche. Personalize on behavior and stated preference, never on who people are. And do not let the pet become a back door to people-language: “ideal for families with pets” is about a family, not a pet.
An NAR article (May 4, 2023) describes agents who brand themselves as pet-friendly, meet people at training classes and run pet social accounts; one calls dog-training classes a “soft sell.” It is coach advice in an NAR outlet, and it reports no results. In NAR’s 2020 survey, 13% of REALTORS® who love animals or volunteer for animal groups said they advertise that to clients. Use the ideas that fit you, and follow the calls-and-texts and referral rules in Module 2 when you do.
Every line below is sourced. Each says who found it and when, and names the publisher’s interest where it has one.
| A line you can say | Source |
|---|---|
| “The Census Bureau found about half of US homes had a pet in 2021: 56% of owners and 38% of renters. In greater Miami it was 28.5%, the lowest of the 15 biggest metros.” | Census Bureau and HUD, 2021 American Housing Survey |
| “In NAR’s 2025 buyer survey, 16% of buyers said being near a vet and having outdoor space for the pet shaped where they bought.” | NAR 2025 Profile, via NAR economists, Oct 27, 2026 |
| “NAR’s 2020 Animal House survey found 43% of US households would move or change how they live to accommodate a pet.” | NAR, April 2020 |
| “Insurers paid $1.86 billion on 28,450 dog-related injury claims in 2025, per the Insurance Information Institute, an insurance-industry group, and State Farm. Florida had the second-most claims.” | Triple-I and State Farm, 2025 data, Apr 13, 2026 |
| “A peer-reviewed study found condos with unrestricted pet policies sold at a significant premium, and pet-restricted buildings at a discount.” | Lin, Allen and Carter, Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics 47(1), 2013. Direction only; no percentage. |
| “The average American household spent $880 on pets in 2024, and that average includes homes without pets.” | Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Expenditure Survey (FRED series, Dec 19, 2025) |
Eight lines you might hear in an office meeting or read in a vendor’s email (sample wording). For each, write Keep, Fix or Drop, and then the version you would say.
Answer key: Appendix A, page 40.
In 2025 and 2026 HUD withdrew its assistance-animal guidance and narrowed its own enforcement. The statute, HUD’s regulation and Florida’s statutes did not change.
Four rules keep you on the right side of every request: never ask, never decide, never coach, and know Florida’s fee rule.
| Rule | What it says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Never ask about a disability | It is unlawful “to make an inquiry to determine whether an applicant … has a handicap or to make inquiry as to the nature or severity of a handicap.” Florida bars a housing provider from requesting information that “discloses the diagnosis or severity of a person’s disability or any medical records.” So you never ask why a client has an animal, whether it is a service or support animal, or anything about anyone’s health. | 24 CFR 100.202(c); Fla. Stat. 760.27(3)(a) |
| Never decide a request | The housing provider (the landlord, the condo or HOA board, the co-op board) decides, ideally with counsel. Florida’s “housing provider” covers anyone engaging in conduct covered by the federal Act, “including the owner or lessor of a dwelling” (the definition is broad; ask your broker how it applies to you). Timing matters: in Bhogaita, failing to decide in time was treated as a denial. | Fla. Stat. 760.27(1)(b); Bhogaita (2014); routing is our reading |
| Never coach a request | Never suggest a client “get an ESA letter” to get around a pet rule, a fee or a weight limit. Falsifying ESA information, or knowingly misrepresenting a need for one, is a second-degree misdemeanor, and so is misrepresenting a service animal. A practitioner who supports an ESA without personal knowledge faces discipline. An online registration, ID card, patch or certificate is “not, by itself, sufficient.” | Fla. Stat. 817.265; 413.08(9); 456.072(1)(pp); 760.27(3)(c) |
| Know Florida’s fee rule | A person with an approved emotional support animal “may not be required to pay extra compensation for such animal,” and the same words cover a service animal in housing. The owner stays liable for any damage the animal does. | Fla. Stat. 760.27(2), (4); 413.08(6)(b) |
Sometimes a client tells you, unasked, that an animal is a service or support animal. Thank them and keep it short. In your notes write only that an animal will live with the client, with its species and size. Never record the reason, in your CRM or in an AI chat: a client’s disability, or why an animal lives with them, never goes into either (our reading, added to The Data Line from Keeping AI Compliant). Then tell the client that requests go to the housing provider, and make sure they have the right contact and know the dates in their contract.
Outside Florida. The federal rules on this page apply everywhere. The 2004 HUD/DOJ Joint Statement on Reasonable Accommodations, still listed by the Justice Department, says providers may not require “extra fees or deposits as a condition of receiving a reasonable accommodation.” It is guidance, not law, and HUD’s position on it is unclear. Your state’s own statute and your broker decide the rest.
Federal and Florida law use different words for different places. The safe practice: ask nothing about the dog or the visitor, don’t turn anyone away on your own, and call your broker before anyone decides.
| Rule | Where it applies | Which animals | What may be asked | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ADA Title III | Public accommodations: your brokerage office, a leasing or rental office, a new-development sales office, including one inside a model home | “Any dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks.” Emotional support is not a task. Trained miniature horses have a separate rule. | Two questions: is the animal required because of a disability, and what work or task has it been trained to perform. No documentation, no surcharge. | 28 CFR 36.104, 36.207, 36.302(c); DOJ Title III Technical Assistance Manual |
| Fair Housing Act | Housing, and services “in connection with” a sale or rental: on our reading, including your showings and the information you give | Can include other species and untrained animals, as an accommodation the housing provider decides (our reading; HUD’s May 2026 memo says HUD will find cause only for trained animals) | Nothing about a disability. The housing provider handles any request. | 42 U.S.C. 3604(f); 24 CFR 100.202, 100.204 |
| Florida 413.08 | Public accommodations, including “other places to which the general public is invited,” and housing | In public accommodations, a dog or miniature horse trained to do work or tasks (413.08(1)(d)). In housing, (6)(b) is not limited to those species. | The two questions; no deposit or surcharge. “Allergies and fear of animals are not valid reasons for denying access.” | Fla. Stat. 413.08(1)(c)–(d), (3)(b)–(c), (3)(f) |
| Florida 760.27 | Housing providers | Emotional support animals, which need no training | If a disability is not readily apparent, the provider may ask for reliable information; never a diagnosis or records | Fla. Stat. 760.27(1)–(3) |
In Bhogaita, 765 F.3d 1277 (11th Cir., Aug 27, 2014), a condo association enforced its pet weight policy, a 25-pound limit, and demanded that an owner remove his emotional support dog. A jury found that the association violated the federal and Florida Fair Housing Acts and awarded $5,000 in damages; the district court awarded more than $100,000 in attorneys’ fees; the appeals court affirmed. The court also said that failing to make a timely determination after meaningful review “amounts to constructive denial.” For you: when a client has a request in front of a board, the dates in the contract matter, and the decision is the board’s.
Florida’s 2023 breed law binds local governments and public housing authorities, not associations, landlords or insurers. And a seller’s dog at a showing carries strict liability.
| Rule | What it says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Local breed rules preempted | No local government or public housing authority rule may be “specific to breed, weight, or size.” The 2023 act struck the exception for local ordinances adopted before Oct 1, 1990, the grandfather that had kept Miami-Dade’s pit bull ordinance alive (our reading; we did not pull the county code). Effective Oct 1, 2023. | Fla. Stat. 767.14; ch. 2023-253, Laws of Fla. (SB 942). HB 941, the House companion, was laid on the table. |
| Who it does not bind | A condo declaration, an HOA rule, a private landlord’s lease or an insurer can still restrict breeds, subject to the assistance-animal rules. Never tell a buyer “breed bans are illegal in Florida.” | Our reading of “any local government or public housing authority” |
| Dangerous dog | A dog an authority’s records show has aggressively bitten, attacked or endangered a person; has more than once severely injured or killed a domestic animal off the owner’s property; or, unprovoked, has chased or approached a person on streets, sidewalks or public grounds in a menacing fashion. | Fla. Stat. 767.11(3) |
| Dangerous-dog duties (as amended July 1, 2025) | Annual registration; a proper enclosure and a warning sign at all entry points; a microchip; spay or neuter; liability insurance of at least $100,000; tell animal control when the dog moves to another address; muzzled and restrained outside the enclosure. Fines up to $1,000 per violation. The microchip, spay or neuter and $100,000 insurance requirements, and the $1,000 fine, took effect July 1, 2025. | Fla. Stat. 767.12; ch. 2025-61 (CS/HB 593, the “Pam Rock Act”) |
| Bites: strict liability | The owner of a dog that bites a person lawfully on private property, “including the property of the owner of the dog,” is liable “regardless of the former viciousness of the dog.” The bitten person’s own negligence reduces damages by its share. A “Bad Dog” sign is a defense, except for a child under 6 or where the owner was negligent. | Fla. Stat. 767.04 |
| Any damage | A dog owner is liable for any damage the dog does to a person, a domestic animal or livestock. An owner who knows of dangerous propensities must securely confine the dog. | Fla. Stat. 767.01 |
For buyers and renters. The Dog’s Vote asks every client one question here: has any animal in the household been declared dangerous by an authority? It is a question about the dog, not a breed screen (our reading). If yes, the new home needs a proper enclosure and a warning sign, which may clash with association rules, and the $100,000 coverage has to be found. Those become Fine Print questions for the association and the insurance agent.
Some insurers consider a dog’s breed and bite history. You never say a dog is covered or excluded. You tell the client who to ask, and when.
Insurance Information Institute (Triple-I, an insurance-industry group) and State Farm, 2025 data, published Apr 13, 2026. Total paid: $1.86 billion. Florida’s average claim: $62,375. These are homeowners-insurance liability claims for bites and other dog-related injuries, ranked by number of claims, not per resident. They are not a count of bites.
Triple-I says homeowners and renters policies “typically cover dog bite liability legal expenses, up to the liability limits,” that the owner is responsible above the limit, and that “some insurance companies will not insure homeowners who own certain breeds of dogs categorized as dangerous.” After a bite, an insurer “may charge a higher premium” or nonrenew. That is an insurance-industry group describing its industry, not advice for any client.
| Where | What we verified against the text (Nov 2026) | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Nevada | Insurers may not refuse, cancel, nonrenew or raise a rate based on a dog’s breed or mix of breeds, or ask about breed, except about a dog known or declared dangerous or vicious. Covers homeowners, renters and several other policy types. | NRS 687B.383 (added 2021; amended 2025) |
| Illinois | For homeowners and renters policies, no refusal, cancellation, higher premium or coverage limit “based solely upon” a dog’s breed, except an individual dog determined dangerous or vicious. | 215 ILCS 5/143.10e (effective Dec 9, 2023) |
| Colorado | For homeowners and dwelling fire policies (extended in 2025 to residential structures used as a residence and occupied by an owner or renter), no refusal, cancellation, nonrenewal or higher rate based on breed, and no breed questions, except about a dog known or declared dangerous. | C.R.S. 10-4-110.8(16): HB23-1068 (effective Jan 1, 2024), amended by HB25-1207 (effective Aug 6, 2025; enacted text not re-read) |
| Florida | We found no statute that limits breed-based homeowners underwriting, and no filed bill for 2025–2027 (searched Nov 9, 2026). Florida insurers may consider breed. A declared dangerous dog needs $100,000 in liability coverage by statute (page 12). | Our reading (an absence, found by search) |
A handful of states, including Nevada, Illinois and Colorado, limit breed-based decisions. We did not verify any other state’s law against its text, so this book names no others. Citizens Property Insurance’s dog-liability terms were not checked: that is a question for the client’s insurance agent.
Florida law sets the review window and the fines. It does not protect an existing pet when a declaration is amended.
| Rule | What it says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Where condo limits come from | The declaration “may include covenants and restrictions concerning the use, occupancy, and transfer of the units.” Pet limits live in the declaration, bylaws, rules, board resolutions and the application package. Whether a limit is enforceable is a question for a community association attorney, never for the agent. | Fla. Stat. 718.104(5) |
| The resale window | The contract lets the buyer cancel in writing within 7 days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays, after signing and receiving the declaration, articles, bylaws and rules, unless the buyer acknowledged receiving them more than 7 such days before signing. Any waiver is “of no effect.” The Fine Print lands before the offer, or inside this window. | Fla. Stat. 718.503(2) (checked Nov 9, 2026) |
| No grandfather for pets | Florida protects owners from a later amendment that restricts renting: it applies only to owners who consent and to later buyers. We found no such protection for pets in chapters 718, 719 or 720. Whether an existing pet may stay after an amendment depends on its wording and on case law: a question for the association or its counsel. | Contrast 718.110(13) and 720.306(1)(h)1; our reading of chs. 718–720 |
| New construction | The developer’s prospectus must summarize use restrictions, including whether pets are restricted, and give the volumes and pages of the documents where the restrictions are found. | Fla. Stat. 718.504(17); 719.504(16) for co-ops |
| Condo fines | Up to $100 per violation and $1,000 in the aggregate; never a lien. At least 14 days’ notice and a hearing before an independent committee. Tenants and invitees are bound by the documents, so a tenant’s pet violation exposes the owner. | Fla. Stat. 718.303(1), (3) |
| HOA fines | Up to $100 per violation and $1,000 in the aggregate, “unless otherwise provided in the governing documents.” A fine of less than $1,000 may not become a lien; larger fines may, depending on the documents. A violation cured before the hearing carries no fine. | Fla. Stat. 720.305(2) |
| The assistance-animal overlay | Weight, breed and number limits, pet fees and elevator rules are “rules, policies, practices” under the accommodation duty. Associations are housing providers. On The Fine Print write: “Pet limits below apply to pets. Requests for an assistance animal go to the association under its accommodation process.” Never “ESAs exempt” or “ESAs not allowed.” | 3604(f)(3)(B); Fla. Stat. 760.23(9)(b), 760.27(1)(b); application is our reading |
Co-ops. Chapter 719 has no pet rule beyond the developer’s prospectus. A co-op’s approval of a buyer’s animal comes from its own documents. Prepare the buyer to describe the animal: vaccinations, licensing, training, size. Never the reason they have it, and never coach a request (our reading).
In Florida a pet deposit is deposit money, there is no cap, and unauthorized pets are a lease violation. In ads, pet terms are fine; disability limits are not.
| Rule | What it says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| A pet deposit is deposit money | “Deposit money” includes a “pet deposit,” so it follows the same holding, notice and claim rules as any security deposit. Chapter 83 sets no cap on pet deposits and does not mention nonrefundable pet fees or pet rent; a nonrefundable fee is a lease term, not deposit money (our reading). | Fla. Stat. 83.43(4); 83.49 |
| No local caps | Landlord-tenant matters, including security deposits, rental-agreement terms and landlord fees, are preempted to the state. A Florida city or county cannot cap pet fees. | Fla. Stat. 83.425 |
| Unauthorized pets | “Having or permitting unauthorized pets” is a listed example of curable noncompliance. If it recurs within 12 months after notice, an eviction action may begin without another notice. Get the pet clause in writing before the lease is signed. | Fla. Stat. 83.56(2)(b) |
| No pet fee for an approved assistance animal | Florida’s “extra compensation” rule covers rentals; the tenant pays for actual damage. A pet-fee schedule should say it applies to pets. | Fla. Stat. 760.27(2), (4); 413.08(6)(b) |
| Small landlords are covered once you list | The single-family owner exemption is lost when the home is rented with the use of “the sales or rental services of any real estate broker, agent, or salesman.” Your involvement brings the full Act to the pet and animal rules. | 42 U.S.C. 3603(b); Fla. Stat. 760.29(1)(a) |
| Another state, for contrast | Colorado caps an extra pet security deposit at $300, refundable, and pet rent at $35 a month or 1.5% of monthly rent, whichever is greater. Florida has no such cap. | Colo. HB23-1068 (C.R.S. 38-12-106), effective Jan 1, 2024 |
No ad may indicate a preference, limitation or discrimination based on a protected class, and disability is one (42 U.S.C. 3604(c); 24 CFR 100.75; Fla. Stat. 760.23(3); NAR SOP 10-3). Florida also disciplines misleading ads (475.25(1)(c)). Pets are not a protected class. Our reading of the wording:
| Generally fine: pet terms | Risky: signals a disability limit | Safer pattern for a rental |
|---|---|---|
| “Fenced yard” · “dogs welcome” · “cats only” · “no pets” · “2 pets max, 25 lb” | “No service animals” · “no emotional support animals” · “no exceptions to pet policy” · “must be able to walk dog” · “perfect for active owners” | “Pets: [policy]. Assistance animals: requests reviewed under applicable law.” |
Accuracy is a second test. “Pet-friendly” is a pet term, so it is not a fair-housing problem, but it is not a fact about a building until you can quote the rule and its page (Module 5). Run all pet copy through the Fair Housing Firewall (Keeping AI Compliant, Sep 23, 2026).
A known, hidden pet problem is a disclosure question for your broker. A person you met at the dog park is not an exception to Florida’s Do Not Call law. And nobody unlicensed is paid for referrals.
| Rule | What it says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Known, hidden defects | Where a seller “knows of facts materially affecting the value of the property which are not readily observable and are not known to the buyer, the seller is under a duty to disclose them to the buyer.” The court cited cases applying the same rule to termite and roach infestations. | Johnson v. Davis, 480 So. 2d 625 (Fla. 1985) |
| Your own duty | A Florida licensee must disclose “all known facts that materially affect the value of residential real property and are not readily observable to the buyer.” The listing agent who sees a stained subfloor on a walk-through now knows of it. | Fla. Stat. 475.278(2)(a), (3)(a), (5)(a) |
| Pets are not on the “not material” list | Florida’s list of facts that need not be disclosed covers an occupant’s HIV/AIDS and a death on the property. Pets are not on it. | Fla. Stat. 689.25 |
| Calls and texts | A sales call includes a text or voicemail. A Florida number on the national Do Not Call registry is on Florida’s list, and may get a sales call or text only at the person’s express request, with a prior or existing business relationship, or under two other narrow exceptions. There is no family, friend or acquaintance exception, so the person you met at the dog park, the vet’s client and the groomer’s customer are no exception. The licensee exception covers calling sellers and landlords about their property after a yard sign or ad, not pet-business owners or pet-owner leads. | Fla. Stat. 501.059(1)(c), (j), (k), (3)(d), (4) |
| Stop requests, autodialers, damages | Honor every stop request, from businesses too. No automated dialing or recorded message without prior express written consent. A called party may recover actual damages or $500, whichever is greater, and up to three times that for willful or knowing violations. | Fla. Stat. 501.059(5), (8)(a), (10)(a) |
| No referral pay to unlicensed people | No fee “or other compensation” to a person not licensed as a broker or sales associate for the referral of real estate business. No per-client payments, gift cards or “thank-you” fees to a groomer, vet, trainer, rescue or pet store. | Fla. Stat. 475.25(1)(h) |
Partners. Vets, groomers, trainers, pet stores and rescues are, on our reading, not settlement-service providers, so they sit in the local-business column of Pooling Resources (Jan 6, 2027). The relationship runs on reciprocity and good work. A pet business at an open house goes through The Sponsor Sort, FTC disclosure and The House Rules there.
Most mistakes in this niche are an agent deciding something that belongs to someone else. Know whose call it is, then sort the situations.
| The question | Who decides | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| May this assistance animal live here? | The housing provider (landlord, association, board), with its counsel | Route the request; make sure the client knows the contract dates |
| Is this pet rule enforceable? Will this pet be grandfathered? | The association or its counsel; the client’s attorney | Quote the rule; send the written question |
| Will the policy cover this dog? | The client’s licensed insurance agent | Give the client the questions, before the offer |
| Must this pet damage be disclosed, and how? | Your broker and the seller’s attorney | Report what you saw, in writing |
| May I call or text this person? | The law and your broker’s Do Not Call process | Only at their express request or with a business relationship |
Ten situations, all sample data. For each, write Permitted, Prohibited or Ask (and whom), and the rule that decides it.
Answer key: Appendix A, page 40.
Ask before the first showing. The Dog’s Vote has three parts: ten questions for every buyer and renter, a check of each home, and a pet column in your showing notes.
| The rule | Why |
|---|---|
| Ask about the animals, never the person | No inquiry into whether anyone has a disability, or its nature or severity (24 CFR 100.202(c); Fla. Stat. 760.27(3)(a)). The intake never asks why the client has an animal, or whether it is a service or support animal. |
| The same questions, the same way, for every client | Our practice rule. It keeps the intake about the animals and the home, and it is easy to show your broker. |
| If a client volunteers a reason, write none of it | Note only that an animal will live with the client, with its species and size. Never the reason, in the CRM or an AI chat (our reading; The Data Line). |
| Walkability means distances | Distances, sidewalks, park hours and park rules, from a named map source with a date. Never “safe area,” “low crime” or “after dark” (the Fair Housing Firewall). |
| “Pet-friendly” is not a fact yet | Not until The Fine Print quotes the rule and its page (Module 5). |
| Renters use the same worksheet | It is where the renter-to-buyer conversation starts, when the renter wants it (page 25). |
Asked of every buyer and renter, in this order, in these words. Every one is about the animals and the home.
| # | The question | Why you ask | Goes to |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | “Which animals will live with you: how many, and what kind?” | Number and species limits | Fine Print rows 1 and 3 |
| 2 | “Roughly how big is each one now, and how big will it get?” | Weight limits are often “at maturity”; a puppy can outgrow one | Fine Print row 2 |
| 3 | “How old is each one?” | Some documents set a minimum age: one Naples association’s rules say “No pets under one year of age are permitted” | Fine Print rows 2 and 4 |
| 4 | “How many hours a day are they home alone?” | Crate space, noise, a walker’s access | Home check; showing notes |
| 5 | “What do they need from a yard: a fence, a height, shade, or no yard at all?” | Fence type and height, gates, pool barrier | Home check |
| 6 | “Any needs around floors or stairs?” | Slick floors, long staircases, elevator rules | Home check; Fine Print row 5 |
| 7 | “What does a normal walk look like, and where do you go now?” | Sidewalks, a park, its hours and rules | Home check distances |
| 8 | “Who is your vet now, and how far would you drive to a vet, or to an emergency vet?” | The distances to measure | Home check distances |
| 9 | “How do they travel, and where do they stay when you’re away?” | Boarding, sitters, a ride to the vet | Showing notes |
| 10 | “Has any animal in the household been declared dangerous by an authority?” | Florida duties follow a declared dangerous dog to a new address (767.12) | Fine Print; insurance questions |
| Never ask | Why |
|---|---|
| “Is that a service dog?” · “What’s the dog for?” · “Is it an emotional support animal?” · “Does it help with a health condition?” | Disability inquiries (24 CFR 100.202(c); Fla. Stat. 760.27(3)(a)). If a client volunteers it, follow page 10. |
| “Do you have kids who play with the dog?” · “Who else lives with you?” for the pet’s sake | People-language. The intake is about the animals. Familial status is protected. |
| “Do you need a safe street for walks after dark?” | Safety coding. Ask question 7 and measure. |
| “What breed? I’ll keep you out of neighborhoods with breed problems.” | Steering. Breed matters only to check a specific building’s quoted rule and for the client’s own insurance questions. |
Walk each home for the animals the client named. Measure distances from a named map source, write the date, and never describe a neighborhood by who lives there.
| Check | What you look at | Write down |
|---|---|---|
| Fence and gates | Type, height, gaps, gates and latches; whose fence it is | What you saw; “ask the seller” for anything you could not see |
| Pool barrier | Whether a pool is fenced off from the yard the animals will use | What you saw |
| Floors | Slick tile or wood, carpet, steps | What you saw |
| Stairs and elevator | Flights of stairs; elevator rules are a Fine Print row | The count; “see Fine Print row 5” |
| Screens and balconies | Screened porch, balcony railings, window screens | What you saw |
| Park | Nearest park or dog park: distance, posted hours and rules | Distance, source, date; hours and rules as posted |
| Vet · emergency vet | The client’s current vet; the nearest emergency vet | Distance or drive time, source, date |
| Sidewalks | On the route to the park, or not | What you saw or what the map shows |
Every distance comes from a named map source with the date you checked it, for example “0.6 mi walking, [map service], checked Jan 19, 2027.” If you did not measure it, write NOT MEASURED. Never write “close to,” “walkable” or “safe” without the number and the source.
| Home (sample) | Fence · yard | Floors · stairs | Park · vet · ER vet (source, date) | Rules to quote | Client’s words |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 Sample Ibis Lane | Wood, about 5 ft; gap at side gate | Tile; 2 steps to yard | 0.4 mi · 2.1 mi · 6.3 mi ([map service], Jan 19) | HOA: number, breed | “Biscuit needs that yard.” |
| Sample Bay Towers 9B | None; fenced dog run on the grounds | Wood; elevator | 0.2 mi · 1.8 mi · 5.9 mi ([map service], Jan 19) | All nine rows (page 30) | “Love the balcony. Is Biscuit allowed?” |
Write what the home does for the animals. Never write anything about the neighbors, the people on the block or anyone’s health. The client sees these notes, so write them as if the client is reading over your shoulder.
What a general AI tool can produce from “write a friendly intake questionnaire for buyers with pets.” Find the problems before you read the table.
| # | The line | What is wrong | Page |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | “a service dog, an emotional support animal, or just a pet?” | A disability inquiry (24 CFR 100.202(c); 760.27(3)(a)). The intake asks about the animal, never why. | 10 |
| 2 | “tell us about [the health condition]” | The same, and it would put health information in your notes and in the AI tool. | 10 |
| 3 | “under HUD’s 2020 guidance, support animals aren’t pets…” | FHEO-2020-01 was withdrawn effective Sept 17, 2025, and the agent never says how a rule applies to an assistance animal. | 9 |
| 4 | “get an ESA letter online in minutes” | Points toward a crime (817.265) and discipline for the writer (456.072(1)(pp)); online certificates alone are not sufficient (760.27(3)(c)). | 10 |
| 5 | “any HOA has to accept him now” | The 2023 law (SB 942; 767.14) binds local governments and public housing authorities, not HOAs, landlords or insurers. | 12 |
| 6 | “kids who play with him … family-friendly areas” | Familial status is protected. Steering by it is what the Fair Housing Firewall catches. | 15 |
| 7 | “a safe neighborhood for walks after dark” | Safety coding. Use measured distances, sidewalks and park hours. | 20 |
| 8 | “your homeowners policy will cover him” | Insurance advice. Say “ask your insurer.” | 13 |
| 9 | “pet-friendly buildings, straight from the MLS” | The MLS field is the listing agent’s entry; the documents decide. | 23 |
| 10 | “Max is grandfathered” | No Florida statute protects an existing pet after a declaration is amended. | 14 |
Sample data. Riley asks Sam the ten questions on Thu, Jan 14, 2027, and writes down only what Sam says about the animals.
| # | Sam’s answer, as noted |
|---|---|
| 1–3 | Two: Biscuit, a mini goldendoodle, 21 lb at 9 months; Pepper, a cat, about 10 lb, 6 years old. Adult weight for Biscuit: NOT KNOWN (Sam will ask the vet). |
| 4–6 | About 5 hours alone on office days. Wants a fenced yard, at least 4 ft, or a condo near a park. No floor or stair needs. |
| 7–9 | Two walks a day, about 30 minutes, to a park. Current vet: Sample Animal Clinic; up to 20 minutes to a vet, 30 to an emergency vet. A sitter when Sam travels. |
| 10 | No. |
Ten questions a new team member drafted for intake (sample). Mark each Keep, Rewrite (and write the better version) or Never ask, and say why.
Answer key: Appendix A, page 41.
The MLS pet field is the listing agent’s entry. It is where your homework starts, not where it ends: the real limits live in the documents.
How the field works. The RESO Data Dictionary field PetsAllowed “Indicates whether or not pets are allowed at the property being leased,” with standard values such as Breed Restrictions, Cats OK, Dogs OK, Number Limit and Size Limit. The definition is written for leases; local MLSs also use it on sale listings. The listing agent fills it in, and portal filters show only what the listing said.
| What an MLS “yes” doesn’t tell you | Where the answer lives | Fine Print row |
|---|---|---|
| How many pets, and which kinds | Declaration; rules | 1 and 3 |
| How big: now or “at maturity”; any height or age limit | Declaration; rules | 2 |
| Which breeds, if any, are restricted | Rules; board resolutions; application package | 3 |
| Registration, photos, vaccination records, fees, an interview | Rules; application package | 4 |
| Leash, carry and elevator rules | Rules | 5 |
| Whether tenants’ pets follow the same rules | Declaration; rules; the lease | 6 |
| Whether the rules may change, and what happens to existing pets | Declaration; bylaws | 7 |
| What an insurer will ask about the dog | The client’s insurance agent | 8 |
The client’s pet comes to a showing only if the seller agrees. The seller’s pet is the listing agent’s to plan for. Either way, you follow the instructions you are given.
| Situation | What you do | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Your buyer wants to bring the dog to a second showing | Ask the listing agent first. The dog comes only if the seller says yes. | Access on the owner’s terms (NAR SOP 3-9 for buyers’ agents; SOP 1-16 for listing agents) |
| The seller’s dog is crated, and the note says “do not open the laundry room” | Don’t open it, and keep your buyer away from it. | An agent who ignores an instruction may be found partly negligent (767.04; our reading) |
| You arrive and the seller’s dog is loose, with no warning in the instructions | Don’t go in. Call the listing agent. Wait outside or reschedule. | 767.04; NAR counsel: the listing agent must tell the showing agent about pets it knows of |
| The notes say the cat slips out | Keep exterior doors closed; check before you leave. | The showing notes say so |
| A visitor brings a service dog to your open house | Ask nothing about the dog or the visitor. Don’t turn them away on your own; if anyone objects, call your broker before anyone decides. | Fla. Stat. 413.08; our reading, confirm with your broker (page 11) |
| Your buyer has an assistance animal | Show the same homes, the same way. Never warn listing agents about it. | NAR Article 10 includes disability; 42 U.S.C. 3604(f) |
What NAR’s counsel says (NAR, “What if the home sellers have a dangerous pet?”, Jan 3, 2023). “If the listing agent is aware of the pets in a home or on the property, they must let the showing agent know.” Sellers should remove dangerous animals; “If that isn’t possible, they need to ensure that everyone who enters is aware of the animal’s presence.” And: “If aggressive pets cannot be kenneled or properly restrained, you may not want to list the property.” That is NAR guidance, not a statute.
What we could not find. NAR’s 2022 Member Safety Report has no category for dog or animal incidents, and coverage of later editions shows none, so any figure for how often agents are bitten at showings is unsourced. Use the guidance above, not a percentage.
Some buyers bring the dog to see how it takes to the yard. That is the title’s joke made real, and it works only on the seller’s terms (our practice, not a rule): the listing agent says yes in writing, the dog stays leashed and outside unless invited in, and you leave the home as you found it. If the seller says no, the dog waits for the second visit or the video.
Renters with pets use the same worksheet, and their lease is a Fine Print page. Buying comes up only when the renter wants it, and you follow up only with permission.
| What renters with pets face | Source |
|---|---|
| Among properties that allow pets: median pet rent $25 a month, a $300 refundable deposit and a $300 non-refundable fee; 87% of them charged a fee. Very large properties were far more likely to allow pets than 1–4 unit properties. | Neal, Cornelison and Muriello, Frontiers in Built Environment, Aug 24, 2026: 27,284 rental properties in Los Angeles, Dallas–Fort Worth, Philadelphia and Atlanta, Feb 2025; no Florida data; one author is from Michelson Found Animals |
| The median annual pet fee NAR members saw: $400 in rentals, $300 in owned homes and condos. | NAR, April 2020 (say the year) |
| “Often rentals have high pet fees, or may restrict the number of pets allowed in a unit,” which can make buying more appealing. | NAR’s Jessica Lautz, Nov 4, 2021 (NAR commentary) |
| Some condos allow owners’ pets but not tenants’: one Naples association bars pets in leased units; an arbitrator upheld a Coconut Grove board rule barring tenants’ pets. | Association rules (revised Feb 2025); a law firm’s blog (Dec 15, 2015) |
| Residents in pet-friendly rentals stayed 21% longer on average. | HABRI and Michelson Found Animals, Jul 19, 2021 (advocacy groups; survey by LRW) |
The renter-to-buyer conversation. Holiday Networking (Dec 2, 2026) gave you the opening: a renter “with a date,” such as a lease that ends in the summer. A renter with a pet often knows exactly what the animal costs them in rent and what the rules stop them from doing. Let them tell you; don’t run the numbers for them. Any payment comparison is the lender’s, labelled as an illustration (The Golden Handcuffs Conversation, Nov 18, 2026). Nobody tracks how many renters with pets go on to buy, so promise nothing and claim no rate.
Follow up only with permission. A renter you meet at a dog park, an adoption day or a vet’s waiting room is not an exception to Florida’s Do Not Call law (501.059). Ask, and if they say yes, get it on a separate, unticked permission box (Selling to Nosy Neighbors, Dec 16, 2026).
Sample data. Eight lines from a team member’s notes and texts. Each one needs a distance, a document, the client’s own words, or the delete key.
Rewrite each as a line you would send a client, or mark it Delete and say why.
Answer key: Appendix A, page 41.
| Test | If yes |
|---|---|
| Does the line describe people: who lives there, families, ages, “quiet” or “safe”? | Rewrite it about the property and the distances. |
| Does it state a rule without a quote and a page? | Say “I’ll get the rule in writing,” and do. |
| Does it say what an insurer, a board or a landlord will do? | Hand it to the person who decides. |
| Does it mention a reason someone has an animal? | Delete it, from the notes and the CRM. |
| Does it plan a call or text to someone who never asked? | Stop. Permission first. |
One pet-rules page per property. Each row is a quote with its document and page, or NOT FOUND, which becomes a written question. It lands before your client is locked in.
| Row | What to find | Usual source |
|---|---|---|
| 1 · Number | How many pets per unit, and of which kinds | Declaration; rules |
| 2 · Weight or size | Pounds or height; “at maturity” or now; any minimum age | Declaration; rules |
| 3 · Breed or species | Species allowed; any breed list | Rules; board resolutions |
| 4 · Approval and registration | Forms, photos, vaccination records, fees, interviews, deadlines | Rules; application package |
| 5 · Common areas | Leash or carry, elevators, dog areas, pet waste | Rules |
| 6 · Lease pet terms | Deposit, fee and pet rent exactly as written; any rule on tenants’ pets | Lease; declaration; rules |
| 7 · Power to amend | Who can change the pet rules, by what vote; anything said about existing pets | Declaration; bylaws |
| 8 · Insurer questions | Breed, bite history, liability limit: questions only | The client’s insurance agent |
| 9 · Local rules | County or city licensing, leash and registration rules | The county’s or city’s own page |
Real documents we read, and what each one teaches. Then the timing: before the offer if you can, inside the window if you must.
| What we read (Nov 6, 2026) | What it says | The lesson |
|---|---|---|
| A Miami Beach-area condo association’s own website | No pets since an amendment adopted Sept 5, 1997. Grandfathered registered pets “may not weigh in excess of (20) twenty pounds at maturity.” “Pets must be carried at all times in common areas.” Assistance animals by board approval as a reasonable accommodation. | Pet rules change by amendment. Read the current documents. |
| A Naples condo association’s rules (revised Feb 2025) | “Owners may have one small pet, measuring no more than seventeen (17) inches in height or twenty-five (25) pounds. No pets under one year of age are permitted.” “No pets are permitted in leased units.” | Height and age limits exist. Owners and tenants can be treated differently. |
| A Florida property owners’ association’s rules (adopted Mar 11, 2020) | A breed list: “No vicious breed of animal (including but not limited to …)” followed by named breeds and “similar types of dogs.” Leash required in common areas. | Associations can restrict breeds. The 2023 law binds governments (page 12). |
| A Coconut Grove condo, as a law firm’s blog reported it (Dec 15, 2015) | The declaration allowed owners’ pets under 25 pounds; an arbitrator upheld a board rule barring tenants’ pets. | Check tenants’ pets for any buyer who may rent the unit out later. |
The documents and the blog are listed in Appendix F. We have no statistic for a “typical” limit; “commonly 20 or 25 pounds in the documents we read” is as far as the evidence goes.
| Best | Backup | Too late |
|---|---|---|
| Before the offer. Ask the listing agent for the declaration, bylaws, rules, board resolutions on pets and the application package. Build the page first. | Inside the 7-day window under 718.503(2), weekends and legal holidays excluded. Send the NOT FOUND questions on day one; the contract and your broker set the exact deadline. | After the window, or after closing. A limit found then is a problem nobody can solve for your client. |
For an HOA, also read the HOA disclosure summary (Fla. Stat. 720.401; we did not re-read its text for this book). For new construction, the prospectus summarizes pet restrictions with volumes and pages (718.504(17)). For a condo rental, the lease and the association’s documents both apply: the declaration, bylaws and condo law are “expressly incorporated into any lease of a unit” (718.303(1)).
| AI may | AI may not |
|---|---|
| Find and quote pet clauses with their pages (Prompt 3; the HOA-packet prompt from NotebookLM for Realtors works the same way). | Decide whether a rule is enforceable, or whether an animal is allowed. |
| Write NOT FOUND and draft the written question. | Fill a gap with a guess, or summarize a rule without its quote. |
| Draft the three request emails (Prompt 4). | Say anything about an accommodation request. |
NOT FOUND rows become questions, in writing, to the person who can answer them. Short, about the animals and the documents, and dated.
“Hello [name]. I represent a buyer considering Unit [ ] at [association]. In the documents we have (declaration, bylaws and rules, dated [ ]), we could not find the following. Could you answer in writing, or point us to the page? 1. Any breed or species restriction beyond Rule [ ]? 2. Any pet registration fee or pet deposit? 3. Any pet-rule amendment pending or proposed? 4. How does the association determine weight “at maturity”? The buyer’s review period ends [date]. Thank you. [Your name, licensed brokerage name]”
“Hello [name]. My client is applying for [address]. The lease draft dated [ ] says, on page [ ]: “[quote].” Could you confirm in writing: the pet deposit, any non-refundable fee and any monthly pet rent; how many pets and what sizes are allowed; and whether the association’s rules restrict tenants’ pets in this building. The animals: [species, number, approximate size]. Thank you. [Your name, licensed brokerage name]”
“Hello [name]. I’m planning to buy [address] and I have [pet name], a dog, about [ ] lb, breed [ ]. Before I make an offer, could you tell me: 1. Does my dog’s breed or mix affect whether you can write the policy, or its price? 2. Does any bite history matter, and what would you need to know? 3. What liability limit would the policy carry, and is more available?”
Sample data. Riley builds the page for Sam, whose dog Biscuit is 9 months old and 21 pounds and whose cat Pepper is 6. Every quote below is invented for this course.
Top line: Pet limits below apply to pets. Requests for an assistance animal go to the association under its accommodation process. Documents: Declaration (recorded 2009, amended 2021), Bylaws, Rules and Regulations (rev. 2025), Application Package (2026), received from the listing agent Mon, Jan 18, 2027, before any offer.
| Row | Quote, or NOT FOUND | Document · page | Question sent Tue, Jan 19 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 · Number | “Not more than two (2) household pets may be kept in a Unit.” | Decl. Art. 12.1 · p. 31 | — |
| 2 · Weight | “No dog may exceed twenty-five (25) pounds at maturity.” | Decl. Art. 12.2 · p. 31 | How and when is weight at maturity determined? |
| 3 · Species · breed | “Household pets are limited to dogs, cats, caged birds and aquarium fish.” Breed: NOT FOUND | Rules 9(a) · p. 4 | Any breed restriction in a board resolution or the application? |
| 4 · Approval | “Each pet shall be registered with management within ten (10) days of occupancy, with a photograph and a current vaccination record.” Fee: NOT FOUND | Rules 9(c) · p. 4; Application · p. 2 | Any registration fee or pet deposit? |
| 5 · Common areas | “Dogs shall be leashed in all Common Elements and shall use the service elevator only.” | Rules 9(d) · p. 5 | — |
| 6 · Tenants’ pets | “No Tenant shall keep any pet in a leased Unit.” | Rules 9(f) · p. 5 | — (noted for Sam: matters if the unit is ever rented out) |
| 7 · Amendment | “This Declaration may be amended by the affirmative vote of two-thirds (2/3) of the voting interests.” Existing pets: NOT FOUND | Decl. Art. 20.1 · p. 44 | Any pet amendment pending? Would registered pets stay if one passes? |
| 8 · Insurer | Not in the documents | — | Sam sends the three insurance questions |
| 9 · Local rules | NOT FOUND in the documents | — | Riley checks the county’s licensing and leash page; source and date noted |
Sample data. A renter, three documents and an MLS line. Fill the page, then answer five questions.
Jo, a renter, has Juno, a 60-pound dog. Below are excerpts for a rental at Sample Grove Villas, a community with an HOA (all invented). Fill rows 1–7 of a pet-rules page: quote and page, or NOT FOUND and the question you would send. Then answer the questions.
Answer key: Appendix A, page 42.
| Row | Quote, or NOT FOUND | Document · page | Question · sent · answered |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 · Number | |||
| 2 · Weight or size | |||
| 3 · Breed or species | |||
| 4 · Approval | |||
| 5 · Common areas | |||
| 6 · Lease terms | |||
| 7 · Amendment | |||
| 8 · Insurer | |||
| 9 · Local rules |
Four parts: one pets line on The Seller’s Yes, showing instructions about the animals, an odor-and-wear list, and photo rules. No new form to sign.
Write what a showing agent needs about the animals: where they are, what not to open, what to watch for. Nothing personal about the people who live there (our reading). NAR’s counsel: if the listing agent knows about pets, “they must let the showing agent know” (NAR, Jan 3, 2023). Field names vary by MLS and showing service. Put any warning about an animal where agents see it before they book.
Fix what you can, put what you must in front of your broker, and photograph the home as it is, without the pets in it.
| Sort | Examples (sample) | Who decides |
|---|---|---|
| CLEAN | Pet hair, a litter area, a smell in fabrics, a stained rug that can go | The seller, with your advice; a professional if needed |
| REPAIR | Scratched floors, chewed trim, a gouged door, a torn screen, a gap in the fence | The seller; a licensed contractor where the work needs one |
| DISCLOSE? | Known, material and not readily observable: urine in the pad or subfloor under new carpet, a flea or other pest infestation treated but not resolved, damage hidden by paint or rugs | Your broker and the seller’s attorney. Not you alone, and never AI. |
In NAR’s 2020 survey, members said they always or often make these pet-related changes for sellers: take the animal out for showings 78%, replace anything a pet damaged 72%, clean to remove animal scent 70%, professional cleaning 61%, remove pet objects 47%. None of NAR’s 2019, 2023 or 2025 staging surveys asks about odor. We found no US source with a method for how much pet odor lowers a price, and no independent data on repair costs. So: no number, and no promise that the odor is gone. You can say what was done, by whom and when.
| Rule | Why |
|---|---|
| Pets, bowls, beds, crates, toys and litter boxes physically out of frame | Cheap to fix before the photographer arrives. |
| Never edit out damage: scratches, stains, gouges, chewed trim | Florida disciplines misleading ads (475.25(1)(c)). AI in 2027 (Nov 25, 2026), Lesson 3.6, covers MLS rules on altered photos, including Stellar MLS’s bar on removing defects such as damaged floors, as that lesson reported it. Re-check your MLS’s live rule. |
| Label virtual staging the way your MLS requires | Lesson 3.6. Whether digitally removing a pet or a crate counts as virtual staging is a question for your MLS (page 49). Physically moving them avoids the question. |
| Never say no pets lived here unless it is true and the seller confirms it in writing | A representation about the property (475.25(1)(c); our reading). |
Code pet odor or wear in showing feedback as CONDITION, as The Price-Cut Conversation (Oct 14, 2026) taught. If buyers say the photos didn’t match a home that still smells of pets, that is PHOTOS DIDN’T MATCH. Neither one is a price signal on its own.
Sample data. Riley drafts with Prompt 5, checks with Prompt 6 and by hand, and then the broker and the seller decide.
Unit 4B, Sample Bay Towers, listed by Riley Quinn, Sample Realty Group. Seller Pat has Rocket, a dog, 18 lb, and Miso, a cat. Walk-through, Mon, Feb 1, 2027: scratches on the living-room floor by the balcony door; a chewed hall baseboard. Pat says the bedroom carpet and pad were replaced in 2025 after urine damage, and shows the invoice. Pets: with Pat’s sister for the photo shoot and the open house; Rocket crated in the laundry room for weekday showings. Pet rules: Declaration Art. 12 and Rules 9, from the building’s Fine Print page.
| Check | Result | Riley’s fix |
|---|---|---|
| Showing instructions: the animals only, nothing personal | PASS | None |
| Disclosure items: decided by AI, or flagged? | PASS: marked “BROKER DECIDES,” not decided | Sent to the broker with the 2025 invoice |
| Anything beyond parts A–D? | FLAG: listing remarks were not requested (Prompt 5 writes no marketing copy) | Deleted; listing remarks are written separately and run through Prompt 6 |
| Statements about pets or odor | FLAG: “No pets have ever lived here.” | Deleted. Untrue, and a representation (475.25(1)(c)). |
| Pet rules stated with their source | PASS: points to the declaration and rules | None |
| Photo plan: damage edited out? | PASS | Floor repaired before the shoot |
| People-language or safety words | PASS | None |
Pat initials the pets line on The Seller’s Yes. Riley’s broker reads the odor-and-wear list and decides, with Pat’s attorney, what the disclosure says about the carpet. The floor is repaired before the photographer arrives.
What a general AI tool can produce from “write an exciting listing description that appeals to pet lovers.” Find the problems before you read the table.
| # | The line | What is wrong | Page |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | “PERFECT FOR DOG LOVERS!” | Copy about who the home is for. Describe features instead (Fair Housing Firewall). | 15 |
| 2 | “a pet-friendly building” | Not a fact until the rule is quoted with its page; risks a misleading ad (475.25(1)(c)). | 27 |
| 3 | “Gleaming wood floors (see photos!)” + Photo 4 | Damage edited out of photos is misleading (475.25(1)(c)); MLS rules bar removing defects (Lesson 3.6). | 33 |
| 4 | “an active couple or a family with pets” | People-language and familial status; “perfect for active owners” is risky wording. | 15 |
| 5 | “Steps to the dog park” | No measured distance, no source, no date. | 20 |
| 6 | “a safe, quiet street, great for evening walks” | Safety coding. Distances, sidewalks and park hours instead. | 26 |
| 7 | “No emotional support animals, no exceptions.” | Signals a disability limitation (3604(c); 24 CFR 100.75; our reading). | 15 |
| 8 | “Breed restrictions don’t apply in Florida anymore.” | Wrong: 767.14 binds local governments and public housing authorities only. | 12 |
| 9 | “Pet odor professionally eliminated” | A promise that the odor is gone. Say what was done, by whom and when. | 33 |
| 10 | “no pets have ever lived here” | Untrue here, and it contradicts line 9. A representation (475.25(1)(c)). | 33 |
| 11 | “large dog is home; Bad Dog sign; enter at your own risk” | The dog should be out or crated in a named room. A sign does not cover a child under 6 or a negligent owner (767.04). | 32 |
| 12 | Photo 7: crate removed in editing | Move it before the shoot. Ask your MLS whether digital removal counts as virtual staging and needs a label. | 33 |
Sample data. Eight moments from the first week of listing Unit 4B. Decide each one, and name the rule or the part of The Clean Slate that decides it.
For each, write Go, Fix (and how) or Stop (and what has to happen first).
Answer key: Appendix A, page 42.
| Test | If yes |
|---|---|
| Would an animal be loose, or in a room the instructions don’t name? | Stop: crate it in a named room, move it off-site, or reschedule. |
| Would a photo or a line hide damage, or claim something nobody knows? | Fix it: repair, or show it; say what was done. |
| Is a known, hidden problem about to go undisclosed? | Stop: your broker and the seller’s attorney, today. |
| Does an instruction or a note say anything personal about the occupants? | Fix it: the animals only. |
| Does money move because of a referral? | Stop if you would pay an unlicensed person (475.25(1)(h)). |
One client through The Dog’s Vote, one property through The Fine Print, one listing through The Clean Slate. File-based work, not more events.
| When | Do this | Done means |
|---|---|---|
| Wed, Jan 13 today | Send your broker the Appendix E questions on assistance animals, open houses, showing instructions and disclosure. Add the pets line to your copy of The Seller’s Yes. Do Exercises 1 and 2. | Questions sent; pets line drafted |
| Thu–Fri, Jan 14–15 | Build your Dog’s Vote worksheet. Use it with one buyer or renter you are working with now, by phone or in person. Do Exercise 3. | One intake, the same ten questions |
| Mon–Fri, Jan 18–22 | Run the home check at that client’s next showings: fence, floors, distances measured with source and date. Fill the pet column the same day. Do Exercise 4. | A pet column in your showing notes |
| Mon–Fri, Jan 25–29 | Build one Fine Print page: a buyer’s target condo or HOA, a renter’s lease, or your own listing’s building. Quote every row or write NOT FOUND, and send the questions. Do Exercise 5. | Every row quoted or asked in writing |
| Mon–Fri, Feb 1–5 | Run The Clean Slate on one listing with pets: pets line initialed, showing instructions rewritten, odor-and-wear list to your broker, photo plan set. Do Exercise 6. | Pets line initialed; broker has the list |
| Mon–Fri, Feb 8–12 | List the vets, groomers, trainers, pet stores and rescues you would recommend, and tell them so: reciprocity, never referral pay. Follow up with people you met only where a permission box is signed. On Fri, Feb 12, count. | A partner list; three counts |
Those are the only targets in this book. There is no lead target, no listing count and no conversion rate, because we found no data that would support one. If you set a number of your own, call it a goal, not a forecast. If a call or text is part of your plan, Florida’s Do Not Call law comes first, and it has no acquaintance exception (Fla. Stat. 501.059; Holiday Networking, Lesson 2.7).
Every one of these is normal. Each has a fix.
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| A client volunteers that the dog is a support animal | Trust | Thank them. Note only the animal. Route any request to the housing provider. Nothing in the CRM or AI. |
| The listing agent says, “Pets are fine, it’s in the MLS” | Habit | “Thanks. Could you send the declaration and rules? I quote the rule for my client.” |
| The association doesn’t answer before the window closes | Busy | Tell the client in writing what is still NOT FOUND and when the window closes. Their attorney advises on the contract. |
| The AI summary says “pet-friendly” with no quote | Its habit | Reject it. Prompt 3 quotes or writes NOT FOUND. |
| The puppy may outgrow the limit | A limit “at maturity” | The client asks the vet. You quote the rule. |
| The seller won’t move the dog for showings | Their home | Crated in a named room, and the instructions say so. If the dog can’t be secured, talk to your broker; NAR’s counsel says you may not want to list. |
| Showing agents mention odor | Condition | Code it CONDITION. Clean or repair. No promises. |
| A pet business asks for a referral fee | Habit | “Thanks. I can’t pay for referrals. I’d be glad to recommend you to clients who ask.” |
HUD. Any proposed rule on animal accommodations in the Federal Register (none as of Nov 6, 2026). Checked on: ________
The 2027 NAR Code of Ethics. Not posted as of Nov 9, 2026. Check Article 10 and SOP 10-3 against it. Checked on: ________
NAR’s 2026 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers. If it is out, look for a newer pet-neighborhood figure, and quote one year only. Checked on: ________
Each building’s documents. Pet rules change by amendment. Before you quote one, confirm you have the current set. Checked on: ________
Your MLS’s photo and virtual-staging rules. Read the live rule. Checked on: ________
Nobody is marking this but you. Tick only what you could do tomorrow, with a client or your broker, without this book open.
| ✓ | I can… | Module |
|---|---|---|
| Explain what “the dog has a vote” means, and why it never applies to an assistance animal | 1 | |
| Quote the Census Bureau and HUD’s 2021 figures, and name the AVMA and APPA counts with each publisher’s interest | 1 | |
| Say what HUD withdrew in 2025, what its May 22, 2026 memo did, and what did not change | 2 | |
| Route any assistance-animal request to the housing provider without asking a single question about a disability | 2 | |
| Explain why I never suggest an ESA letter, and Florida’s rule on extra compensation | 2 | |
| Say who Florida’s 2023 breed law binds and who it does not | 2 | |
| Explain strict liability for a seller’s dog at a showing, and when a “Bad Dog” sign doesn’t help | 2 | |
| Answer every insurance question with “ask your insurer,” and name only the states this book verified | 2 | |
| Ask the ten Dog’s Vote questions, the same way, of every buyer and renter | 3 | |
| Write a walkability line with a distance, sidewalks, park hours and rules, a named source and a date | 3–4 | |
| Build a Fine Print page with a quote and a page in every row, or NOT FOUND and a written question | 5 | |
| Land The Fine Print before the offer, or inside the 7-day review window | 5 | |
| Add the pets line to The Seller’s Yes, and write showing instructions about the animals only | 6 | |
| Sort odor and wear into clean, repair and disclose, shoot photos without the pets, and never edit out damage | 6 |
| Item | My answer |
|---|---|
| The buyer or renter who gets the first ten-question intake | |
| The property for my first Fine Print page, and the date the questions went out | |
| The listing for my first Clean Slate, and the date the pets line was initialed | |
| The date my broker answered the questions on page 49 | |
| Where I keep pet notes, and the one thing that never goes in them | |
| The three counts on Fri, Feb 12, 2027 | |
| Who holds me to these dates |
Your wording will differ. Check it for the idea, not the words. Verdicts are our reading of the cited sources; your broker decides. Education, not legal advice.
| # | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Permitted | A question about the animals, asked of every buyer. The ban is on disability inquiries (24 CFR 100.202(c)). |
| 2 | Prohibited | A disability inquiry (100.202(c); 760.27(3)(a)). Note only the animal, and route the request to the association. |
| 3 | Prohibited | Points toward a crime (817.265) and practitioner discipline (456.072(1)(pp)); online documents alone are not sufficient (760.27(3)(c)). |
| 4 | Prohibited | In Florida an approved ESA carries no “extra compensation” (760.27(2)); the tenant still pays for actual damage (760.27(4)). The landlord’s counsel answers any question. |
| 5 | Prohibited to agree | 767.14 binds local governments and public housing authorities only. Quote the HOA rule; its enforceability is for the association’s counsel. |
| 6 | Prohibited | Insurance advice. “Before you write the offer, call your insurance agent and ask how they treat your dog, by breed and by bite history.” |
| 7 | Prohibited: ask your broker | Riley decided alone. Our reading, to confirm with your broker: a public open house is arguably a Florida public accommodation; if it is one, allergies are not a valid reason (413.08(3)(f)) and refusing access is a second-degree misdemeanor (413.08(4)). Ask nothing about the dog or the visitor, don’t turn the visitor away on your own, and call your broker before anyone decides. |
| 8 | Prohibited | No acquaintance exception; registered numbers need an express request or a business relationship (501.059). Ask first, on a permission box. |
| 9 | Prohibited | A gift card is “other compensation” to an unlicensed person for a referral (475.25(1)(h)). Send a thank-you note. |
| 10 | Permitted (our reading) | Pet terms, plus the safer assistance-animal sentence. Use your brokerage’s standard wording if it has one (page 49). |
Where more than one answer is defensible, the key says what makes the difference.
| # | Verdict | Why, or the better version |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Keep | Question 1 of the ten. |
| 2 | Never ask | A disability inquiry (100.202(c)). |
| 3 | Keep | Weight limits are often “at maturity.” |
| 4 | Rewrite | “Would you like a park or dog park within a certain distance? How far?” “Dog families” is people-language. |
| 5 | Keep | Question 5. |
| 6 | Rewrite | “If you’d like, I’ll quote each building’s breed rule, if it has one. Your insurance agent may ask about breed too.” Never steer by neighborhood. |
| 7 | Rewrite | “What does a normal walk look like, and where do you go now?” Then measure: distances, sidewalks, park hours. |
| 8 | Never ask why | Rewrite: “Tell me about your two cats: ages, sizes, and anything they need from a home.” |
| 9 | Keep | Asked of every client; Florida duties follow a declared dangerous dog (767.12; our reading). |
| 10 | Keep | Question 8; you measure the distances. |
The documents, your broker and the seller’s attorney decide most of these. You quote, you route, and you keep the pets safe.
| # | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fix | Move the crate out of the room before the shot. Any digital removal is a question for your MLS and may need a label (Lesson 3.6). |
| 2 | Stop | The pets line says off-site or crated in a named room. Crate Rocket in the laundry room and update the instructions to say so, or reschedule. A loose dog means strict liability (767.04). |
| 3 | Fix | Code it CONDITION and tell Pat. Given the 2025 urine damage, have a professional check the bedroom subfloor before more showings; anything found goes on the DISCLOSE? list for your broker. Clean or repair; no promise that the odor is gone. |
| 4 | Stop | You know of it. Your broker and Pat’s attorney decide the disclosure wording now (Johnson v. Davis; 475.278). You cannot help write “no pet damage.” |
| 5 | Fix | The animals only: “Dog crated in laundry room, door closed; do not open.” Nothing personal about the occupants, ever. |
| 6 | Stop: call your broker | Don’t decide it alone either way. Ask nothing about the dog or the visitor, don’t turn the visitor away on Pat’s instruction or your own, and call your broker now, before anyone decides. Our reading of 413.08, to confirm with your broker: a public open house is arguably a public accommodation; if it is one, a seller’s objection is not a valid reason to refuse, and refusing access is a second-degree misdemeanor (413.08(4)). |
| 7 | Stop on the fee | Paying an unlicensed person for referrals violates 475.25(1)(h). Her cards at the open house go through Pooling Resources’ Sponsor Sort and House Rules, with Pat’s written OK. |
| 8 | Go | It points buyers to the documents and claims nothing it can’t support. |
One page for your desk: the pet-rules page, with the other two systems in the margin. Florida rules shown; your broker and your state come first.
Before they fall in love with a condo, find out if their dog is allowed in it.
| Row | Find |
|---|---|
| 1 Number | How many, which kinds |
| 2 Weight or size | Now or “at maturity”; height; minimum age |
| 3 Breed or species | Any list; resolutions |
| 4 Approval | Forms, photos, vaccines, fees, interviews |
| 5 Common areas | Leash or carry; elevator |
| 6 Lease terms | Deposit, fee, pet rent as written; tenants’ pets |
| 7 Amendment | Vote needed; existing pets |
| 8 Insurer | Questions only: breed, bite history, limit |
| 9 Local rules | County or city page, source and date |
Best: before the offer. Backup: inside the 7-day window, weekends and legal holidays excluded (718.503(2)). No statute grandfathers an existing pet after an amendment.
Association manager · landlord or property manager · the client’s own insurance agent (the client sends it). About the animals and the documents. Dated, with the deadline.
A home that fails the dog fails the deal. Ask before the first showing. Ten questions, every buyer and renter: which animals · size now and grown · age · hours alone · yard and fence · floors and stairs · the walk · vet and emergency vet · travel and boarding · declared dangerous? Home check: fence, gates, pool barrier, floors, stairs, screens; distances measured, source and date.
The pets leave for the showing. The truth about the floors stays. Pets line on The Seller’s Yes · showing instructions about the animals only · odor and wear: CLEAN · REPAIR · DISCLOSE? (broker decides) · photos without the pets; damage never edited out · feedback code: CONDITION.
Jan 13–15 intake · Jan 18–22 home checks · Jan 25–29 Fine Print · Feb 1–5 Clean Slate · Feb 8–12 partners and counts.
Use an AI tool your broker approved, with training off and clients’ names removed. AI drafts and organizes. It never decides an accommodation request, never asks about a disability, and never invents a rule, a limit or a legal conclusion.
Below are my notes from a buyer or renter intake. Your goal is to organize the client's answers about their animals into The Dog's Vote worksheet. It is not to ask the client anything, to add questions, to judge any animal, or to say whether any home or rule will work.
MY NOTES: [paste the client's answers about the animals only. Before pasting, delete any reason the client has an animal and anything about anyone's health]
Make a table with ten rows: 1 animals (how many, what kind); 2 size now and expected adult size; 3 ages; 4 hours alone; 5 yard and fence needs; 6 floors and stairs; 7 the daily walk; 8 current vet and how far the client would drive to a vet and an emergency vet; 9 travel and boarding; 10 any animal declared dangerous by an authority. Then list the Fine Print rows each answer affects.
RULES:
- Use only what my notes say. If an answer is missing, write NOT KNOWN. Never fill in a guess, and never estimate an adult weight.
- Never ask, record or infer anything about anyone's health or disability, or why the client has an animal. If my notes still contain a reason, do not repeat it: write "REMOVE FROM NOTES" in its place, and tell me to delete it from my notes and this chat.
- Never call an animal a service, support or assistance animal, and never say how any rule applies to one.
- No words about people: no families, people's ages, children or who lives anywhere.
Then tell me to check every row by hand against what the client actually said, and to delete my original notes if they contain anything you flagged.
Below are distances and park details I measured for one home. Your goal is to write a short, neutral note for my client about walking and getting to the vet from this home. It is not to describe the neighborhood, its people or its safety, or to add any distance I did not give you.
HOME: [address or sample name]
MEASURED: [destination: distance or drive time: map source: date checked] for the nearest park or dog park, the client's vet, and the nearest emergency vet
SIDEWALKS ON THE ROUTE: [yes / no / part, as I saw it]
PARK HOURS AND RULES AS POSTED: [ ]
Write three to five plain sentences, each with its number, source and date.
RULES:
- Use only my numbers. If one is missing, write NOT MEASURED. Never fill in a guess.
- Never use: safe, unsafe, crime, quiet, after dark, family, families, young, retirees, who lives here, demographics, or any word about the people in the area.
- No opinion on whether the home suits the client.
Then tell me to check each number against the map source and the date before I send it.
Prompt 3 finds and quotes; you check every quote against its page. Prompt 4 drafts emails you send yourself.
Below is text from one property's documents: [declaration / bylaws / rules / board resolutions / application package / lease], each marked with its title and page numbers. Your goal is to fill a nine-row pet-rules page with exact quotes. It is not to summarize, interpret, decide whether a rule is enforceable, or say whether any animal is allowed.
THE DOCUMENTS: [paste, keeping page numbers]
THE CLIENT'S ANIMALS: [species, number, size now; nothing else]
First line, exactly: "Pet limits below apply to pets. Requests for an assistance animal go to the association [or the landlord] under its accommodation process."
Rows: 1 number; 2 weight or size (note "at maturity" or age limits); 3 breed or species; 4 approval and registration (forms, fees, deadlines); 5 common areas, leash and elevators; 6 lease pet terms and tenants' pets, exactly as written; 7 power to amend and anything about existing pets; 8 insurer: write "Questions for the client's insurance agent"; 9 local rules: write "Check the county or city page."
Columns: row, exact quote, document and page, question to send.
RULES:
- Quote word for word with the document and page. If the documents do not address a row, write NOT FOUND and draft one plain written question. Never fill in a guess, and never invent a rule or a limit.
- Never write that assistance animals are exempt or not allowed, and never discuss any accommodation request.
- No legal conclusions: write "ask the association's counsel" or "ask my broker."
Then tell me to check every quote against the page it came from before I give the page to my client.
Below are the NOT FOUND rows from a pet-rules page. Your goal is to draft up to three short emails: to the association manager, to the landlord or property manager, and one for my client to send to their own insurance agent. It is not to send anything, to argue, or to say what any rule means.
NOT FOUND ROWS AND QUESTIONS: [paste]
DOCUMENTS WE HAVE, WITH DATES: [ ] DEADLINE: [the date from the contract, as my broker confirmed it]
THE ANIMALS: [species, number, approximate size] MY NAME AND LICENSED BROKERAGE: [ ]
Each email: five to eight sentences, numbered questions, the deadline, and a request to answer in writing or point to the page.
RULES:
- Ask only about the animals and the documents. Never mention, ask about or hint at anyone's health or disability, or any assistance animal.
- The insurance email is written in my client's voice for my client to send. It asks: whether the dog's breed or mix affects writing the policy or its price; whether bite history matters; and what liability limit applies and whether more is available. It asks for no advice from me.
- If a fact is missing, write NOT KNOWN in brackets. Never fill in a guess.
Then remind me to read each email, send the first two myself, and keep every reply with the pet-rules page.
Prompt 5 drafts The Clean Slate from the seller’s real facts. Prompt 6 flags problems; it decides nothing.
Below are my notes from a listing walk-through with a seller who has pets. Your goal is to draft the seller's pet prep kit for my broker and my seller to review. It is not to decide disclosure, to promise anything about odor or condition, or to write marketing copy.
THE PETS: [names, species, size] WHERE THEY WILL BE: [for showings / the open house / the photo shoot; who moves them]
WALK-THROUGH NOTES: [what I saw, room by room; what the seller told me, with any invoices]
THE ASSOCIATION'S PET RULES: [document and article, from the Fine Print page]
Draft four parts:
A. One pets line to add to The Seller's Yes, with a box and a space for initials.
B. Showing instructions: where each animal is, what not to open, what to watch for.
C. An odor-and-wear list in three groups: CLEAN, REPAIR, and DISCLOSE? BROKER DECIDES.
D. A photo checklist: pets, bowls, beds, crates and litter boxes physically out of frame; no damage edited out; virtual staging labelled as my MLS requires.
RULES:
- Showing instructions describe the animals only. Nothing about the occupants: no health, disability, schedule or reason for any animal.
- Never decide disclosure. Never write that odor is gone, that damage is fixed unless my notes say who fixed it and when, or that no pets have lived in the home.
- If a fact is missing, write NOT KNOWN. Never fill in a guess.
Then tell me to run Prompt 6 on the draft and send part C to my broker before the seller signs.
Below is a draft: a listing description, showing instructions, a rental ad, a search note, an email or a social post that mentions pets. Your goal is to flag anything for me to fix before my broker reviews it. It is not to rewrite it as a stronger pitch or to decide what is legal.
THE TEXT: [paste] WHERE IT RUNS: [ ] THE QUOTED PET RULES, IF ANY: [ ]
Answer PASS, FLAG or NOT KNOWN for each, quoting the words:
1. Who the home is for ("perfect for," families, couples, ages, "active," "dog lovers"), or safety and people words (safe, crime, quiet, after dark, who lives here).
2. "Pet-friendly" or any pet limit without a quoted rule and its source.
3. Any statement about assistance, service or support animals, or any disability.
4. Any claim about breed laws, insurance coverage or grandfathering.
5. Any promise about odor, or a claim that no pets lived there.
6. Photos: damage edited out; pets or crates removed digitally without a label.
7. Distances without a number, a source and a date.
8. Showing instructions with anything personal about the occupants, or an animal loose.
9. Any plan to call or text people who did not ask, or to pay anyone for referrals.
RULES:
- Quote the exact words for every FLAG. If you cannot tell, write NOT KNOWN. Never fill in a guess.
- No legal conclusions: write "ask my broker." Send, post or publish nothing.
Then remind me to run the copy through my Fair Housing Firewall and send it to my broker.
Generic sample wording, not quotes. Every line asks about the animals, quotes or routes the rule, and keeps promises out of it. Fill each blank only with something real.
| # | The line | When | Fill the blank with |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | “I ask every client the same ten questions about the animals moving with them. Which animals will live with you?” | First call, buyer or renter | Nothing |
| 2 | “Tell me about [pet name]: how big now, and how big grown?” | Intake | The pet’s name |
| 3 | “What does [pet name] need from a yard: a fence, a height, shade?” | Intake | The pet’s name |
| 4 | “The park is [__] mi away by [map service], checked [date], with sidewalks [both sides / one side].” | Search notes | Your measurement |
| 5 | “The MLS says pets are allowed. That’s the listing agent’s entry. I’ll get the actual rule in writing.” | A listing that says “yes” | Nothing |
| 6 | “The documents say [quote], on page [__]. Here’s the question I’ve sent the association.” | Fine Print | The quote and page |
| 7 | “That one isn’t in the documents, so I’ve asked in writing. The review period ends [date].” | NOT FOUND | The date your broker confirmed |
| 8 | “The limit is [__] pounds at maturity. Your vet can tell you what [pet name] is likely to weigh grown.” | A puppy and a weight limit | The quoted limit |
| 9 | “Some buildings treat owners’ pets and tenants’ pets differently. If you might rent it out later, we check both.” | Investor or future landlord | Nothing |
| 10 | “Before you write the offer, call your insurance agent and ask how they treat your dog, by breed and by bite history.” | Any buyer with a dog | Nothing |
| 11 | “I can’t tell you what a policy covers. Your insurance agent can, and here are three questions to ask.” | An insurance question | Nothing |
| 12 | “Thanks for telling me. That request goes to the [association / landlord], under their own process. I’ll get you the contact and the dates.” | A client volunteers an assistance animal | Who decides |
| 13 | “I can’t advise on that. Requests go to the housing provider, and they decide.” | A client asks about an ESA letter | Nothing |
| 14 | “The 2023 law binds local governments. Each association and landlord can still set its own limits, so I’ll quote this one.” | “Breed bans are illegal now” | Nothing |
The seller lines, the renter lines and the partner lines. Practice the awkward ones out loud; they get easier the second time.
| # | The line | When | Fill the blank with |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | “Where will [pets] be during showings, the open house and the photo shoot, and who will move them?” | Listing appointment | The pets’ names |
| 16 | “For the photos, the pets and their bowls, beds and crates go out of the room, not out of the picture in editing.” | Before the shoot | Nothing |
| 17 | “We don’t edit out the scratches. We fix them, or they show.” | A seller asks for retouching | Nothing |
| 18 | “I can’t promise the odor is gone. I can tell buyers what was done, by whom and when.” | Odor | Nothing |
| 19 | “You’ve told me about [issue]. My broker and your attorney will decide how the disclosure describes it.” | A known, hidden problem | What the seller told you |
| 20 | “Dog crated in the [room], door closed; please don’t open it. Cat indoors; keep exterior doors closed.” | Showing instructions | The room |
| 21 | “Two agents mentioned odor. I’m coding that as condition, not price, and here’s what we can clean or repair.” | Feedback | The count |
| 22 | “I’ll ask the listing agent whether the seller is OK with [pet name] coming to the second showing.” | A buyer wants to bring the dog | The pet’s name |
| 23 | “When your lease is up, if you’d like to talk about buying, I’m here. If you’d like me to check in around [month], write your number here and tick the box.” | A renter with a date | The month they name; the permission box |
| 24 | “Would you like me to send you that list? If so, write your number here and tick the box.” | Someone you meet at a dog park or adoption day | Nothing |
| 25 | “I’d be glad to recommend you to clients who ask. I can’t pay for referrals, and you don’t owe me any.” | A vet, groomer, trainer or pet store | Nothing |
| The other person says | You practice |
|---|---|
| Buyer: “The building’s pet-friendly, right? The website says so.” | Lines 5, 6 and 7. Then show the Fine Print page (page 30). |
| Renter: “Can’t I just get one of those support-animal letters online?” | Line 13. Nothing more, and nothing in your notes. |
| Seller: “Can’t the photographer just fix the floors in the pictures?” | Lines 16 and 17. Then the odor-and-wear list (page 33). |
Several of these have no settled answer we could find. That is the reason to ask. Write down who answered, and when.
| # | Question | Ask | Answer, who, date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | When a client mentions a service or support animal, what may I write down, and where? | Broker | |
| 2 | Do we treat a public open house as a Florida 413.08 public accommodation? What is our script if a seller objects to a visitor’s service dog? May our agents ask the two service-animal questions at all, or do we ask nothing? | Broker, counsel | |
| 3 | Given 767.04, should our listing paperwork or showing instructions have a pets section (where the animal is, how it is confined, the seller’s own insurance)? Does our E&O cover an agent bitten at a showing? | Broker | |
| 4 | Where do we draw the line on pet odor, urine-damaged subfloor and treated fleas on the seller’s disclosure? When does the seller’s attorney review it? | Broker | |
| 5 | What standard assistance-animal sentence do we use next to “no pets” or pet fees on rental listings? | Broker | |
| 6 | Does our Do Not Call scrub include Florida’s list? How do we document an express request or a business relationship? | Broker | |
| 7 | Does our MLS treat digitally removing a pet or a crate as virtual staging? What label does it require? | Broker, MLS | |
| 8 | Where are all the pet rules: declaration, bylaws, rules, resolutions, application? Is any pet amendment pending? | Association manager | |
| 9 | How is weight measured: now or “at maturity”? Is there a registration fee, deposit or interview? Do tenants’ pets follow the same rules? | Association, landlord | |
| 10 | If the pet rules are amended, may registered pets stay? | Association or its counsel | |
| 11 | What are the pet deposit, any non-refundable fee and the pet rent, in writing? | Landlord or property manager | |
| 12 | Does my dog’s breed or mix, or any bite history, affect the policy or its price? What liability limit applies, and is more available? | Client’s insurance agent | |
| 13 | (Declared dangerous dog) How do I get the $100,000 liability coverage 767.12 requires? | Client’s insurance agent | |
| 14 | 760.27(2) begins “To the extent required by federal law, rule, or regulation.” After HUD’s 2025–2026 changes, must a Florida housing provider still approve an untrained ESA, and does the “extra compensation” sentence stand on its own? | Association’s or landlord’s counsel | |
| 15 | Will the Florida Commission on Human Relations follow HUD’s trained-animal priority, or keep processing ESA complaints under 760.27? | Counsel | |
| 16 | Is a pet limit that appears only in a board rule or a management handout enforceable? | Community association attorney |
Plain definitions for the terms in this book.
Assistance animal. A service animal or an emotional support animal. Not handled under the pet rules; requests go to the housing provider. Florida says outright that a service animal is not a pet (413.08(1)(d)).
“Bad Dog” sign. A Florida defense to bite liability, except for a child under 6 or an owner’s negligence (767.04).
CALCULATED. Our arithmetic on a named source’s published figures, with the inputs shown.
Clean Slate. System 3. The seller’s pet prep kit: the pets line, showing instructions, odor and wear, photos without the pets.
Coach advice. Practice advice from an agent, broker or trade writer. Experience, not data.
Dangerous dog. A dog an authority has declared dangerous under 767.11; its owner has duties under 767.12.
Declaration. A condo’s recorded founding document. Pet limits often live here (718.104(5)).
Deposit money. Money a Florida landlord holds for a tenant, including a pet deposit (83.43(4)).
Dog’s Vote. System 1. Ten questions about the animals for every buyer and renter, a home check, and a pet column.
Emotional support animal (ESA). In Florida, an animal that needs no training and alleviates a symptom or effect of a disability by its presence (760.27(1)(a)).
Extra compensation. What Florida says may not be charged for an approved ESA or service animal in housing (760.27(2); 413.08(6)(b)).
Fine Print. System 2. One pet-rules page per property, each row quoted with its page, or NOT FOUND.
FHEO-2020-01. HUD’s 2020 assistance-animal notice. WITHDRAWN effective Sept 17, 2025.
Housing provider. In Florida, anyone engaging in conduct covered by the federal Act, including an owner or lessor (760.27(1)(b)). It decides accommodation requests.
NOT FOUND · NOT KNOWN. The documents do not address it; or a fact was not given. Either becomes a written question, never a guess.
Our reading. This course’s interpretation of a rule. Not agency language, not legal advice, not a safe harbor.
Pet column. The column in your showing notes for what a home does for the client’s animals.
PetsAllowed. The RESO standard MLS field, defined for leased property; local MLSs add their own fields.
Reasonable accommodation. A change in rules, policies, practices or services that may be necessary for equal use and enjoyment of a dwelling (42 U.S.C. 3604(f)(3)(B); 24 CFR 100.204).
Review window. In a Florida condo resale, 7 days, excluding weekends and legal holidays, to cancel after receiving the documents (718.503(2)).
Service animal. Under the ADA, a dog individually trained to do work or tasks for a person with a disability; trained miniature horses have a separate ADA rule (28 CFR 36.104, 36.302(c)(9)). Florida’s definition covers any trained animal, limited to dogs and miniature horses in public accommodations (413.08(1)(d)).
Strict liability. Liability without proof of fault. A Florida dog owner is liable for a bite regardless of the dog’s history (767.04).
Vendor claim. A company’s statement about its own market or product, not independently checked.
Weight at maturity. A limit measured on the adult animal. A puppy under it today may be over it later.
WITHDRAWN. Guidance an agency has rescinded. Do not cite it as current.
Checked Nov 6–9, 2026, unless noted. “Via” means we read a report of the source, not the source itself. Vendor claims, advocacy and coach advice are labelled where they appear.
Rules change. Confirm the current text before relying on any of these. Florida rules are examples; other states differ, so ask your broker and counsel about yours.
To Your Next Listing,
Edmund Bogen
Because Leaving the Dog Out of the Decision is NOT an Option!