§ 5.353 Housing programs: Procedure for development of pet rules.

(a) General. Project owners shall use the procedures specified in this section to promulgate the pet rules referred to in §§ 5.318 and 5.350.

(b) Development and notice of proposed pet rules. Project owners shall develop proposed rules to govern the owning or keeping of common household pets in projects for the elderly or persons with disabilities. Notice of the proposed pet rules shall be served on each tenant of the project as provided in paragraph (f) of this section. The notice shall:

(1) Include the text of the proposed rules;

(2) State that tenants or tenant representatives may submit written comments on the rules; and

(3) State that all comments must be submitted to the project owner no later than 30 days from the effective date of the notice of the proposed rules.

(4) The notice may also announce the date, time, and place for a meeting to discuss the proposed rules (as provided in paragraph (c) of this section).

(c) Tenant consultation. Tenants or tenant representatives may submit written comments on the proposed pet rules to the project owner by the date specified in the notice of proposed rules. In addition, the owner may schedule one or more meetings with tenants during the comment period to discuss the proposed rules. Tenants and tenant representatives may make oral comments on the proposed rules at these meetings. The project owner must consider comments made at these meetings only if they are summarized, reduced to writing, and submitted to the project owner before the end of the comment period.

(d) Development and notice of final pet rules. The project owner shall develop the final rules after reviewing tenants' written comments and written summaries of any owner-tenant meetings. The project owner may meet with tenants and tenant representatives to attempt to resolve issues raised by the comments. Subject to this subpart C, the content of the final pet rules, however, is within the sole discretion of the project owner. The project owner shall serve on each tenant of the project, a notice of the final pet rules as provided in paragraph (f) of this section. The notice must include the text of the final pet rules and must specify the effective date of the final pet rules.

(e) Amendment of pet rules. The project owner may amend the pet rules at any time by following the procedure for the development of pet rules specified in paragraphs (b) through (d) of this section.

(f) Service of notice. (1) The project owner must serve the notice required under this section by:

(i) Sending a letter by first class mail, properly stamped and addressed to the tenant at the dwelling unit, with a proper return address; or

(ii) Serving a copy of the notice on any adult answering the door at the tenant's leased dwelling unit, or if no adult responds, by placing the notice under or through the door, if possible, or else by attaching the notice to the door; or

(iii) For service of notice to tenants of a high-rise building, posting the notice in at least three conspicuous places within the building and maintaining the posted notices intact and in legible form for 30 days. For purposes of paragraph (f) of this section, a high-rise building is a structure that is equipped with an elevator and has a common lobby.

(2) For purposes of computing time periods following service of the notice, service is effective on the day that all notices are delivered or mailed, or in the case of service by posting, on the day that all notices are initially posted.