Pets, lessons learned, advice requested

Pets, lessons learned, advice requested by Anonymous (GA) on June 20, 2012 @09:45

Hoo boy, did we mess up with our first tenants in our first rental. This is my dog "bait and switch" story. We are taking swift and serious action, but I'd like any advice since we obviously didn't know what we were doing when the renters first moved in.

We rented out our former personal home due to a job change and move.

We had dogs for many years ourselves, so when our new tenant showed us the grandmother's gentle little cocker spaniel and asked if she could stay, we had no problem giving specific permission *for that dog only*. We love dogs, and most of our extended family and friends are responsible dog owners.

Our lease does state that no pets of any kind can be brought onto the property without the written permission of the landlords.

Tenants have paid on time every month and made no complaints, for which were grateful given all the things keeping us busy in our new foreclosure fixer upper home. Hard to buy a house if you don't sell your old one. :-)

Fast forward a year and a half.

Hot water heater fails, we arrange repairs going on this week. The remediation people who arrived first last week on their own (we live quite a distance away) said "the dog ran off their crew". We called tenant and were assured "the dog" is very gentle and safe, which was my husband's experience when he met "the dog", grandmother's Cocker Spaniel.

I went over Monday to oversee sheetrock repair and check out any other possible damage in house. We have not been inspecting property regularly. Saw no reason to at the time with the apparently responsible family tenants. Mistake #1, will be doing regular inspections going forward.

Anyway, I show up Monday, and I want to go out back to check the air conditioners. I hear dog bark, and ask teenager about it. He assures me dog is gentle and it's fine to go out.

So, like an idiot, I step out the back door. Out of nowhere, a very large 100 ish pound snarling, snapping, dog jumps on me, scratches my leg and tears my pants. The only thing that stopped it's attack was me getting back in the door. Through the window, it appears to be a Chow mix or maybe a Husky. It is *not* the elderly cocker spaniel we met.

I am livid. My husband thinks my "inexperience with dogs" might be a factor. I don't need experience to know when a dog is trying to hurt me. He is going over to meet the dog and check on other things Saturday. He, he.

So, we don't want to run off good paying tenants, but I see little alternative but to serve a notice of violation for the dog. Thank goodness we had the right clause in our lease, which seemed like overkill at the time.

If I ever allow pets again for a tenant (not this irresponsible lying clueless tenant), I will insist on receiving a copy of current shots, take a photo of the dog, and include the specific written info on the dog in the lease.

I talked to my insurance agent to see if requiring next tenant to get renter's insurance would help. She says it might not help with dog, because insurance agent would have refused to issue policy on dog like this, and if they snuck it in after the renter's insurance was issued, the policy would refuse to cover it. Has this been anyone else's experience?

Any other ideas? I love dogs, and I know so many responsible pet owners. I hate to say no more pets ever due to this one lunatic if I can find a way to allow pets and yet protect myself from liability. Any ideas?

K

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Re: Pets, lessons learned, advice requested by Greg on June 20, 2012 @10:05	[ Reply ]

Best advice is don't rent to people with pets. I know there are a lot of responsible people with pets out there but the reverse is also true. "No pet ever improved the value of my property." Best of luck, Greg in Phoenix

Re: Pets, lessons learned, advice requested

Re: Pets, lessons learned, advice requested by Jake on June 20, 2012 @11:42	[ Reply ]

You need to send this tenant a Cure or Quit notice to remove the dog immediately. You can be liable for a vicious dog on your property. Post a notice on your tenant's door followed by a certified mail with the same. If the dog is not permanently removed within the period of your Cure or Quit notice you may file for an eviction. If the dog is removed, do not allow another to take its place. Does your lease address the matter of pets? You need a number limit and a weight limit to control the size and number of the dogs. You also need to rule out vicious breeds...especially Pit Bulls and Pit mixes. Be aware that Pit Bull owners will try to pass off their dogs as a boxer or some type of other "mix." A weight limit of under 20 pounds will help eliminate this problem. Get a photo of the dog with the owner so they can not switch on you later. Prohibit any other dog from saying in your rental as a "visitor." Be ready for cats and the problems they present too.

Re: Pets, lessons ... Protective v. Aggressive

Re: Pets, lessons learned, advice requested by Anonymous on June 20, 2012 @13:52	[ Reply ]

Also, make a police report.

Re: Recent news re dog stuff by Anonymous on June 20, 2012 @17:10	[ Reply ]

Maybe the chow or husky mix has a bit of pit in it. I personally have misgivings about pit bulls. It's NOT always the owners, or the way they were raised, it's the dog himself or herself. In the news this week, three pit bulls were living in an apartment. Mom had a baby 8 months ago. Mom went to an adjacent room in the house, and pit bull(s) attacked, mauled and killed baby Tyzhel, who was crawling across the floor. Links: http://www.10news.com/news/31193314/detail.html http://laist.com/2012/06/15/8-month-old_baby_fatally_mauled.php Personally, I don't trust pitbulls or breeds mixed with pitbull, no matter what they are called by the AKC or others. My cousin's 11 month old pit, which she got when he was 7 weeks old, is neutered and she thought, socialized, playing with other dogs since his puppyhood. At Christmas, the then-5 month old dog, stalked our little 8 yr old cousin and was nipping at her, following ger as she walked away (the dog must have thought it was a game???), until another cousin (female) stepped in front of the pup and said NO and STOP. Last month, same cousin's pit bull, then 10 months old, was playing with a dog he's known & played with a couple of times a week since he was 7 weeks old. The pit went after the toy that the other dog had, and then proceeded to bite his doggie friend and finally the pit latched on to the other dog's leg. My cousin and her friend (owner of the other dog) raced to them, yelled & screamed at them to stop, turned the hose on full blast on her pit, then finally, she had to resort to kicking her dog really hard, a number of times, to get him to release his play-date doggie friend (who wasn't even fighting back, he was that sweet-natured!). Off they ran to the vet's with the other dog, who is recovering. She told me with tears in her eyes that she can NEVER TRUST HIM AGAIN, EVER, WITH ANYONE OR ANY DOG, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE. Sure other dogs bite, sure other dogs can cause serious injury and death, but don't you think sometimes a pit bull has a reputation that it's earned?

Re: Recent news re dog stuff

Pit bulls

Re: Pets, lessons learned, advice requested by Anonymous on June 20, 2012 @17:21	[ Reply ]

"Tenants have paid on time every month and made no complaints,""apparently responsible family tenants""good paying tenants" "(not this irresponsible lying clueless tenant)""this one lunatic " It looks like if you had checked on your property more often, knew what you doing, and understood what it takes to be a landlord, things might have been different. But your attitude toward your tenants has probley played a part in your on going problems. What's with all the name calling, do you believe thats the correct thing to do? If so, you will always have problems with tenants.

Re: Pets, lessons learned, advice requested

Re: Pets, lessons learned, advice requested by Lynn on June 20, 2012 @20:32	[ Reply ]

DeKalb County GA had a law for a few years banning pit bulls, they recently had to removed the law from the books, there's is no DNA test available that can prove a dog has pit bull in it. The animal shelters in the county would label dogs as any "(insert a breed that isn't a pit bull) mix" when you could look at the dog and tell one or both of its parents was more than half pit bull. I love pit bulls, I've never had a problem with them, but I'd never allow one at my property because I can't trust the owners.

Re: Pets, lessons learned, advice requested by Original poster (GA) on June 21, 2012 @08:07	[ Reply ]

Part two of saga: Yesterday, I got over to property, told them to restrain dog in garage, and finally got out to see my deck. Teenage dog owner brings dog in from deck, still not on leash as has been requested many times, and it came after me again! Really? This kid belongs on the too stupid to rent list. So, I fled behind another door, and he got Cujo out into the garage. The deck is trashed. Upon closer inspection, the hole in my deck has been dug by the dog. And he's starting another one right next to it. There are long claw marks on every square foot of my deck. The poor bored dog kenneled there all day and ignored is destroying my deck! It dug a hole through a 2 X 4! So, I'm on the deck asking teenage son, "where did the hole come from?". He says at first it was there when they moved in. (not true) I have pictures proving that's not true, try again. He hems and haws and goes back inside. I call niece who is translator for the Korean non English speaking parents. She says she will call the Korean dad and see if he can come to the house. He is there in 5 minutes. He acts like he's never seen the damage before and starts ranting at teenage son in Korean. They he says, translated to me, that maybe my dog did this when we lived in the home. No again. As I told him, our dog lived indoors 95% of the time as a part of the family. She went out mostly just to go potty. If she was on the deck it was with our family. And no, my dog did not claw every square inch of the deck and it did not look anything like this when they moved in. So, younger elementary school aged son is brought down to talk to me, and I ask him about the hole. He tells me that the dog is bored on the deck all day and claws constantly. He tells me the dog dug the hole. Thank you 9 year old for being more adult than the 15 year old or the father. So, the dog is going, period. My husband is going over to have a frank talk with both of the parents tonight. We are sick of being shuffled around among translators. We have decided for a multitude of reasons that we do not want to evict today. They are fastidiously clean otherwise. You could eat off their kitchen floor. The hot water heater that broke and started all of this was in a storage area of the basement that we might not have noticed right away either when we lived there. They pay spot on time every month, and we do not need to deal with a vacancy this minute. We are demanding they show renter's insurance, which the father does not know if they have or not. He needs to ask him wife. :-( The dog is leaving, and we will not approve any further pets for this family. I will begin doing inspections personally every six months to check everything. They are on month to month. Any further stupidity, and they're gone. As much as I hate to say it, I may become a "no pet" landlord after this, and I never thought I'd hear myself say that. K

Re: Pets, lessons learned, advice requested

Re: Pets, lessons learned, advice requested by Kristina (CA) on December 10, 2012 @21:19	[ Reply ]

I would not say not to all pets. These were not good tenants, or not honest with you, that is the issue, not the pets. Just like people there are bad tenants and good tenants. You don't say "no" to all humans just because there is one bad tenant.