Landlord Question and Answer Forum

In Louisiana. New tenants, been in house 2 days so far. The only mention in our lease w/them re their pets that we are allowing is that they will only have their 2 large dogs on the premises. They told us they were Amstaffs, very large show dogs and well behaved. I told them verbally if the dogs ever got out that would be a major problem. Now that they are here, the dogs look like pitt bulls and they confirmed same family. Insurance will drop me if they found out. What can I do? Is there a law that requires them to disclose if their dog is a vicious dog and allows me to evict?

First of all what happends if the dog bites someone? now. If the insurance does not cover you then look out. Are the dogs vicious. ?

Posted by Donald G, MA on Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Before they even moved in the tenants said the dogs were very friendly and not mean. But, I know dogs do not have to have a history of being vicious to bite someone if they got out of the yard. I am concerned for my neighborhood. I am so disgusted for not having more specific language in the lease in this regard!

Posted by STACY A, LA on Wednesday, August 4, 2010

You could amend the lease with a new provision, talk to your insurance company and ask what is your coverage on animals . Do you want to release the tenant and look for a new tenant.

Posted by Donald G, MA on Wednesday, August 4, 2010

I have thought about amending the lease, but on the first day of their moving in, we had serious issues with them. They didn't like the cleaning job we did and comoplained as if they walked into a trashy home. I missed some dusting and didn't pull out the appliances and mop under them so they asked for money off 1st months rent! I have a very bad feeling about them and I'm documenting each and every conversation and will follow up by cert. mail. We are thinking of approaching them and tell them they can look for something else and when we find a new tenant we'll release them from the lease...

Posted by STACY A, LA on Wednesday, August 4, 2010

How long is the lease, you just cannot do that if is a signed lease. say for a year. they do not have to move in some instances, you may need a reason to evict.

Posted by Donald G, MA on Wednesday, August 4, 2010

I always ask to meet the pet before approving. A small yappy dog is also a potential problem, and an owner who doesn't pick up after their dog can also be an issue.

Posted by Carol R, MI on Thursday, August 5, 2010

We unfortunately put all of our trust in the person we hired to assist with finding military renters. These are only our 3rd tenants and we are learning some things we did not think about along the way. I am sending them a certified letter memorializing our conversations and reminding them that we required a 12 month lease but they insisted on a 3 year lease. Hopefully, they will respond asking to go down to a 12 month which I will gladly grant.

Posted by STACY A, LA on Thursday, August 5, 2010

I would look into this but certain townships will not allow pitbulls/american staffords/etc. (this is the case in 3 of my 4 rentals) Find out if this is the case in your area. If so, the next step is to find out if the local law superceded your lease contract. You might have an out if the dogs are illegal in your area. Otherwise, you signed a contract. Thanks for sharing your lesson-learned.

Posted by Tammie H, PA on Friday, August 6, 2010