by Mary Anne Ragragio
Posted on 2019-09-13 20:17:01
Allowing pets in the apartment is one of many landlords' important and difficult decision to make whether they will allow pets or not in their rental property.
Lots of rental property owners find allowing pets in the apartment can attract potential good tenants and may keep a good tenant for a longer period of time. However, some property owner's point of view about allowing pets is they could be a damage risk to the condition of the property. It is nice though to have a pet at home, unfortunately for some landlords, they enforce a no-pets policy to protect their hard-earned property. That is why it is important to landlords or property owners to ensure that tenants understand all about the no pet allowed policy of the lease agreement. And if tenants failed to follow or violate any of what the lease states, it could be a breach of contract.
Can a landlord have a No-pets Policy?
It is the landlord's right to have a no-pets policy. Although even if some landlords have a pet-free property, unavoidably there still is a chance that your tenants will sneak an unauthorized animal in their rental unit. Court allows the landlord to evict a tenant who brought a pet and break the lease pet clause. The lease agreement should clearly state that there is a pet policy in the property.
What to do when a landlord discovers an unauthorized pet?
Landlords or property managers normally discover unauthorized pets during either a routine inspection, maintenance repair or neighbors reported noise of pets to the landlord. In most cases, landlords send a notice advising tenant of the lease violation and provide a timeline that tenant needs to fix the situation. The timeline is based on the state laws and what stated on the lease agreement's pet policy. And if tenants violate the lease clause for bringing pets that makes damages to the property or bringing pets that cause noise to the neighbors, landlords then may apply for eviction. It would be better if you can take a picture or get evidence to support your application for eviction.
An exception to the rule
There are tenants who have an emotional disability or mentally disabled who are dependent on animals that provide them with love and support. It is unlawful for a rental property owner to refuse tenants to rent the property just because of the disability. In this case, tenants are allowed to have a pet in their rented unit as long as the animal does not violate local or state law. For this to be able to be official, landlords must get an Emotional Support Animal (ESA) Letter from the tenant’s medical doctor, therapist or other health care professional to verify that tenant has a disability.
Landlords cannot just evict a tenant simply because the landlord does not want an ESA. If a landlord does not allow an ESA, this could be an issue because it is a direct violation of Fair Housing regulations.
Eviction
A landlord can give a tenant an eviction notice or Notice to Vacate when a tenant violates any of the lease agreement. A Notice of Lease Violation is often sent to the tenant when their lease could possibly at risk to be terminated because of their lease clause violation.
If the landlord’s lease agreement states a “No Pet” policy, and want to change it to allow pets on their property, the landlord can issue a 30-day issue of change to their rental agreement with a new rule stating that landlord is now allowing pets in the property.
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