Quote:
Originally Posted by retiredguy123
Please. As a practical matter, if a tenant has paid the rent, shows up with a dog, and says it is a service animal, the landlord has no choice but to allow the dog to stay, or risk being sued. And, how does the landlord even know there is a dog in the house? Also, there are plenty of lawyers who will sue the landlord. That is a fact and many dog owners know it. And, if you are out of town, how do you demand anything?
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It's called consequences. You can build it right into the lease. Something like:
Pursuant to the ADA law about disabled tenants with service animals and emotional support animals, you can have an animal living here. However we, the landlord, must be informed of this by the date of the signing of the lease, and you must provide proof that you actually qualify to have one of these animals.
If we find out that you brought in an animal with you, and you didn't tell us in advance, then we have the right to kick you and your animal out. That would be a violation of the lease. If you have more than one animal, and you are only required due to your disability to have one animal, we can kick you out, or make you ditch the second animal.
Regardless of whether we authorize you to have an animal or not - any damages caused by any animal living in this property will be repaired by OUR choice of contractors, and paid for by you, within a reasonable period of time.
Lastly, as is within our rights as the property owner - should your authorized and permitted service animal cause destruction or disrepair to our property, we retain the right to toss you both out on your collective keisters.