Dog issue (rookie investor)

[Emily B.]

My tenant is asking for permission to have her boyfriends "relatively small" dog stay in the apartment "a couple of times a month" at night. Lease says no pets unless I agree and they sign an addendum. The three other tenants have cats and pay rent of $10 and a $1000 deposit. I don't want a dog pooping in backyard or scratching up the floors or barking all the time, but I also want to be accommodating as I want this tenant to stay. What should I do? 

[Marc Winter]

We always set a weight and breed limit on dogs.  The breed limits are as per generally accepted insurance company guidelines.

After that, of course lease addendum (covered smartly by previous posters), and you could also require vaccination record and dog license proof.

I once had a tenant that wanted to bring in here 2 Cain Corso dogs.  Almost freaked out about these often aggressive dogs.  

But instead of denying them out of hand, I decided to  meet the dogs.  These two were older (10+ years), and were the most gentle, well behaved giant dogs I've met to that time!  The tenant paid on time, took good care of the unity, and stayed an additional 5 years after she was reunited with her pups.

Be cautious, but maybe you'll be lucky as I was.