Tenants may be abusing their dogs

General Landlording & Rental Properties
9yFollow

Tenants may be abusing their dogs

Stephanie CabralPro Member
Rental Property Investor · Wethersfield, CT · Member since 2014 · 152 posts · 122 votes

Help! I got a call today from a concerned neighbor telling me that the tenants leave their dogs outside, sometimes for days, without water. They bark at all hours of the night causing a nuisance and they escape and roam the neighborhood. Apparently the cops and/or dog warden have been called 4-5 times on them. I'm not sure why this is the first I'm hearing about I'd appreciate suggestions. FYI, I volunteer for a dog rescue and don't agree with how they treat the dogs, but I haven't seen the abuse first hand. Do I approach this from the abuse perspective? Disrupting the neighborhood? Or is there perhaps a standard landlord tenant law that might be helpful here?

Best,

Stephanie

-

Podcast Guest on Show #360
0Reply
38 views

Most Popular Reply

Jay HinrichsBusiness Member
Real Estate Consultant · Summerlin, NV · Member since 2014 · 45k+ posts · 66k+ votes
9y

I will let others chime in that are more up to speed on landlord issues like this.

however I can certainly say if that was my tenant and I confirmed that the dogs were left in the heat with no water.. were chained up or abused in any way.. I would evict them and turn them into the police for animal cruelty.. some of the things I have seen with dogs is just something I simply cant comprehend.. 

Good luck and I hope you take a very hard line on this if the allegations are found to be true.

Podcast Guest on Show #222
JLH Capital Partners51 Review
WebsiteView Page
2Reply
See this reply in the discussion

13 Replies

Jump to latestLatest
  • Jay HinrichsBusiness Member
    Real Estate Consultant · Summerlin, NV · Member since 2014 · 45k+ posts · 66k+ votes
    9y

    I will let others chime in that are more up to speed on landlord issues like this.

    however I can certainly say if that was my tenant and I confirmed that the dogs were left in the heat with no water.. were chained up or abused in any way.. I would evict them and turn them into the police for animal cruelty.. some of the things I have seen with dogs is just something I simply cant comprehend.. 

    Good luck and I hope you take a very hard line on this if the allegations are found to be true.

    Podcast Guest on Show #222
    JLH Capital Partners51 Review
    WebsiteView Page
    2Reply
  • Stephanie CabralPro Member
    OP
    Rental Property Investor · Wethersfield, CT · Member since 2014 · 152 posts · 122 votes
    9y

    Thanks @Jay Hinrichs - if the police have come and done nothing, do I have grounds to evict them? My plan right now is to tell them to surrender the dogs to a rescue organization or I'll evict.

    Podcast Guest on Show #360
    0Reply
  • Jay HinrichsBusiness Member
    Real Estate Consultant · Summerlin, NV · Member since 2014 · 45k+ posts · 66k+ votes
    9y

    I don't know as I don't get into tenant landlord issues at that level... all I know is if i saw someone staking a dog to a pole on a rope or chain and sitting in the sun or out in the backyard with no food or water.. they would be gone.. I don't care what it would take.

    Podcast Guest on Show #222
    JLH Capital Partners51 Review
    WebsiteView Page
    2Reply
  • Nicole A.Pro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Baltimore County Maryland and Tampa Florida · Member since 2013 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    9y

    @Stephanie Cabral At this point, you just are going off of someone's word. It might not be abuse. The dogs might be outside a lot, but the neighbor doesn't agree with the idea of dogs being outside, so she/he exaggerates and/or calls it abuse. If the police have done nothing, then clearly they saw nothing wrong. I love dogs, but I don't think this is really--at least at this point--something for you to get involved in.

    If you want to take the time out of your days and make several drive-bys to see the dogs outside and take pics, you may have some sort of solid ground to take action. But right now, it's just words. You'll call and ask your tenants about it, they'll get defensive. Then they'll argue with the neighbors about it. Then it's more drama and more phone calls for you.

    0Reply
  • Deanna McCormick
    Minneapolis, MN · Member since 2013 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    9y

    Call animal control, find out about reports to the property and give tenant a notice to fix the problem or they will have to remove the dogs.. 

    So once you have that paperwork,  you know what the issue is and tenant either needs to comply or remove dogs or move out.. 

    I don't rent to anyone with pets because they aren't home owners and never take care of the property properly with a indoor or outdoor pet. No pet deposit would ever cover some of the destruction I have seen while working in the industry, and cats are even more of a problem than could be imagined 

    1Reply
  • Gail K.
    Augusta, GA · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    9y

    I agree with Deanna; Call your Animal Control and state you've heard they've been called several times on your tenants and you'd like to confirm this has taken place.

    The problem with simply evicting your tenants is that this does nothing to end the suffering of the dogs if they are left without food or water.  They just move to another place and continue the same behavior.

    Gail

    1Reply
  • Stephanie Boyd
    Waterford, CA · Member since 2017 · 2 posts · 0 votes
    9y

    Hello! I thought I should mention to approach them in a positive way; it's possible the dogs have a "lixit" like we do; it artaches to the hose bib and is a small spout that the dog licks and gets water out. Maybe? :) we can hope!

    0Reply
  • Ceril S.Pro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Ithaca, NY · Member since 2014 · 180 posts · 80 votes
    9y

    I agree with previous posters and want to add that you may want a stronger pet addendum that addresses this possible issue in your lease. We have a "pet interview" that is required before someone can rent, citing that our property manager has to know that she can be on the property without any danger of aggression from the pet.  I believe it also has a paragraph on abuse that allows us the right to enter the property if we believe that their pet is in distress and that any costs that we incur from boarding a pet that has been abandoned will be charged back to them. They sign off that they have or will get training to be a pet owner and will get appropriate veterinary care of the animal, etc. 

    1Reply
  • Thomas S.
    Member since 2016 · 13k+ posts · 12k+ votes
    9y
    Take Deanna's advice. If at this time you have no first hand evidence of abuse you have no grounds to take any action beyond questioning the tenant directly. Get the evidence first, possibly encourage the neighbours to continue to report the issues to the authorities and if the reports turn out to be true then take action.
    0Reply
  • Stephanie CabralPro Member
    OP
    Rental Property Investor · Wethersfield, CT · Member since 2014 · 152 posts · 122 votes
    9y

    Thanks all, I called animal control and they only have a record of 1 call for barking, not abuse. I asked about the conditions the animals were kept in and she said they were healthy and the outside area is sufficient for dogs their size. I do like the idea of including language that addresses suspicions of abuse and we also do animal meet and greets. Animal control suggested that this may be more of an issue of the neighbors not getting along than neglect so at this point, there's no necessary cause for action.

    Thanks for all of your help. I'm glad this was a false alarm and now I have more experience than I did 2 days ago.

    Best,

    Podcast Guest on Show #360
    1Reply
  • Nicole A.Pro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Baltimore County Maryland and Tampa Florida · Member since 2013 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    9y

    Good to hear, @Stephanie Cabral! So Animal Control pretty much suggested what I was also suggesting regarding possible exaggeration/neighbors not getting along.

    Also, for future note, since it's clear neighbors have your personal phone number, never feel like you must instantly answer the phone or instantly return their calls if they're calling you. I used to have a neighbor that somehow got my number and she would call over the silliest complaints. She learned to tone it down when I simply didn't respond to silly complaints that had no basis or importance.

    0Reply
  • Stephanie CabralPro Member
    OP
    Rental Property Investor · Wethersfield, CT · Member since 2014 · 152 posts · 122 votes
    9y

    Yes @Nicole A. - I don't like that they might not be getting along with the neighborhood but I would prefer that over animal abuse any day. I haven't responded to the calls but my only concern with that is I don't want to have a reputation as a derelict landlord who's bringing the neighborhood down. My properties are in nice neighborhoods and I take pride in putting good people in them. I like my reputation at this point, but need to balance that with being overly responsive because I imagine a scene just like you had where they're calling whenever they feel like it. I have a tenant like that now, he was upset b/c the yard was lumpy and it took a long time to mow and then he found a spider in the house. I finally had to tell him I wouldn't respond anymore to items that don't require my attention.

    Podcast Guest on Show #360
    1Reply
  • Linda S.
    Investor · Richmond, VA · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    9y

    @Stephanie Cabral,

    I 100% feel your pain, it's a really hard emotional situation.  We had the same situation last year,  and the answer we came up with... #1)  Look up local ordinance, what is required for the dog, food/water/shelter?   If it's not malnourished, unfortunately animal control can't do anything.  #2)   The best option you have, is to not renew their lease.    That's what we're doing with ours.   

     When we said we accepted dogs, I thought everyone would love and treat dogs like family-- nope... some people see dogs as protection, just another door for someone to go through, and don't see them as having feelings or needs.    It's very hard emotionally b/c I'm an animal lover like you.. but the best option IMO is to make sure everything is good by the law, and don't renew.  

    Also you might put in your next lease that no outside dogs are allowed, that should cut down on this type of person. 

    0Reply
Join the conversationCreate a free account to reply, vote on answers and follow this thread.
Log InJoin for Free