Pets with inherited tenants question

[Eric McAvoy]

I recently purchased a triplex and am house hacking it. One of the tenants had 1 dog when I bought it and 2 months later now has 4 dogs.

Apparently she was told that she didn’t have to pay the pet fee by her previous landlord and that it was crossed out in the lease agreement. On the actual lease agreement its not crossed out.

I don’t know if her previous landlord told her she actually didn’t have to pay or not. Am I allowed to tell her that I’m the new landlord in charge and that I’ll need the pet deposit? It’s listed as $200/pet so that’d be $800 from her. Or should I just let her use up the rest of her lease (another 4 months) and then be over it?

[John Underwood]

I would let it ride for 4 months. I would tell her now that if you renew the lease the pet fee will be XX and let her know if you are going to enforce a maximum number of pets so that she can prepare to have the money or make arrangements to move.