Damage to Rental Property Due to Unauthorized Pet

[Jimmy Days]

My former tenant skipped out on 2 months of rent.  I filed an unlawful detainer against her (we are in the state of Virginia).  She did not show up to court and the judge filed in my favor.  She has not paid since the judgement has been finalized and I doubt she is going to freely pay either.

When I went inside the home I found the hardwood floors throughout the entire house were buckled and raising.  There was animal urine over the house discoloring the wood floors.  The floors were beyond repair.  I have had to tear them up and am in the process of having new flooring installed.  I have also had to remove plumbing pipes due to a toilet not working for over 3 years.  The HVAC has been broke for 3-4 years.  None of these damages were brought to my attention by my tenant.  The lease agreement had a no pet clause in it.  She clearly had numerous pets that caused damage to the flooring.  I am assuming this is why I was never called to come out and have repairs done.

As a landlord, what are my options.  I am in the midst of having repairs done, but this could end up costing me $20k+.  The tenant broke the lease agreement by having pets.  As a result of the pets, the hardwood floor was ruined due to the animal urine throughout the house.  I was never notified by the tenant of any repairs that needed to be done, because of this, the flooring and pipes have rotted.

Any advice would be appreciated.  If legal action is an option, if she refuses to pay would garnishing her wages be something that I could do?  The amount of damage caused by the tenant is really adding up.

[John Underwood]

Check with an attorney to see if wage garnishment is an option for your area.

Not to be mean but I hope you realize and learn that a routine inspection would have revealed the dogs before the damage got to this point. 

I must say I have been guilty of this in the past and I also learned my lesson the hard way.