All Forum Posts by: Lara Thatcher

Quote from @Jason Cox:

Hard pass on this applicant. Everyone claims their dog is sweet. 

Ha, ain’t that the truth. To echo what Kelly said, I think it would be a good idea to meet the dog to see how it reacts to strangers. But then again, if it is unaggressive towards me, that doesn’t mean it won’t randomly attack someone in the future.

On a side note, I think it’s wacky that a person would rather have a restricted dog than a roof over their head. I took another look at their application and noticed they wrote they’ve been having a hard time finding a landlord who will accept their breed of dog. Maybe get rid of the dog then…It’s a shame because their application is superb. Any landlord (me included) would accept them in a heartbeat. The only thing holding them back is their dog.

Thank you for your input. 

Quote from @Kelly N.:

I'm working on my pet policy now, and I'm planning to request a veterinarian and prior landlord reference from all dog owners and a meet-and-greet with the dog. 

My understanding is that if someone has a service animal or emotional support animal, I'm required to allow it in my state unless that specific animal might pose a threat to others. Someone please correct me if that's wrong. I'd rather get a well qualified tenant in the house with a dog that I can do a background check on than have a tenant move in and then produce a physician's letter and a dog that I didn't have the chance to screen.

Hi Kelly, thank you for your response! Those are very good ideas. My husband insists that dogs can go crazy one day for no reason so to not allow it all..even if it seems tame and has a history of being docile. I’m conflicted.

That is my understanding as well. Another valid reason to not allow a specific breed is if your insurance doesn’t cover it. Or so I’ve read. I know service/esa animals are a touchy subject. I am curious if it’s a true service animal that is trained, you have to accept it no matter what. Wish I was more knowledgeable on the matter.

I agree. It’s better to be up front and screen beforehand!

Quote from @Jonathan Perez:

Hi Lara, I would recommend getting with an attorney to see if you can maybe have the tenants sign a hold harmless agreement for if in the case the dog were to injure someone that you would not be sued for it.

Not sure if that would help but I would definitely look into it! 
 

That’s an interesting idea, Jonathan! Thank you!

Would something like that really make me untouchable in a dog injury lawsuit if their dog were to injure a neighbor? It sounds too good to be true.

Hi all, I’m in a bit of a predicament. I have very qualified prospective tenants but they have a Dutch German Shepard dog. Female, 54 lbs, vaccinated, potty trained and “very sweet”. I’ve only ever rented to people with small dogs in the past, so I’m not sure if this is a good idea or not. The prospective tenants themselves are lovely and have no issues qualifying, but I am seeing online that the general consensus is to never rent to people who have a German shepherd, because those dogs are prone to biting and aggression. I was wondering if this is different because it’s not a pure German shepherd, or if it’s all the same. My insurance said they don’t cover German shepherds, but said the tenant can always get renters insurance. BUT, they also said that if the dog were to injure someone, I could be sued too regardless if the tenant has insurance.

I’m not sure what to do. I would hate to lose great, qualified tenants just on the *what if* scenario of their dog injuring someone. They say it’s a sweet dog with no history of bad behavior. What has been your experience renting to people who have a restricted dog breed?

Should I rent to them? Would you? Also, does anyone have experience with mixed shephards? 

Hey everyone, I’m looking for some advice. Home someone can help me out.

There is a large hole in front of my rental house because the previous tenants had a flag there. My lease states that no alterations are to be done to the property. They stuck it right between the house numbers so it is quite noticeable and an eyesore. The flagpole was rusted stuck we could not remove it, we had to saw it off. My understanding is that it is reasonable to charge for anything bigger than a basic nail hole. This is a hole from a large flag pole. The flag was ripped and dirty and the pole rusted so we removed it. But again, the lease says they were not to do anything like that in the first place. If they wanted a flag, they could have stuck it in the ground, not drill it into the front of the house, and in between the house numbers at that.

How much should I charge for the hole/damage? Can I even charge anything at all? Thank you so much in advance to anyone who answers.