Can a landlord suddenly implement a "no pets" policy and....

[Methais]

My gf's been living in her place for just under a year now with 3 dogs, and the landlord never had a "no pets" policy, and probably half the people in her complex have dogs or cats, some of who have been living there for 5+ years.

So today he shows up at her place wanting her to sign some paper to add a "no pets" clause to her lease, and says that anyone who doesn't sign the paper will be automatically evicted. She wasn't home, but apparently he's been going door to door getting other people to sign it. It's not a petition or anything, it's a separate paper he's trying to add to each person's lease.

His reason for this was that his insurance cancelled and he had to get a new policy, and supposedly they're going to charge him more if he allows dogs on the property. We're pretty sure he's lying about this, because there's this one old cunt that has the landlord on speed dial to call and complain about other tenants' dogs, despite having a dog herself that she lets run loose half the time, and everytime she raises hell about someone's dogs he tries to pull some shit like this. Plus his insurance has no reason to cancel him, as he hasn't made any claims or been sued by anyone, so we're pretty sure he's just using this as an excuse and hoping everyone's dumb enough to go along with it.

Not to mention, my gf has her own private insurance on her place, insured up to $100,000 for anything that happens, be it something her dogs do, weather damage, etc. Covers pretty much everything as far as I know, so I'm not really buying his insurance excuse. She keeps the dogs inside, and when they go out to use the bathroom, she either has them on a leash or has them tethered to a tree and stays outside with them, so the dogs never leave the property.

Anyway, can this guy legally evict her if she refuses to sign the paper? Is any of this legal at all? What are her options, other than moving or getting rid of the dogs obviously? I know the laws probably vary from state to state, but with all the lawyers we have on here, hopefully I can get at least some info/suggestions.

Thanks.

[Ardwen]

Insurance is considerably more for homes with certain kinds of animals, I'd imagine an apartment place is worse.

[Ignot]

I would hope she would be grandfathered in at least until her lease is up. That sucks.


My gf

Liar.

[Methais]

Yeah, but can he still legally evict someone for not agreeing to alter the terms of their lease? That sounds pretty....not legal.

Besides I'm pretty sure he's just making the insurance thing up. He always has some excuse for his shit everytime he gets a hardon for getting rid of everyone's dogs, but let's assume he's not full of shit for now.

Plus like I said, she has her own private insurance policy on her place, which includes liability for anything that might happen because of her dogs.

[Numbers]

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=renters+rights

[Skeeter]

It's pretty hard to evict anyone.

[Methais]

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=renters+rights

Yeah, been doing that for the past hour or so and figured I'd ask our resident lawyers on here while I'm looking.

You will be goatse'd in the near future for this anyway.

[Ignot]

That's got to be illegal. who would sign that while they have dogs?

[crazymage]

Get a copy of her original lease, a lot of leases say 'terms can be changed at any time' if it doesnt, he cant evict you.

[Ashlander]

Is he going to make her get rid of her pets if she signs or is this kind of like he doesn't want any new tenants to come with pets so he's making the place no pets now?

[Methais]

That's got to be illegal. who would sign that while they have dogs?

Most of the people are probably too stupid and/or intimidated to even question it when he says "Sign this or it's automatic eviction," which I'm guessing is what he's banking on.

I don't know if any of the other pet owners have signed it yet though. She hasn't gone home yet cause she's waiting for him to go away so she won't have to deal with him tonight.

She's gonna try and talk to a lawyer friend tomorrow if she can get ahold of him, and possibly look into filing a class action suit (or at least threatening to) against the landlord if he tries to evict people for not signing his little paper.

[Numbers]

http://www.nolo.com/article.cfm/objectId/5970573B-9578-49A2-92CD2EF29FCABEE6/213/178/131/ART/

Bottom.

"
Make it Easy to Change the Pet Agreement

From time to time, you may want to change your pet policy. For example, you may decide to no longer allow cats. So that you can easily make a change, state in your pet rules that you have the right to amend the rules by giving tenants reasonable notice (typically 30 days).
Consider a grandfather clause for pet policy changes. A "grandfather clause" exempts tenants already in the building from having to comply with the new rules for pets they already had before the changes took place. The rules would apply to any new pets they get. Without a grandfather clause, some tenants might have to get rid of a pet that no longer complies. This is certain to trigger considerable resistance."


Read over the lease she signed carefully. If it says terms can be changed without notice, then the landlord can pretty much do whatever he wants (which is why leases like that should never be signed). If it says it can be changed with prior notice, same deal. If it doesn't say it anywhere, the landlord's out of luck, and the lease is binding.

In any case, she should probably start looking for a new place to live. Even if she's right and the landlord's wrong, he's probably going to be an asshole landlord for as long as she lives there.

[Methais]

Is he going to make her get rid of her pets if she signs or is this kind of like he doesn't want any new tenants to come with pets so he's making the place no pets now?

He's wanting everyone to get rid of their pets. Signing the paper is the agreement to do so, and he's telling people if they don't sign it he's going to evict them.


Get a copy of her original lease, a lot of leases say 'terms can be changed at any time' if it doesnt, he cant evict you.

Yeah, we'll have to look into that and go from there. Guess that's that for now, thanks folks.

[Stanley Burrell]

Everything you negotiate on is renegotiable by a landlord, co-op board or condo owner anywhere at anytime. Always.

Without getting into too many details, I may have moved back into my parents' house after they painted my old apartment and installed new windows and air conditionining in what was a $600/mo to $1500/mo upgrade when biannual rent reviews rolled along.

And, with that in mind, holy hard fucking hornballs: Fight the POWA' Methigga. Do it for Fluffy.

[Methais]

And, with that in mind, holy hard fucking hornballs: Fight the POWA' Methigga. Do it for Fluffy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kgdikuVQOU

Epic facepalm at 0:22 btw.

EDIT: HOLY SHIT!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7mh-yu5GEA

[Parkbandit]

My gf's been living in her place for just under a year now with 3 dogs, and the landlord never had a "no pets" policy, and probably half the people in her complex have dogs or cats, some of who have been living there for 5+ years.

So today he shows up at her place wanting her to sign some paper to add a "no pets" clause to her lease, and says that anyone who doesn't sign the paper will be automatically evicted. She wasn't home, but apparently he's been going door to door getting other people to sign it. It's not a petition or anything, it's a separate paper he's trying to add to each person's lease.

His reason for this was that his insurance cancelled and he had to get a new policy, and supposedly they're going to charge him more if he allows dogs on the property. We're pretty sure he's lying about this, because there's this one old cunt that has the landlord on speed dial to call and complain about other tenants' dogs, despite having a dog herself that she lets run loose half the time, and everytime she raises hell about someone's dogs he tries to pull some shit like this. Plus his insurance has no reason to cancel him, as he hasn't made any claims or been sued by anyone, so we're pretty sure he's just using this as an excuse and hoping everyone's dumb enough to go along with it.

Not to mention, my gf has her own private insurance on her place, insured up to $100,000 for anything that happens, be it something her dogs do, weather damage, etc. Covers pretty much everything as far as I know, so I'm not really buying his insurance excuse. She keeps the dogs inside, and when they go out to use the bathroom, she either has them on a leash or has them tethered to a tree and stays outside with them, so the dogs never leave the property.

Anyway, can this guy legally evict her if she refuses to sign the paper? Is any of this legal at all? What are her options, other than moving or getting rid of the dogs obviously? I know the laws probably vary from state to state, but with all the lawyers we have on here, hopefully I can get at least some info/suggestions.

Thanks.


So when is her current lease up? She's been living there for less than a year, sounds like it's coming due soon. The landlord is probably using the "eviction" as a threat, but you can be sure that he won't renew her lease unless she agrees to it. It's a bad situation for both.. the landlord is screwed because his insurance no longer covers him for pets and your GF is screwed out of a place to live because of it.

Either way, she needs to find a new place to live.

[Methais]

So when is her current lease up? She's been living there for less than a year, sounds like it's coming due soon. The landlord is probably using the "eviction" as a threat, but you can be sure that he won't renew her lease unless she agrees to it. It's a bad situation for both.. the landlord is screwed because his insurance no longer covers him for pets and your GF is screwed out of a place to live because of it.

Either way, she needs to find a new place to live.

Her lease is up in July. I really think he's full of shit about the insurance and is using that as an excuse (he has a history of shit like that). I mean why would his old insurance cancel on him when he hasn't made any claims, nobody's been sued, and basically his old insurance never had to pay out anything. Plus she has her own insurance anyway that covers her and anything that happens due to her or her dogs. So if her dog gets out and eats someone's face off (they're big babies anyway so that wouldn't happen, but yeah), her insurance covers it.

She's gonna call him out on it when she talks to him tomorrow and get him to produce his old and new insurance policies, etc. Everyone in the place is pissed about it, since most of them have pets. So if he decides to not renew all their leases, he's not gonna have any renters for a while.

As far as I know (she just talked to a couple of her neighbors on the phone), the lease doesn't mention anything about "terms can be changed at any time". At least theirs don't, so I'm assuming hers doesn't either.

Also, he also raised everyone's rent by $50 around a year ago (right before she moved in), saying it was because he needed to fix this and that or pave this, etc. and do all these upgrades and repairs. He hasn't done any of the things he said he was increasing rent for. Is there anything legal that can be done about that? It won't apply to my gf since she moved in after the rent increase, but what about the other tenants?

[Gan]

Go by whats on her lease agreement. No clause = no grounds for eviction.

She also needs to find another place to lease when her lease is up. This landlord sounds pretty shitty, and why would you continue to pay a shitty person money?

[Tisket]

Does the landlord require a pet deposit and/or a monthly pet fee?

[Methais]

She also needs to find another place to lease when her lease is up. This landlord sounds pretty shitty, and why would you continue to pay a shitty person money?

Pretty much, but for now he needs to have that paper rammed up his ass. They're all gonna get their leases together and probably threaten him with a class action suit if there's no clause saying he can change the terms at any time. He's usually a little bitch and not very smart, so he'll probably back down after that, even if for some reason they had no grounds to pursue a lawsuit.


Does the landlord require a pet deposit and/or a monthly pet fee?

No. But at the time the lease was drawn up, he was fine with pets, and plenty of people there already had pets. He just randomly gets hardons for stupid shit, landlord PMS or something I guess.

[Tisket]

How long has he been the landlord there. What about the owners? I doubt he's making these decisions on his own. Maybe it's some ploy to require existing tenants to cough up a pet deposit. Just seems shady.

[Methais]

How long has he been the landlord there. What about the owners? I doubt he's making these decisions on his own. Maybe it's some ploy to require existing tenants to cough up a pet deposit. Just seems shady.

The landlord is also the owner, and hasn't made any mention of accepting pet deposits.

He's not very bright at all and usually comes up with the most retarded "solution" to a problem. Like in this case, instead of telling the old cunt that has him on speed dial to bitch about everyone else's dogs (meanwhile she lets her dog run free and go shit in everyone else's yard or whatever) to stfu or move out, his solution is instead to make everyone (including her I'm assuming) get rid of their dogs.

I've never met him, but from everything I've heard about him from people, I'm going to assume he's related to Warclaidhm, possibly with inbreeding involved.

[Drew]

In this economy who can afford to lose renters?

[Warriorbird]

She should bring up what Drew just said.

Not speaking as an attorney....

...this is likely doable only if there is a clause relating to changing the terms of the lease in the lease. This probably is there if she rents from a big complex.

If there's no clause... she's cool till the end of the lease.

[radamanthys]

Did she sign with the broker (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ts8vMvO32w0)?

[Back]

You could always be the hero and let her (and all her pets) move in with you.

[AnticorRifling]

You could always be the hero and let her (and all her pets) move in with you.

That's not a hero that's a martyr.

[Keller]

I don't know the first thing about real estate law, but I assume that a lease is just a simple contract.

If it says no pets, she's screwed. If it says the landlord has the right to amend the lease to say no pets, she's screwed. If the lease is silent on pets, he would be in breach of contract if he changed it.

He can breach and still evict her (again, this is under simple contract law, not real estate law -- there might be additional tenant protection), but she would have the ability to sue for damages.

[Clove]

I just think the landlord's ultimatum is hilarious. Sign this no pets clause (and since you have pets you're out). Or don't sign it, and I'll evict you. Does he really think his tenants with pets will sign the addendum and promptly get rid of their pets?

[Faent]

Isn't he just going to get rid of her in July if she doesn't get rid of her pet? Surely he's not under any obligation to renew her lease?

[Methais]

Isn't he just going to get rid of her in July if she doesn't get rid of her pet? Surely he's not under any obligation to renew her lease?

Maybe, but he'd also be booting out at least half his tenants too. They're all pretty pissed off and aren't signing it.

I think if they even just get a lawyer to draw up a paper saying "Hey, you're stupid!" he'll get scared and back down. Guess we'll find out sometime this week.

[ViridianAsp]

I think if they even just get a lawyer to draw up a paper saying "Hey, you're stupid!"

I wonder what that would look like.

[Methais]

I wonder what that would look like.

I'm gonna try and get them to write it in crayon.

[ViridianAsp]

I'm gonna try and get them to write it in crayon.


:rofl: Don't forget stick figures of angry people and pets.

[Methais]

http://www.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/1162220/2/istockphoto_1162220-angry-stick-figure.jpg
http://www.moredog.co.uk/dog.gif

[EasternBrand]

Jumping in late, but the answer to this is going to depend almost entirely on state law. And particularly if you live in Louisiana like your location indicates, then who the hell knows what the answer is, because you people are the only civil law state in the country. Anyway, none of the following is to be construed as professional legal advice.

In general, over the last 40 years or so, courts have tended to shift towards being pro-tenant. And for all the talk about a clause giving the landlord unilateral power to alter the conditions of the lease part way through it, I'm not entirely sold that such a blanket clause would be considered enforceable by a court (at least not without some extensive warning, 30 days at the very least).

I don't think there's any way this passes muster enough to warrant the sheriff putting her shit on the stoop. He can threaten eviction all he wants, but it ain't gonna happen. And like Keller mentioned, if he did change the locks, she could sue. Right now, though, he's not in breach just by asking her to sign the rider.

Oh, also, anyone who does sign the no pets rider based on his story probably has a case for rescinding it anyway. Guy sounds like a tragic douche, and your special lady friend might think about finding a new place when her lease is up anyway.

[Warriorbird]

Yeah, not speaking as an attorney, obligations and Louisiana are a little bit different. It probably comes down to the lease and the attached clauses.

[Keller]

And like Keller mentioned, if he did change the locks, she could sue.

If he changes the locks, he'd likely go to jail.

Landlord self-help is frowned upon.

But I get your gist.

[EasternBrand]

If he changes the locks, he'd likely go to jail.

Landlord self-help is frowned upon.

But I get your gist.

QFT, although I'd wager that doesn't preclude a lawsuit.

[Gan]

Yeah, not speaking as an attorney...

I chuckle everytime you say this. Especially when you're the only one who says it here on the PC.

[Warriorbird]

I know somebody who was busted for a blog post. The level of paranoia is probably amusing to non law students but it was brought home a bit more to me than most folks.

[Gan]

You should put the disclaimer in your signature. That would be even funnier.

[Warriorbird]

Won't take it that far. It would be funny though. The ridiculousness of it also reduces my law-ing out a bit.

:P

[Methais]

You should put the disclaimer in your signature. That would be even funnier.

You should put his disclaimer in your sig.

I should fix my sig.