Renters rights and visiting pets

[Goofball]

I'm glad I found this forum, because I have a little question. First let me give you some background:

I moved into an apartment where only cats are allowed (sadly I don't have one right now because I really don't think I'd be able to afford it at the moment and it really wouldn't be fair for me or the cat to get one and get attached to each other and then have to give it up later). No dogs. My dad had asked the landlord if he could bring his dogs over to visit. He was told no, that if a dog was allowed to visit, everyone in the building might call wanting a dog, etc. etc.

I have since heard that a landlord cannot tell you dogs can't visit if it doesn't say in the lease they can't visit (it says you can't own dogs in the apartment though), and that what the landlord says verbally really doesn't mean too much. I've also heard that yes, the landlord can verbally tell you that no dogs are allowed to visit.

I'm not sure I'd really press the issue because I don't want to get on bad terms with my landlord, but I am curious to know if it is legal for a landlord to say no visiting dogs verbally if no visiting dogs isn't specifically in the pet clause.

I don't know about legality... there's a good chance it varies state to state.

I'd say it probably depends on the length of the visit. If the dog was staying overnight, it might be a problem, but I don't see what the harm in a few hours is.

Still, since you've already asked and been told 'no', I'd err on the side of caution and respect that. I'm really bad... I would have just done it and not asked, then talked my way out of it later

[Goofball]

The thing that brings this issue up is that I had invited my parents over for dinner. Uh-oh, problem. They had a litter of GSD puppies and the runt wasn't getting enough milk from mom, and really didn't have much suckling strength, so she required tube feeding every 3 hours. They wanted to bring her over here, but I had already been told previously that dogs were not allowed to visit and I didn't feel comfortable allowing the puppy. My parents of course dismissed my concern saying that the puppy wasn't going to cause any problems that the landlords would be worried about, and that no one would know, but I still didn't feel comfortable.

Unfortunately, sometimes nature has other ideas for the little runts and the puppy didn't survive long enough for them to bring her over. And I don't mean to sound cold or anything, but I couldn't help but feel a little bit relieved that I didn't have to deal with having her over against the landlord's wishes. I wish I could say I can take a stand against my parents when it comes to rules I have for my home (which I normally wouldn't have those rules, since I'm an animal lover, but I have higher rules to abide by), but typically if they don't back down after I've protested for a while I end up just letting them have it their way, which in this case could have potentially jeopradized my lease.

I mean maybe it wouldn't have been a problem, but I just wouldn't have had a good conscience disobeying the rules, especially if I didn't have any legal leg to stand on should my landlord find out and become miffed. That's why I kind of wondered legally what the deal is.

Well...

You never want to piss your landlord off. Even if they can't evict you for the reason they'd like to, they can always come up with something else [legal] to evict you on. They own the property, afterall.

[Goofball]

Yeah, I guess whether it came down to eviction or not, I still don't want to do anything that I know won't be appreciated.

[Z Car Barbie]

Although it may not be specified in your lease, you might want to check it one more time very carefully to see whether there's a clause which authorizes the landlord to alter the rules, as most do incorporate that additional provision. Also, since your Dad alreadly directly asked the landlord about having pet visitors, and was told "no", then if the landlord took the matter to court, your Dad would be under oath and would have to testify that the landlord DID say "no" before bringing the pets over - and in most cases, you lose. Also, unless you dispute it directly with the landlord or take him to court to have a judge determine whether you can have the pets there to visit, in most cases, the landlord's pet restriction serves as a valid contract (even if it was verbal). If it were me, I wouldn't do it. However, if you're placed in this situation again with another landlord, if it's not stated in the lease agreement, then I wouldn't even bother to ask, and just go ahead and do it. If the landlord is made aware of the pet visit, then all he can do is ask you to remove the pets from the premises, and he has no legal right to take you to court over it. He can amend the lease to include a pet visitor clause only after it's renewable (that is, if the current lease doesn't provide otherwise), if he wishes.

Hope this helps.