My Rant, My Dog

[doubledragon5]

Well the wife and I had to give our 9 month old English Bull Dog, to my youngest daughters boyfriends family for maybe a month to watch for us.. Here is why, last yr when we signed a lease for the place were living in it had in their bet policy "no dogs over 30lbs". Well we payed no mind to it at the time because we did not own a dog.. So last summer we decided to get our selves a dog. We looked at all kinds tall, short, fat, skinny, we fell for the bulldog.

Before we purchased it we went to the rental office to fill out the pet application, and give them the specifics of the dog, before we purchased it, and to find out if we could have one.. They said the dog was fine, it is small in size and there is no problem... So we paid our pet deposit ($400) and went and purchased the dog..

Well a neighbor of ours was talking to my wife about the dog, and how he was fined $100 and told he had 24hrs to get rid of his 10wk old boxer.. What he told me later was he never filled out the pet application, nor paid a deposit. He figured he could bring it in and no one would notice..

When he saw our dog, he asked how were we able to keep ours, we told him we did everything by the book more or less.. Well wouldn't you know a week later were given a letter telling us we violated their pet policy and had to give up our dog, or they would come into our home and get rid of the dog for us.. Boy was I pissed and let them know about it.. I told them how come it was all right for the last 9months, you all seen the size of my dog and had no issues with us having him... Well because the dog now weights 55.4lbs they claim we knowingly violated our lease.. I told them bull period.. Well here in the state of Texas according to two lawyers I spoke with they said even though they agreed t let us have the dog, they now had the right to say we violated the lease, and had to get rid of the dog...

Here in Texas they told me that tenants have no rights, the landlord has all the rights and can do as they please.. Can you imagine, they have a right to walk into your home, that you pay for without any prior notice, and remove a animal and charge you all at the same time.. They wouldn't even let us keep the dog until the end of the lease in July...

So tommorow its is time to look at some other places we'd seen in the area, which we like and want to stay because of the shools, and it is close to all the stores.. We found a few that have no wght limit on the size dog, just they don't want any aggressive one.. boy has this been a nightmare the last couple of weeks...

[HAL9000]

Originally Posted by doubledragon5 Well the wife and I had to give our 9 month old English Bull Dog, to my youngest daughters boyfriends family for maybe a month to watch for us.. Here is why, last yr when we signed a lease for the place were living in it had in their bet policy "no dogs over 30lbs". Well we payed no mind to it at the time because we did not own a dog.. So last summer we decided to get our selves a dog. We looked at all kinds tall, short, fat, skinny, we fell for the bulldog. .

Sorry Chris, I have to side with the landlord on this one... you state clearly the ruling was no dogs over 30 pounds... Bulldogs easily go over 30 pounds and this is something you should have realized with the purchase. I could see if we're talking 31 pounds or something, give a person a bit of grace, but we're talking almost double the allowable weight.

[Jester]

Even though they lease states no dogs over 30 lbs it was cleared through the land lord first. So I still think that Chris is in the right. It just insures that the land lord looses buisness, and future business from anyone that Chris might have referred. I would be sure to tell him that after you get your security deposite back.

This is why I own my home. I cannot stand the idea of someone telling me what to do with my yard, my pets, my paint, ect. I lived in base houseing. Had my grass cut to the proper length once a week right before inspections. Had the bushes trimed and the edging done. Well some clown that didnt like me (because I reported him beating his wife) was on yard inspection duty and kept failing my yard. I tried to explain to the housing office that this guy had a score to settle, but they wouldn't listen. So I moved out rather than fail a yard inspection for a 3rd time and get kicked out with no housing allowence.

I will never be a the disgression of others for my home. Thats why I will live on the out skirts of suburbia where the home owners associsations are non existant. If I am paying for my house and my land you better bet your buttons I will not let someone tell me I can't have a rusted out car in the front yard. I take good care of my yard and landscaping, but I refuse to have the option of doing what I want with it taken away from me.

[HAL9000]

That's different when you own your own home, but when it's somebody elses agreement that you signed, in this case, no dogs over 30 pounds, you're out of luck. Sure, it may have been approved at less than 30 pounds, but now it's over that classification.

Lets take a different scenario... totally off the wall here... I have a plane... it can carry a maximum of 500 pounds of fuel, it holds 4 people, maximum takeoff weight is dry weight +750 pounds... If I put in 4 people (200 pounds each), the maximum allowable as defined by the aircraf design and fill it with the maximum amount of fuel, again, approved by the design, are you going to feel safe in this aircraft at dry weight +1300 pounds? They're both approved limits.

OK, might be a ridiculous scenario, but the point remains, a signed agreement... a legal document. Sure, the landlord may know the dog may go over 30 pounds, but so do you. You're both taking the risk and the contract is there for a specific reason, to be the judge. If the dog was 29 pounds and the landlord trying to remove the dog, you would be holding that same contract pretty high and mighty in defense... but now it's garbage because it works against you?

[EzyStvy]

Tenants do have rights….Just not as many as the landlord/owner….

Back in the good old days, the landlord could have inspected your apartment and noticed that there isn’t/wasn’t any damage and possibly made an exception in your case.

When the Fair Housing rules and recs kicked in several years ago, landlords were compelled to treat everyone equally and in a fair and consistent manner.

[doubledragon5]

I knew the dog was getting bigger bythe day, but there are still other tenants here that have bigger dogs I se them all the time. It just bugs me to death that one tenant who tried to bring in his own dog wothout the landlords permission is the one who got my dog kicked out.. Today we go looking again. We have found a few like I said that have no weight restrictions on the dog.. Were planning on getting another house, but right now money wise it is not possible.. But were going anyway to try and get pre-qualified for some kind of a loan to hopefully buy us a house.. With the rates so low I found some (and nice ones at that, and with plenty of room) where the mortage at 6% the cost before insurance and taxes are at $575 a month... I feel the landord is doing this more because he doesn't want a law suit brought agains him for allowing one to have a dog over 30lbs, and not the other..

[Markoman01027]

I have to side with the landlord too. Rules are rules, and they must be followed. Remember, you are living on the landlord's property, and he is renting you one portion of his property. There is no law that says he has to keep renting it to you.


Here in the state of MA, the Tenants have more power than the Landlords.

[doubledragon5]

Well I talked to 3 different landlords, and thy said that what my current landlord did was wrong. they said that when a landlord signs an agreement to let you have a pet, then they don't have the right to claim they can walk into your home and remove it.. Tommorow I will be getting a hold of the Apt assoication to file a complaint against this particular landlord.. They also said that I have a right to talk to the actual property owners, which the office has refused to give us the contact number...

[Markoman01027]

Those landords are not lawyers. You should not be going to other landlords asking for legal advice, etc. From your first post, the rules are that you cannot have a dog that is x amount of weight(or over). Even if the landlord allows you to get a pet that is below x, and then the pet goes above x it is still a violation of the agreement that you signed prior to moving in. Rules are Rules. There are no ways to go around them.


My father is able to enter any unit with prior notification to the tenant(I believe he needs to have a reason to enter the household, such as inspection of electrical, heating, etc systems)(Basically, you need probable cause). If my father spots something in his vision that violates the rules of the agreement, that is breach of contract, my father can sue/evict the offending tenants. But he cannot just barge into the unit, go looking around for something that violates the contract, and then remove the offending item. That would be childish and I think, illegal. But I am not a lawyer. For such matters, my parents always talk to their attorney before doing anything to the tenants.

[HAL9000]

I agree, it's not a decision by other landlords, it's a legal contract to be upheld by lawyers and a judge. I don't think any landlord in the US or Canada can just enter without some kind of prior notice to entry and why. They may not be able to legally remove the dog, but I'm pretty sure they would be legally able to evict.

[doubledragon5]

Ya know I do agree with you both to an extent.. How ever I do have the right to speak with the actual property owners.. In this case while wanting to do just that, I was shut out by the office.. If the actual owners agree with the office than fine no hard feelings, but I wasn't even given that chance.. All of the apartments around here follow the fair housing act here in texas, but some do it more than others.. Me telling these other folks, was just part of the discussion as the why I wanted to see about renting with them, and why I was leaving my current appartment.. I have always followed the rules, and in this case I felt I was doing just that.. In the begining I was not aware of the actual wght limit, because we didn't own a pet at the time.. For an example we were told by two office employess that we were not alloweed to have a bird. When in fact the office manager said that was not so. So that is why today we have our current pet (blue macaw) linving with us.

[SonicVanguard]

One issue that your brought us is that there are other large dogs within this apartment community. The landlord - on behalf of the property owner - has established a precedent by allowing those larger dogs and not policing their own policy. I would agree that you signed an agreement not to have a dog over 30lbs - but...the landlord has disregarded this agreement for others and thereby (meaning legally) has to either disregard the agreement for everyone or start enforcing their stated policy equally and fairly.

[EzyStvy]

In Texas, apartments are required to have the Owners contact info displayed in an easy to find/read place....

[doubledragon5]

The plot thickens, today we got a notice that they are not going to renew our lease at the end of July. We already said that we were going to be moving anyway. But what if I can't find an apartment by then? Can they evict you out to the street? Most places we found with 3 BRms aren't available until the middle of or end of August.. We are in the process of getting hopefully approved for a mortage so we can buy another house.. We have found some in our area that fit our needs, and hopefully this will all work out in the end.. I also talk to the local Tenant Association and they said it doesn't seem right what there doing.. They said we can come down free of charge and talk with one of their housing attornery about this situation...

[HAL9000]

This is where your tenant association may come in. It seems to me that if you got rid of the dog so it is no longer there, then you are now complying with the agreement and he no longer has grounds to evict you. Again, the association and possibly a lawyer may need to enforce this.

[EzyStvy]

Not renewing your lease isn't the same as evicting you....They might increase your rent if there's a month to month fee...

Have you reclocated the dog to a friends house in the mean time?

Just keep the manager informed that you plan to move etc...Removing the dog would be a good thing

FYI - In Texas - Evictions
1) They'll give ya a three day notice to vacate
2) On day four if you're still there they'll file a formal eviction with the court
3) You'll get served paper to appear in court in 7 to 10 days
4) Both parties will present their case before the judge
5) Judge will make his/her rulling - will probably give you ten days or so to get out (provided you lose)
6) If you don't get out when ordered - the manager can physically toss everything you own on a public street....