Is it worth it?

[that_guy (Tony)]

Hi guys, recently had a house inspection from the real estate (routine) last week. They said everything was fine and they left, but today I received an email saying we've breached the lease agreement by having the dog indoors. Now, we chose to live at this property out of several other options BECAUSE they let the dog indoors. I've looked at the lease agreement and couldn't find anything regarding whether or not the dog had to be outdoors. However, when we recently got a cat, they made us sign a pet agreement form just for the cat. On the document it does say pets are to be outside at all times BUT they said this doesn't apply to cats (for some reason cats are allowed inside as opposed to dogs). I've been living at this property for 2 years with plenty of inspections in between with no problems with the dog being inside. Should I fight this? I could just put the dog out whenever there's an inspection and probably get away with it BUT its the principle of the thing dammit!

[PCH (Paul)]

Hey Tony,

Sorry about your predicament, but I absolutely guarantee that all renters who own dogs will think about this scenario different than the landlords who usually end up paying for the significant additional wear and tear, chewed sprinklers, scuffed and scratched paintwork and so on.

However, those things aside, it surprises me that, since you specifically chose this property because it allowed your dog inside, that you didn't then check that such a clause was included on the lease agreement.

Just sayin'

[rrussell1962]

Hi Tony, I suspect that if you check the lease agreement carefully you may find a condition that the agreement solely constitutes the terms of the tenancy. In other words any verbal representations made prior to you signing the lease that your dog was fine indoors are not part of the final agreement.

[that_guy (Tony)]

That's the thing, I've read the lease agreement back to front and it has no mention of dogs having to be outdoors! This notice that i got today came out of the blue!

[PCH (Paul)]

Does it acknowledge on the lease that you have been given approval to keep a dog at the premises at all?

And for the record, it's not the purpose of the lease to mention all the things that are NOT allowed, rather it's an agreement detailing what IS permitted.

[that_guy (Tony)]

Yes, it is mentioned on the lease agreement that a dog is allowed. It doesnt specify where the dog should be, just that only the dog that is on the lease is allowed on the property.

[rrussell1962]

What was the clause that you mentioned earlier in the agreement about pets needing to be kept outside?

[casstony]

Contract aside, any landlord who throws out a paying tenant who isn't damaging the property has rocks in their head. Why dispose of a decent tenant for an unknown risk?

[that_guy (Tony)]

These are the two documents I mentioned. Sorry about the crappy quality, but this is the scans that the real estate sent after I asked for the document specifying where the dog should be. The actual document with the pets being outside was signed when we got a cat. We never signed a document like that when we first moved in with the dog.

[PCH (Paul)]

Assuming it's the same managing agent (the actual person I mean), I'm sure a polite reminder will refresh their memory and the situation will quietly disappear. Might be a good idea to get the lease amended though! Imagine the difficulty that might arise if the owner changes agents!

[that_guy (Tony)]

another thing to note is that the person inspecting the property was someone different to the previous inspections. I wouldnt mind them telling me about these issues if they were made aware during the inspection. Just infuriating that theyd pretend everything is up to code than suddenly send these emails about breaches.