QUESTION
Is it legal for them to change rules if we didn’t sign anything letting us know any rules change or change of contract?
Asked on May 17th, 2016 on Landlord and Tenant Law - California
More details to this question:
My husband and I moved in to our apartment in October. When we moved in, the landlord told us we had to register our dog and pay $200 fee to have him in the apartment, and so we did. We have recently decided to get another dog (pitbull) and we get a notice that we have three days to get rid of the dog. I revised our contract with my husband and nowhere in the contract does it specify a breed or weight for dogs to be allowed. I called the company that building belongs to and a customer service representative tells me that, dogs over 20 pounds are not allowed. I brought it to her attention that there is nothing in the contract stating certain breeds or weights were restricted and she told me "the owner can make whatever rule he wants and that goes, he’s the owner".
1 ANSWER
Your landlord probably will not agree to your having a pit bull because his liability insurance carrier likely would cancel his insurance [pit bulls are a very dangerous dog, even when raise to be no aggressive at times all dogs can threaten to bite but pit bulls bit much harder and do not let go]. When a contract mentions something without specifying details or saying "all", etc., a reasonable person standard would apply. Would a reasonable landlord allow two dogs in one apartment? No. The dogs might chase each other, get into fights, bark at each other, or act in other ways to be a nuisance. ?You are lucky to have found a landlord who allows any pets. The landlord is not changing any rules, just interpreting the existing rules. If he wanted $200 for the damage one dog might cause, why would he not want an additional sum for the extra possible damage? You apparently moved the dog in without first asking him.
Answered on Jun 14th, 2016 at 6:35 PM