[NeedAnswers2007]

A friend of mines received an eviction notice because she refused to pay a pet deposit for a dog she doesn't own and was providing emergency care for. Her sister who owns the dog was in an automobile accident and hospitalized for a few days. She brought the dog to her home to care for it while her sister was in the hospital because her sister lives thirty miles from her. Two days before her sister's accident, she had called in a maintenance request which she totally forgot about. While at the hospital visiting her sister, the maintenance person entered her apartment to complete the repairs, afterward they reported her to the leasing office as having an unauthorized pet. The maintenance person or someone from the leasing office returned to her apartment and took pictures of the dog who was in a pet cage. My friend returned from the hospital to find a notice posted on her door requesting that she come to the leasing office and pay a pet deposit and pet rent. She went to the office and explain the situation to the leasing manager who called my friend a liar and told her that she had proof by pictures that she had a pet and if she didn't pay the deposit and pet rent she would receive an eviction notice for being in violation of her lease. She pointed out to my friend that the lease states that pet of others where not allowed to visit and she should have read her lease before taking it upon herself to be a temporary kennel for her sister. My friend who has resided in this complex for over five years was in total disbelief, so she had her sister, myself and others write to the leasing manager as an attempt to stop the eviction. My friend really loves the complex that she lives in, it extremely close to her job and doesn't want to move. Can her manager do this? Did she have a legal right to take pictures, better yet, to re-enter her apartment? Should my friend take this matter to court? I would appreciate your input.

[Squiffy]

I would say its probably lawful. It sucks, but if there is a no pet clause, then that is the way it is, if they offered to let her pay pet rent etc, then she should have paid it. It is worth talking to a legal advisor about this, but if she went against her lease, however legitimate her reasons were, I would imagine they had the right to do what they did.

[heather83]

Im going to have to agree with squiffy here. It's a messed up situation, but they pull crap like that all the time. I got in a tift with my housing agency over my dog too. He wasn't written into the lease, but I had verbal OK for him... hard to prove.
Even holding the dog for a day and they can charge you all kinds of pet fees. It's ridiculous, but--they're just trying to do their jobs.

[Lowtax4eva]

I would say its lawful also, pets can ruin carpets, wood floor etc and so there is often an extra deposit requested, it wouldn't matter if its for a year or a few days if its in the lease and your refusing to pay it they can evict.

However call your local housing commission... like the government agency that makes housing laws. Here (Montreal, Canada) it recently became illegal to ask for any deposit of any amount.

[glangon]

A friend of mines received an eviction notice because she refused to pay a pet deposit for a dog she doesn't own and was providing emergency care for. Her sister who owns the dog was in an automobile accident and hospitalized for a few days. She brought the dog to her home to care for it while her sister was in the hospital because her sister lives thirty miles from her. Two days before her sister's accident, she had called in a maintenance request which she totally forgot about. While at the hospital visiting her sister, the maintenance person entered her apartment to complete the repairs, afterward they reported her to the leasing office as having an unauthorized pet. The maintenance person or someone from the leasing office returned to her apartment and took pictures of the dog who was in a pet cage. My friend returned from the hospital to find a notice posted on her door requesting that she come to the leasing office and pay a pet deposit and pet rent. She went to the office and explain the situation to the leasing manager who called my friend a liar and told her that she had proof by pictures that she had a pet and if she didn't pay the deposit and pet rent she would receive an eviction notice for being in violation of her lease. She pointed out to my friend that the lease states that pet of others where not allowed to visit and she should have read her lease before taking it upon herself to be a temporary kennel for her sister. My friend who has resided in this complex for over five years was in total disbelief, so she had her sister, myself and others write to the leasing manager as an attempt to stop the eviction. My friend really loves the complex that she lives in, it extremely close to her job and doesn't want to move. Can her manager do this? Did she have a legal right to take pictures, better yet, to re-enter her apartment? Should my friend take this matter to court? I would appreciate your input.

I have been in the housing field for almost 20 years. Based on what you have said, yes the manager has every right to evict. However, based on the amount of time your friend has lived at the complex and the fact that your friend has gotten rid of the animal (or should have by now), she should go to court and explain all this to the judge. Also, she should tell the manager and the judge if it gets that far, they management can enter her apartment at anytime and see for themselves. If she does this, I find it hard to believe any judge would grant an eviction. In the future your friend should not do this again and consider herself lucky.

[Ken 297]

In the area (Ontario Canada)I live it is illegal to ban pets in a lease.
You can however try and collect damages caused by the pet afterwards.
In this case it sounds as if the management might have other reasons to evict and is using this incident as an excuse.
Maybe they want to raise the rent and can't until the present tenant moves out or they may have had other problems with your friend.
How much do they want as a pet deposit?
Will they still let your friend pay it?
Rental laws vary dramatically from area to area but as a landlord myself I would work with a reasonable tenant to keep them.
I would agree with glangon that a judge would probably not grant an eviction for this one isolated incident.

[landlord advocate]

A non-compliance of the lease (possession of a dog) is not a 3 day eviction! It is a 30 day eviction. The tenant is given 30 days to correct the non-compliance. Once the dog is removed from the property, the cause of the eviction is gone and therefore a 3 day eviction is not issued. Has the "visiting pet" left? If so, the problem is solved. No pet deposit, no pet, no eviction notice (since there is no basis for the eviction).

[Answering1975]

Hi! Perhaps I can help.

Ken 297 is correct, in Ontario, Canada provisions prohibiting pets in a rental unit are void (check out s. 14 of the new Residential Tenancies Act).

That means, that unless your landlord can prove that the pet has damaged the unit or caused "substantial interference" in the rental building, he cannot evict a tenant for having a pet in the rental unit. In other words, if he is not barking, tearing up the walls or peeing all over the carpet, he cannot evict you.

Further, asking for a "pet damage deposit" in Ontario, is illegal. A tenant is only required to provide a "rental deposit" equivalent to the last month's rent.

Your friend is responsible for the dog while it is there - any damage it does or noise it makes but she cannot be evicted for simply having a pet in her unit.

I would encourage your friend to visit the Landlord and Tenant Board website (Landlord Tenant Board - Commission de la location immobilière) for further information.