Interested tenants and slumlords

[Chris Pastrana]

I have a situation unfolding and even though I have a feeling about this already I felt like asking other landlords for their advice... and it doesn't hurt to add stuff like this to my knowledge base. I'm from Fayetteville, NC by the way.

One of my units is now open and just about ready to be rented. A tenant from the local slumlord came by to use the phone and, god bless my wife, turned the woman's complaint about her unit into an advertisement for ours.

Apparently her lease had no pet clause in it, so they bought a dog. After the landlord found out he freaked and brought them to court where the magistrate reviewed the lease and said the same thing about there being no policy saying they couldn't have a pet. The tenant told them they would just move and the magistrate said that was fine.

(Question 1) My worry is that they are breaking their lease and could be lying about this. I personally will not take anyone who breaks a lease. Do magistrates actually do this? and is there a way of double checking to see if there actually was some kind of document to support this?

Continuing on, The current landlord is refusing to return the security deposit to them because he says they are in violation of their lease because of the dog. (Question 2) Should they go to court to force the landlord to return the money?

If there is any other information you need or want to know just ask and I'll fill in anything I forgot. Thanks for reading and I hope to hear from you all soon.