Reinforcing No Pets?

[Danielle J.]

I will enter escrow on Monday and recently viewed units and noticed that two tenants have dogs and the owner currently has a no pets policy. One tenant tried to hide that they had a dog but the unit had a pet smell and there was obvious dog food and poo in the backyard- just be honest people!! I'm concerned about inheriting these pets because I plan on replacing carpet and installing vinyl plank or engineered wood and pets ain't gonna mix well with my plan. Now each unit does have its own backyard and I would consider pets in the backyard but I just think that it would be difficult to manage/regulate once gving the the official green light given that dogs may currently be in units. Do you have suggestion for reinforcing no pets policy in new lease? I will also be living onsite so it will be easier to catch "violators" lol. 

Also I am considering getting a dog for the backyard. Do you guys think it's fair to enforce no pets policy to tenants while if I have a dog of my own? I would really appreciate honest thoughts and solutions :) 

[John Van Uytven]

You can evict them over the pet issue.

No, I don't think it is fair for you to have a dog and they can't.

Why not pick up extra deposit money, and increase the rent for having a pet?