Renting to Tenants with Pitbulls

[Ryan Ahlgrim]

I know several questions have been asked about renting to tenants with pitbulls in the forums but I have a specific question I haven't seen addressed. I was told by an insurance agent that renter's policies exist with animal liability coverage in case a dog bites someone. Turns out that's not true, at least in Oklahoma. I also spoke with my attorney and he confirmed if your tenant's dog bites someone the victim can very well come after the property owner for allowing the dog to be in there. So my question is, regardless of the breed why would you allow dogs at all? Even a small dog can bite and injure someone. Thanks.

[Shaun C.]

I just want to take the opportunity to point out a big problem with this argument. This assumes that all pit bulls/aggressive breed dogs are bad; and that just isn't the case.  This is my pit/lab mix that I've had since she was 10 weeks old that I got from a rescue. She has bit 0 people. I've known 5 lb yorkies that bit more people and act more aggressive than she is. Labeling dogs based on breed is no different than making racist comments against certain ethnic groups as far as I'm concerned.

I understand the insurance companies don't necessarily share the same view, but it's in part because so many people generalize and label 'aggressive breeds' as bad, when it isn't as simple as that. Require to see your tenants proof of dog training courses or Canine Good Citizen completion certificates and keep them on file. This should alleviate any concerns for poor and dangerous behavior.