Inherited Tenant With Small Dog & No Pet Policy

[Ted Klein]

Hello BP, I just closed on a duplex in Marysville WA. One unit is vacant and the other has an inherited tenant with a small dog. There is a $200 non-refundable pet deposit in place. When we purchased the property we were planning on a no pet policy. However, the tenant has been there for 7 1/2 years and keeps the place very clean and supposedly always pays on time. However, his rent is about $400 below average market.

Initially while we are rehabbing the other unit we have decided to leave his rent as is for 60 days at which time we are planning on raising his rent. I am looking for some advice on how we should raise the rent and if we can enforce a no pet policy.

How should I go about raising the rent. I am pretty sure that at market rate, that the unit would rent fairly quickly given the state of the current rental market in and around the Puget Sound area. My agent says that we should raise his rent the full $400 within 60 days.

Can I still have a no pet policy on the rehabbed unit given that the inherited tenant has a dog? We don't want to appear to be discriminatory towards tenants with dogs, however, I have personally experienced my dog destroying the carpet by the door and damage the trim around the door and we don't want this to happen in a newly rehabbed unit.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.