What would you do? Tenant pet died....

[Jeff Duford]

In lieu of added security deposit I agreed to let my tenant have a dog for an extra $25/month.  The pet died 5 months into the lease and so the tenant no longer wants to pay that extra $25/month.  But if the dog has done damage that I need to repair at the end of the lease, then I really want the full years worth of those extra payments..  

So.....what would you do as a LL?   Push back and keep collecting or let it slide?  Visit the property and see if there's been damage?

Also, what would you do moving forward to avoid this awkward situation?  Just add more to the sec deposit and forget the extra monthly fee?

[Natalie Kolodij]

You chose rent over deposit. 

You get the amount you agreed upon- you can't keep charging that, there's no pet to charge rent for.