Pet Liability Mitigation

[Paoola Sefair]

Hello BP Community!

Happy friday!  Hoping you can share your wisdom on the topic of dog/liability.   How do you go about:

1) Liability mitigation:

From a landlords standpoint, i understand there is not much we can do directly to cover our liability exposure related to dog incidents (beyond asking tenants to get renters insurance and include the landlord as additional insured). Do you know of other ways to mitigate this type of liability?

2) Verifying the breed of the dog:
I understand in talking with insurance companies that the tenants provide the type of breed during the renters insurance app process. But the breed really is not verified until the time a claim is filed and an insurance adjuster determines if the actual dog breed is covered by the policy (as some insurance companies have a dog breed exception list, for aggressive breeds.). At this point, it's too late to verify a breed in the event the tenant's dog is not covered by the policy. So does anyone have ideas about how to verify the dog breed during the tenant lease application process?

3) Pet policy:

Pls share your pet policies, looking for ways to enhance ours.

Thank you in advance for your help!

PS

[Wesley W.]

I don't rent to tenants with dangerous dog breeds or their mixes.  If it's a large dog, I personally meet the pet before the lease is signed.  I also have them send me a pic, so if that's not the dog that shows up at the property upon move-in, I have that as proof of fraud.  I know verifying a breed (especially a mix) can be impossible, but if it looks like one of the dangerous breeds, I disallow them.  Admittedly this is unscientific, but I imagine that's the same thing an insurance adjuster would do.

I know there are a number of people out there willing to jump to the defense of these breeds, but I'm trying to limit my business liability so it's a risk I'm not willing to take.

My pet policy imposes a non-refundable fee ($200) per pet and my lease requires LL permission for any pet.  This way, if they sneak it in, I can charge them or evict, at my option.