Tenant lied on application

[James Green]

I  have a new tenant that's been in our unit for a month. On her application she stated that she had no dog. We recently found out that she has a dog. On our application any pets have to be approved and that there is a extra monthly fee. When we kindly brought up that on her application she didn't check that she wanted to have a dog, she stated that it's a service dog.

-Her "handicap" is not plainly visible in any way, so are we legally able to ask her why she needs a service dog?

- Can we charge her the extra for the "service" dog?

-Is this a breach of her contract because she lied?

Also she told our PM that she was divorced with 2 teenage children. We have everyone's name on the lease as occupants. She ends up disclosing to my wife in a general conversation that she is married & that her husband is deployed oversees and won't be back for x months. So this possibly puts us in a position of adding an occupant to the lease, only because they are married, but we have no idea who this person is.

-Do we have to add the "husband"?

-Is this a breach or can we void the lease and get someone else in the unit?

She seems to be a nice tenant & the dog is definitely friendly. I'm not sure if these are actual red flags yet, she's only been there a month but I want to be prepared.

thanks

[John Underwood]

@James Green I believe I heard that you can require a Doctors note saying that she needs a service animal. They do not need to disclose the condition that requires this only that one is needed.

I also believe you can ask for certification of this animal being a certified service animal.

You can't charge extra for as service animal as these are not"pets".

The husband thing is another wrinkle. I would tell her that the husband has to submit to a background check prior to being added to the lease. My lease states that there is an extra $150/month for persons found to be living in the property that are not on the lease.

Your PM should know the laws and rules for your area. That is one of the reasons you are paying them.