Allergic reaction to cat in upper unit

[Tashsa Holmes]

Hi everyone!  l have a house with two units. New tenant moved in Sept 1st into back lower unit.

A friend on behalf of him is using his cell via text to contact me. (I'm assuming friend is contacting due to language barrier, really not sure why renter hasn't text instead) It states : We have a concern here. We were wondering if the upper level unit has cat(s)?

Renter is aware of the dogs from day 1 but not any other animals.

Could you confirm if there are cats please.

I plan on responding tomorrow.

Yes the lady above does have a cat too. ( she never told us about the cat when she signed the lease but we feel she is a good renter so we let it go ) 

I never thought to mention a cat when showing unit, only mentioned the two dogs because they bark and l wanted a tenant that is okay with that.

Do l have any legal obligation to have let him know there was a cat prior to signing lease?

If you have allergy wouldn't you double check with a landlord before you rented a place just to be safe.

I'm assuming he is going to say there is a allergy.

How should l proceed? He has a year lease. Do l have him use his last month's rent for Nov? It's 60 day notice where this property is so should l hold him to that? Do you charge for cost of breaking lease?

It's harder to rent out a place for Dec and Jan plus l live out of area so there will be expense involved to rent out place again but to me that would be easier. Plus lm sure l can raise the rent. 

Other option is to have ducts cleaned but will it solve the problem? He has his own laundry. No cats were in his unit and the carpet was professional cleaned before he moved in. 

Thanks for the help.

[Nathan Gesner]

No, you are not obligated to tell him what's in the other unit. Would you feel obligated to tell him she eats Peanut Butter if he has a nut allergy?

He has the severe allergy so it's his responsibility to mention that and see if the unit fits his needs.

There's a very good chance this is someone creating a false claim in order to break a lease. My recommendation:

1. Make the tenant prove they have a severe allergic reaction to something. If they can show medical bills, prescriptions, or something PRIOR to contacting you, then you may want to let them go to avoid any issues.

2. Stop communicating with friends, family, etc. Your tenant was capable of signing a lease so they should be capable of handling their own communication. Your communication should be directly with the individual, not through anyone else that is not party to the lease agreement. This could be a violation of privacy and get you in trouble.