Pet Wellbeing Per Lease

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TLDR: Landlord added lease language for taking care of dog and has neglected these duties. Landlord is aggressively pursuing damages caused by dog and will not let tenant out of lease.

I currently rent a basement level from a landlord/roommate. I originally chose this arrangement as my dog has separation anxiety. He operates a business from his home and offered to take care of my dog while I was at work.

Initially this arrangement was perfect, but my dog has been exhibiting severe anxiety symptoms. I was confronted by my landlord/roommate about scratches to the basement door. It turns out, he had been away from the house during the day for extended periods of time and was neglecting my dog. This is why he was trying to escape and caused damage.

He has continued to confront me and scold me about damages caused by my dog to the point where I no longer feel welcome. I have been staying with my girlfriend instead.

I want out of my lease as soon as possible. Do I have legal grounds to vacate? He added this line to our lease:

"The Landlord agrees to take care of, feed, water, keep safe, and otherwise look out for Bruno the dog when the Tenant requests such action."

[Jennifer T.]

Yes, I do think you're responsible for the damages your dog caused.  It sounds like you were not paying your roommate to be there when the dog was there.  He was doing it as a favor that, when he was home, he'd naturally be there to keep the dog company.  That puts his "level of care" at a substantially lower level than if you were paying him to watch your dog.  I mean "care" in terms of legality, not so much of the dog itself.

A clearer example of this legal concept would be (caveat, not an attorney) is if my friend asked me to do her a favor and keep her jewelry box at my house while she was on vacation, but is not paying me anything.  My level of care would be pretty low if something happened to her jewelry box.  Maybe I'd be responsible for something grossly negligent...like leaving my front door wide open while I wasn't home and someone walked in and stole it.  But, if someone broke into my locked house and stole it, I'm not legally responsible for her loss.

But back to your example.  He can't neglect your dog by kicking it (I know you didn't say that).  And, if he was home when the scratching was going on, he should have stopped it.  But I'm sure he wasn't agreeing to act like he was under house arrest and couldn't leave, anytime he was alone with the dog in the house.  It's a highly unreasonable expectation and no one would agree to that without being paid.  That's what a paid service or a doggie day care facility are for.

Out of curiosity, what kind of damages is he talking about?  A basic, brand new exterior door is less than $200...unless the original is fancier than that.  Or scratches can usually be repaired with a sand down and repaint of that area of the door.  It should be pretty minor stuff.

While I understand why the situation is awkward and uncomfortable, those are not legal grounds to vacate.  However, I would speak to this guy and try to come to some kind of arrangement.  But, keep in mind, it's probably not going to be free to break your lease.  Maybe offer that you'll move out and also pay the next month's rent, to give him a chance to find someone else, if he'll sign off on releasing you from the lease.  If he still doesn't budge, add-on that he can also keep the security deposit.

Or if he's telling you he wants a couple hundred bucks to fix he scratches and you think that, as long as you make him whole, things will be better again.  Then it's probably cheapest to just pay for the damages your dog caused.  Keep on living there and give a 30-Day notice before the end of your lease that you do not want to renew.  If that is how you still feel.