Restricted breed Pets and insurance

[Anna Delos Santos]

Hello,

Is there Any way around a restricted dog breed? I have a potential tenant that has a bulldog. Isn’t the purpose of the pet addendum suppose to protect me as a landlord and also the tenants have renters insurance and liability insurance cover the cost? What else needs to be done? Or should I just avoid those breeds?

[Joe Splitrock]

@Anna Delos Santos if you are referring to insurance restrictions, the only option is getting a different insurance company. Just be aware that nobody is better at analyzing risk than an insurance company. They do detailed analysis on insurance claims and pay outs. When they are charging extra or prohibiting something, it is due to a financial risk reason. In other words, if they prohibit the breed, it is because the breed has a statistically higher insurance pay out than other breeds.

The risk by allowing a prohibited breed is that your insurance company can refuse to defend you or pay any claim related to the dog. Even if your tenant has insurance, that doesn't prevent someone from suing the property owner. In fact landlords are usually seen as a better litigation target than tenants. 

Also be aware if the tenant has insurance, you need to be named on the policy. This is so you can enjoy litigation protection and you need to be notified if the tenant drops the insurance. Tenants are known for dropping insurance right after showing a landlord proof of insurance.

You may argue that you are not responsible for their dog, but even accepting a dangerous breed can put liability on you. Other questions that could come up include, is the yard fenced? Is there signage warning of a dog? Do you have rules around how the dog is kept? Are you regularly inspecting the property? 

Bottom line, you can be held responsible for anything that happens at your property. If you can demonstrate that you took steps to reduce the risk, that will help greatly if you are sued.