Dog bite, now what?

[Joe Kato]

I had a tenant's dog bite someone in their apartment. I said dog must leave immediately. What else should I do to protect myself as owner?

[Jerry W.]

Joe Kato, you have gotten some great feedback from Joel Owens, John Chapman, and Bill Gulley. Here is my 2 cents. in simple form in order to have liability generally there must be a duty owed by you, breach of that duty, damages and a causal link between the violation of your duty and the damages suffered. In cases of slip and fall or injury caused by the failure to maintain the premises they have a better case because you clearly have a dutyy to maintain your property. In a dog bite cases the duty to keep your premises safe is not usually as strong because the owner has exclusive control over the dog. I think your peace of mind may make it worth while to pay an attorney a few hundred bucks to review it for you. If your insurance company provides one free great, some policys will actually pay for your attorney if you get approval. Either way you really should talk with an attorney if you got a letter from an attorney. They can find out if the claim is $100 for Dr. visit (unlikely if they have an attorney) or $500,000 because they lost some fingers. Beware of suggestions to settle the suit for a thousand or 2, etc., if word gets out that you settle nuisance suits for money, more are likely to come. Good luck