Tenant (friend) bought pitbull after living in rental

[Ryan Swigart]

Hi everyone,

I had a friend reach out about a situation he is in. He has been living in a town house for awhile now and he just adopted a dog (part pitbull) and now his landlord is trying to evict him. He sent me the lease and there was no mention in it of anything regarding to pets/dog. It made me curious for myself in the future about my rentals-- if a tenant brings in a pitbull and there is nothing about it in the lease, can yo evict someone for that? Thank you in advance.

[Nathan Gesner]

1. How was the property advertised? If it said "no pets" or "pets must be approved by Landlord" or something to that effect, then your friend is wrong.

2. The lease says nothing at all? If that's the case, your friend could be in a he said/she said scenario. The owner could claim that he told your friend verbally or that he said it in the advertisement. 

Regardless, your friend is in the wrong. He should talk to his landlord before placing an animal or another person in the rental instead of acting like he owns it and can do anything he wants. Everyone knows animals create wear-and-tear and just about everyone knows Landlords don't always approve them.