All Forum Posts by: Alexander Rodriguez

This is my first property, it’s a triplex that I purchased a bit over a year ago. One of the tenants, which was inherited by the previous owner, has been paying rent late consistently (for the past 4 months) and by late I mean at the end of the month (rent is due on the 1st). The people living here are a nice family, with a large dog, that I allowed them to keep with certain rules. For example, paying $25 every time they don’t clean after their dog’s poop. Which they don’t clean so it’s additional income haha. However, I noticed after an inspection that the dog has been peeing inside in a room, and there is severe damage in the floor. I never checked that room, so the damage was there probably before their lease started. Honestly, I am getting tired of sending notices every month and the $50 late fee (capped in CT) is not worth it. The only benefit I would say is what they end up paying for not cleaning the poop in the common areas/yards, which is an extra $200 to $300. I was going to also increase their late fee significantly or to accrue daily, but a new law in CT just set the limit to $50. (Apparently a new law to protect tenants, but this time is a disservice because it takes off the table what could have been a resolution to the issue, and might leave eviction as the only choice). Should I evict these tenants or is there a more peaceful resolution? Should I ask them to repair the floor first or increase their security deposit before evicting? Their security deposit is $750, and their rent is $1450. Their security deposit will not cover for the damage to the floor. I feel bad because I know they won’t be able to find a place to move with such a large dog. And they just had a newborn. They are renting month to month, and I talk about eviction because I know they will not move out peacefully, since they simply won’t be able to find a place that will accept a giant dog/aggressive breed.

This is my first rental property, I had it for a bit over a year. Today I got a call from the first floor tenant stating that there is a strong smell like dog/fish in her front porch. She moved the curtain she dad and noticed a stain that smelled very strong. When you see it from outside, now there is a massive stain in the vinyl siding that comes from the second floor, and it smells terrible like pee.

In the second floor there is a tenant that I inherited and has a giant dog. I allowed them to have a dog in their lease of course making them liable for any damages. At this point it’s clear that they allow their dog to pee in their porch.

My concern is that since the damage is inside the wall, if I give them notice to inspect they might try to clean up and cover everything up. So it might be hard to show them liable. (I can’t take pictures of the smell). I was thinking in just showing up and saying that there is a strong odor downstairs and it could be toxic, so I have to go in immediately, then take pictures. Is this legal and reasonable?