I suspect that they were honestly upset about this and it finally came out or they were using it to persuade me to eat the repair costs, or a little of both.

"How do you eat an elephant?

I bought a rental and the lady living in it has four cats.In her previous lease agreement, she agreed to having no animals, but obviously that did not happen.Now I have also told her that the cats have got to go, but I believe she will just hide them from me since I have to give her 48 hours notice before I enter the premises. 

Emotional assistant animals are not considered pets to most so be sure what the laws and rules are around that in your state.Congratualations your purchase.

There's some ceiling water damage that will eat up most of their deposit as I only collected half months rent.

But before purchasing I decided to check my zoning codes and ensure we were zoned and permitted to have animals.

@Frankie Paterno"Never invest in anything that needs painting or eats"

If her therapist does prescribe an animal for her, and you contact the therapist and confirm the prescription you are required to accommodate the animal, same as you would if your tenant became disabled and placed in a wheelchair.You can set the accommodation rules, where the pet can go potty, how often it is to be cleaned up, no barking to disturb neighbors, rabies shots, not under 6 months, potty trained, etc.You might want to tell the tenant that your insurance does not cover liability for certain breeds and if her therapist or she ends up with one of the breeds your insurance does not cover she will be required to find and pay for a policy to cover you before bringing the animal onto the premises. 

Might want to animal proof with big backyard.

Depending on zoning and the county rules there's a bunch of different ways to use that much land for profit centers: storage, parking (boat, RV, vehicle), tiny homes, mobile homes, RVs, cattle, animals, community garden.....the list goes on.Get creative and use this property to its max potential!!