Can landlord change pet policies mid-lease and force me to get rid of my dogs?

"Landlord" is wrong. A Lease is, by definition, a contract. A contract has "clauses" which either can be enacted now, or sometime during the contract period. If there IS a clause stating " one pet per apartment with a $375 pet deposit and $10 extra a month on rent" then your are merely activating this clause. The "new management" cannot arbitrarily decide what to honor and what not to. The lease is a guarantee for BOTH parties that there will be no changes in the rental situation for the duration of the lease. So, no the landlord's agent (management company) cannot legally make this change. However, if the complex has made a Policy Change, all new leases (and this MUST be done unilaterally) will contain the new clause, "No Pets". This would mean you have to find a new place for when your lease is not renewed.

Would you like the correct answer?

Your lease cannot be amended unless you agree to it. If you have an agreement that you are permitted to have these pets until the expiration of the lease, you are permitted to keep them unless they violate the terms of the lease or the rules of the complex.

Now, that being said, even if they consider this dog "dangerous", they cannot force you to EVER get rid of your dog(s). EVER. The dogs are your property. Period. They can evict you for lease violation. They can give you a choice to remove the dogs or vacate, but they can NEVER force you to give up ownership of the dogs.

Your apartment managers are idiots. No rescues? They don't understand that about 99% of the dogs in shelters were bred by a breeder originally? They would prefer some inbred puppy mill dog with a genetically bad temperament? Dog fighters are breeders - so a fighting pit bull is ok, as long as you bought it from Michael Vick, but a Greyhound rescued off the track isn't? Morons.

As far as your dog growling and barking, you have a serious problem. You should not have this dog in an apartment. That's all there is to it.

At this point, personally, I would ignore the notifications I got. I would, in writing, state that a muzzle was purchased, private training classes have been enrolled in, and that the dog will be double leashed with a proper collar and muzzle at all times. The problem is that it doesn't fix your dog escaping and attacking someone out of fear, your dog pulling the leash out of your hand and hurting someone, or other situations. It's not just about biting; if the dog gets free and crashes into someone in one of his barking fits, and this person gets injured, you *will* be liable and the complex *could* be liable.

It's time to start looking at purchasing a single family home or renting a private home in a more rural area. Ask the complex if you can pay a lease break fee to get out and end the issue.

It's also time to get this dog a vet check and better training. It's an accident waiting to happen and could end with someone being seriously injured and the dog being killed. You can no longer just tell yourself that he's just barking due to being a skittish rescue. You need to face the reality of the situation and make changes to fix it.

You know the dog might be harmless, no one that come into contact with this dog would know this. As far as they are concerned this dog is very threatening. He snarls and growls at people he come in contact with.

A landlord is able to get rid of a potential dangers animals. They do not have to wait until someone is bitten by your dog to prove he is a dangerous animal. He is currently growling and snarling at people he meet.

The landlord is thinking of the liability and possible lawsuits and danger to the other tenants of the complex that might be possible if your dog decide to do more than growl and snarl.

If you are aware that certain items that might cause a fire, you would get rid of this potential before a fire would start. This is the position your property manager is taking.

There might be small children living in the rental complex. Small children are not aware that a dog would growl and might try and pet your dog, your dog go past the stage of snarling and barking and bite the child. The

parent is gonna be upset, file for medical damage and who do you think would be at the top of the list to be sued?

In appearing in court the judge would ask the property manager what steps was take to eliminate the potential possibility of the dog biting someone. If none were taken they could be found guilty of negligence and required to pay a huge medical bill.

The property manger is taking positive action to limit their liability and the safety of their other tenants. If this mean informing you that your pet is no longer able to remain in the apartment complex, this is an action they feel would protect the other tenants as well as limit their liability of potential law suits.

I like dogs and other pets, however, most pet owners fail to understand that there are other individuals that are not pet owners and some have fear of dogs, cats and other pets.

I hope this has been of some benefit to you, good luck.

"FIGHT ON"

No one knows for sure what your landlord would do, however seems the first thing on their list would be for you to get your pets interviewed by them.

Recently laws have been enacted that say aggressive dogs must have a certain amount (a huge amount) of insurance on them. If your pets meet the interview and you have the appropriate insurance then the landlord MAY let your pets stay there until your lease runs out and not renew it for the rescue dogs so you'd best move to where they allowed.

Snappy and aggressive barking are frightening if you're not a dog owner so I can see why the landlord shyed away. The timing is not suspicious as this past year new things about dogs were written into my lease as well. So I'm thinking it's the law that's causing this. So your dogs should be considered by the landlord as "grandfathered in" for the rest of this lease, as long as you muzzle them when outdoors. Then plan to move at the end of your lease, or find out if keeping them muzzled when outdoors and on leashes and your dog insurance is paid up if you can renew your lease. See it's a matter or "asking" and not of your getting frightened or bristling. They're NOT picking on you. You might very well be able to work this out with the landlord.

Maybe if you stop calling them rescue dogs. You did pay for them didn't you? Then they're merely secondhand, or you could say your old aunt passed them down to you. No one needs to know they are rescue pets.

Not at as general rule. However, they have the right to demand that an aggressive dog be removed. In fact, they have a duty to do that because of their liability. It is easy to say that the dog is harmless but, they do not know that and they have other tenants they are responsible for. And, being a rescue and you have yet to tame it well, it is "perceived" as a threat. I would suggest that you write a nice letter to your landlord, apologize for the dog 's bad behavior the other day and informing them that you have purchased a muzzle and intend to use it at all times when this dog is out and about. And ask them to "please reconsider". Hand deliver the letter and wait while they read it. Hope and prey. If they still deny the dog, either the dog goes or you all will and, if you are evicted for harboring a potentially dangerous dog, nobody will rent to you, even without dogs. Sorry, I do not have better news.

Unless there is something in your lease that allows them to make this change, it can't be done until it comes time for lease renewal. A lease is a contract and a contract cannot be changed unilaterally. That said the assistant manager may consider the snarl a sign of an aggressive dog and your lease probably covers that issue.

NO they cannot change any terms of your lease until it expires. They can impose any new rules they want to on any tenant without an active lease with 30 days notice.

They can make you get rid of the dog if it is aggressive or causes a problem of any kind. It is legal to require a dog removed for excessive barking for example.

"There is nothing explicit in the rules about snarling" The rules do not have to have the word snarling in them. Most pet addendums state something about aggressive behavior in general and snarling fits in that category. Especially with people that know nothing about dogs & cannot see the difference between scared & aggressive.

IF she illegally tries to evict you or to make you get rid of the dogs you have every right to fight it in court.

Unfortunately many landlords simply do not understand dogs & especially the herding breeds that are known to be a bit skittish especially rescues. I tried to rescue an aussie that had been with a hoarder then a shelter & she never learned to trust people. As soon as I got her home she slipped her color & took off into the woods. I also have a Border collie on my property I manage now that is just scared of the world. She barks & snarls a lot but I know enough about dogs to recognize she is not likely to hurt anyone & she never has. She tucks her tail & hides behind her owner before she starts barking. Her owner does a good job of making sure she never gets very close to anyone and the barking is getting better.

My new aussie is a mini and just a little goofy dork. Still has the typical aussie high strung nature & not allowed anywhere off leash.

Mid lease no, however they can make new laws on any new lease and it is clear these people have zero knowledge about dogs, rescue dogs are no different to any other dog, ALL dogs can be aggressive/reactive regardless of breed and it can be genetic ( unusual) mainly it is poor training/no training and ANY dog will change its behaviour if it is given another behaviour option and that comes down to the owner changing their behaviour and training another option, for most owners that means a good behaviourist/trainer to show them how........... having an anti rental management I suggest you start looking for a new place to live give your correct notice in writing end of tenancy and find somewhere that is not anti dog ( or ignorant about dogs)

All dogs are "harmless" UNTIL they bite/snip someone. Another's perception of your dogs will differ vastly from yourself. However, they knew you had those dogs when you signed the lease and agreed to it,until it expires,

I would think they'd have to honor the lease and you'd have a good case to win. Now if they had given notice that 'effective with the renewal' then they'd have the authority to enforce a change in the lease.

The problem is that if your dog injures someone on property, the apartment management could be held responsible. They could be sued.

Your dog snarled at someone enough to scare the ****t out of the woman. That should tell you something.

I don't care how much you love your animals. Animals are not human. You do not know what is going through their minds. Besides, you are dealing with rescue dogs. You do not know what abuse the dog went through caused by his former owners. A formerly abused dog can snap at any time.

The apartment management has a point.

The incident may have put you in violation of your lease contract, and as such, the apartment complex is within their right to demand that you move.

FYI, moving if requested to so will NOT result in an eviction. Only court ordered evictions will show up in your credit reports.

Good luck