Pets in rental property

Craftylee

Hi all,

Looking for your opinions/advice for this situation:

I've been renting the same apartment for 8 years - during that time the current landlord had no issues with tennants having pets. I also never signed any lease or any type of contract with him.
About 2 years ago, there was some legal spat between the landlord and the bank. The bank eventually took ownership of all his assetts (including our apartment).
The apartment was sold to a new landlord - no lease/paperwork or contract was ever given to us.
We recently got a new kitten and didn't inform the landlord. They now want to do a "routine inspection".

Whats our rights/situation with the pet? If we have any?

Thanks

DubCount

As this is an apartment, there may be something in the head lease (between property owner and apartment complex) which does not allow pets. You should check that out. Are there any "House Rules" which the apartment complex issues?

If the apartment complex allows pets, and you have not signed a lease which mentions pets, then I cant see a reason why you should not have one. I'm not aware of any specific legislation on pets being allowed or not, but I'm sure our Government will get around to it as they have legislation on just about every other element of a landlord/tenant relationship.

Craftylee

Thanks for your reply.

There aren't any house rules as far as I'm aware, we've never been provided any paperwork - however, pretty much everyone in the same complex as us has a dog, so hopefully that's a good sign.

That was my thinking as well - surely if a new landlord takes over and there are rules, it would be in there interest to have you sign some type of paperwork so you've agreed to them.

dennyk

There's no law addressing pets in rental accommodation, so your tenancy agreement would govern. If your agreement makes no mention of pets, then the landlord (whether your old landlord or the new one) wouldn't be able to prohibit them at a later date unless you were to sign a new agreement prohibiting them. If you had no tenancy agreement at all, then only the laws governing tenancies would apply and anything the law is silent on would effectively be unrestricted.

Keep in mind that as a tenant with Part 4 rights, you are not obligated to sign any new agreement of tenancy in order to remain in the property. Your Part 4 rights survive the transfer of ownership to the new landlord and they cannot end your tenancy except for an allowable reason under Part 4. Your tenancy will continue under the terms of your original tenancy agreement until you or your landlord end it legally. As such, the new landlord cannot unilaterally impose a "no pets" rule or otherwise change the terms of your existing lease agreement, nor can they declare your original agreement void or force you to sign a new one or be evicted.

That said, the new landlord could end your tenancy at the end of the current Part 4/Further Part 4 term without needing to give a reason, so at that time they could demand that you sign a new tenancy agreement if you wanted to stay on and have you out (with the legally required notice period) if you refused.

godtabh

Craftylee wrote: »

Thanks for your reply.

There aren't any house rules as far as I'm aware, we've never been provided any paperwork - however, pretty much everyone in the same complex as us has a dog, so hopefully that's a good sign.

That was my thinking as well - surely if a new landlord takes over and there are rules, it would be in there interest to have you sign some type of paperwork so you've agreed to them.

Why would it be a good sign? They all could be breaking the rules.

I'd say most if not all apartments have a not pets policy. Unless you have it in writing chances are you'll be asked to remove the pet.

SozBbz

godtabh wrote: »

Why would it be a good sign? They all could be breaking the rules.

I'd say most if not all apartments have a not pets policy. Unless you have it in writing chances are you'll be asked to remove the pet.

I don't necessarily agree with this. I've lived in numerous apartments where people have pets.

All Management Companies have house rules, but as a tenant with no contract, i'm not surprised you've never been furnished with a copy of them. As a LL, we include a copy of the house rues of our development with the lease. They're mostly common sense (use the bins responsibly, don't damage communal property, no hanging laundry lines on balconies etc)

Anywhere I've lived has stated "no disruptive pets" or similar, but I've seen people having cats/dogs with little issue. Now if your animal became unruly or was making a lot of noise, you could have a problem, but I've rarely seen a ban on pets full stop.

With all that said, its fairly normal for a LL to not allow pets, but thats their choice. The people I've seen with pets in apartment complexes (myself included) have all been owner occupiers as far as I know.

Craftylee

Thanks all for your replies.

So my question would be - if there's no house rules or agreement setup and the LL does the inspection and doesn't want the pet there. Do we have to remove the pet?

SozBbz

Craftylee wrote: »

Thanks all for your replies.

So my question would be - if there's no house rules or agreement setup and the LL does the inspection and doesn't want the pet there. Do we have to remove the pet?

To be clear, just because you havent seen them, doesnt mean there are no house rules.

Thats the first thing to check. If the house rules prevent pets, then that would trump the landlord.

If the house rules allow pets, then its up to your landlord. Its tricky to know where you stand given that your last LL didnt give you a tenancy agreement which by rights he should have.

Fian

SozBbz wrote: »

To be clear, just because you havent seen them, doesnt mean there are no house rules.

Thats the first thing to check. If the house rules prevent pets, then that would trump the landlord.

If the house rules allow pets, then its up to your landlord. Its tricky to know where you stand given that your last LL didnt give you a tenancy agreement which by rights he should have.

This is not correct. If there is no restriction on the leasehold of the apartment and if you haven't signed a lease then the landlord cannot prevent you from keeping the cat.

You will, however, be liable for damage caused beyond normal wear and tear, and if the kitten has already damaged the apartment the landlord can require you to redress this.

dennyk

SozBbz wrote: »

If the house rules allow pets, then its up to your landlord. Its tricky to know where you stand given that your last LL didnt give you a tenancy agreement which by rights he should have.

It's not tricky; if there is no existing lease agreement with a clause prohibiting pets, then the tenant can keep pets, and the new landlord can't unilaterally prohibit them unless the tenant agrees to enter into a new lease agreement with such a prohibition (which they are under no obligation to do in order to remain in the property for the duration of their current Part 4 period).

dennyk

dennyk wrote: »

It's not tricky; if there is no existing lease agreement with a clause prohibiting pets, then the tenant can keep pets, and the new landlord can't unilaterally prohibit them unless the tenant agrees to enter into a new lease agreement with such a prohibition (which they are under no obligation to do in order to remain in the property for the duration of their current Part 4 period).

I have a couple of apartments in different developments and all prohibit pets, i know this because it is referenced in the leases and comes up at AGMs. From a legal standpoint, what is the position if the op receives confirmation that pets are prohibited in the apartments, and others ignore this? Can the LL enforce the MC rules on pets?

SozBbz

Fian wrote: »

This is not correct. If there is no restriction on the leasehold of the apartment and if you haven't signed a lease then the landlord cannot prevent you from keeping the cat.

How can a landlord not providing a lease somehow allow a tenant to keep pets.

The OP has no idea whats in the leasehold.

If the developent allows pets, then its up to the LL to decide. If the development does not allow pets, then the LL has no say.

dennyk

Dav010 wrote: »

From a legal standpoint, what is the position if the op receives confirmation that pets are prohibited in the apartments, and others ignore this? Can the LL enforce the MC rules on pets?

If pets are prohibited in the agreement between the landlord and the management company, then the tenant can't keep a pet, else they'd be violating their tenant's obligation under Part 2 Section 16 (b) of the RTA:

(b) ensure that no act or omission by the tenant results in there not being complied with the obligations of the landlord, under any enactment, in relation to the dwelling or the tenancy (and in particular, the landlord’s obligations under regulations under section 18 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1992 )

If pets are not prohibited by the management company or any other restrictions applied to the property itself, then it would have been up to the landlord to add a clause prohibiting pets to the original tenancy agreement which the tenant would have agreed to upon commencing their tenancy. If the landlord did not do that (either by not having a tenancy agreement at all, or by failing to add any clauses concerning pets to their agreement), then there are no restrictions and the tenant can have a pet.

It's not "up to the landlord" at this point because the landlord can't unilaterally go back and add restrictions to a tenancy agreement after the fact; the tenant would have to agree to any new restrictions or terms in their agreement, and since their security of tenure is protected by Part 4 of the RTA, they are not obligated to agree to new terms and their refusal to agree (or their failure to comply with any new rules the landlord decides they want to impose that are not in the original agreement) would not be grounds to end their tenancy.

Saudades

I'm not advocating breaking any laws but as far as I can tell, the laws are not clear in this case as there's no signed contract.

To avoid any confrontation with the landlord, on the day of the inspection or the day before, I would just leave the kitten at a trusted friend or family member's house for a few hours.
Remove all traces of cat food, kitty litter, cat toys, and other paraphernalia prior to inspection. Don't even leave anything exposed in cupboards; sometimes a landlord will look in every nook and cranny. Keep everything in a suitcase or the boot of your car or something similar for a few hours.

Don't raise the issue of pets to the landlord - just play innocent.

You may have to do this every 6 months prior to each inspection but it's worth it to give a loving home to a beautiful animal. I wish you the best of luck.

Graham

dennyk wrote: »

If pets are prohibited in the agreement between the landlord and the management company, then the tenant can't keep a pet, else they'd be violating their tenant's obligation under Part 2 Section 16 (b) of the RTA:

(b) ensure that no act or omission by the tenant results in there not being complied with the obligations of the landlord, under any enactment, in relation to the dwelling or the tenancy (and in particular, the landlord’s obligations under regulations under section 18 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1992 )

Which enactment would the tenant be breaking by keeping a pet?

I'm not sure the house rules or head-lease would qualify as an enactment.

Is there something in the legislation that states a tenant must adhere to the terms of the head-lease/house rules?

Millem

Why did you put in a new kitchen without asking permission?

Millem

Millem wrote: »

Why did you put in a new kitchen without asking permission?

Kitten, pets, not pots.

Fia11

You could simplify life and just arrange for the kitten and litterbox/bowls/toys to be out of the apartment the day of the inspection.