This happened to me last week.
2 years ago a tenant applied to rent a property in Campbelltown and disclosed to own “a dog”. I agreed to it providing it is kept outside.
The house was kept neet and tidy and the pet outdoors all the time, according to the RE.When they decided to leave, I went for the final inspection only to find FOUR big fat mastiff in the backyard. I love dog’s don’t get me wrong but my backyard went from lush lawn to barren wasteland.
Cost of re-turfing $400, cost of flea treatment $170, by by bond.If I had anything else even minor there would be no money.
What brings me to the following decision.
From now on, anyone with a pet will have to pay $100 non refundable deposit for compensation of damages that will invariably happen, $100 for EACH pet.[angry2]May God prosper you always.[biggrin]
MarcMarc it’s a shame you had such a dishonest tenant, but not all us dog owners are so bad. We rented with a little dog and he didn’t do any damage at all, we kept him flea treated and left the house absolutely spotless.
Shame on the property manager for not picking up on the lawn much quicker. At one place, we had a written warning because it was middle of summer and the lawn started to brown even though we were watering it… Sigh…
Hope you can recoup your money. (I do agree $100 per pet, but it should still be refundable…)Yeah, agree Steph! Our two Jack Rascals wouldn’t dream of doing such a thing!!!
I’ve seen kids do more damage than dogs…not to mention adults
Also agree the pm let Marc down! Bad show!
Cheers
Did your property manager do regular inspections? Was the condition of the lawn noted in those inspections?
Isn’t there a law on how many dogs (cats as well I think?) you are allowed on a property. Thought it was three, not that this helps the situation now.
I have two retrievers who do the odd bit of landscaping, but apart from that, no drama. My previous landlord was fantastic about it, but then again, we left the place in better shape than when we arrived! Guess thats why you have PM’s in the first place!!
I had no loss since the bond covered it, yet if anything else would need repair, there would be no bond left and I would have to claim to the insurance.
I have a comprehensive landlord insurance with CGU and found out that the damage by animals that the policy covers is from “other” animals like the next door neighbour’s pet, but NOT my tenant’s pet, NRMA is the same, yet they have re-written the landlord policy and the details of the policy will be available tomorrow according to the bush telegraph so that may change tomorrow.So landlord beware, your tenant’s pet’s damage, is not covered by your insurance policy. Of course I could argue that the lawn died from lack of water, since in fact the dog’s feet compact the soil so tied that the water does not penetrate and the plant dies. Err, well I could try
If any of you has properties in the US can you confirm what a friend says that “in the US” it is common practice to charge a non refundable bond for each pet?
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