Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
This is in NC, after a year rental the tenant left the house. During rental tenant got a parrot and a dog and forgot to inform the landlord and pet fees were not paid. Now landlord deducted them from deposit: twice of pet fee for parrot (she said since the parrot was not allowed pet) and another pet fee plus $50 for the dog ( she said $50 is late penalty for pet fee), is this really legal to do? Twice pet fees and deducting them from my deposit.
Well, considering my lease says that if a tenant sneaks in a pet (or roommate) without permission, it is an automatic $1000 fine per, plus grounds for eviction, I think your landlord has gone really easy on you.
Sneaking in a pet implies that you think your landlord is an idiot and won't catch you, which is a slap in the face to the landlord. Can't blame the landlord for imposing whatever penalties they legally can.
And considering it is stated in my lease in 3 places, and we do face to face lease signings where this is clearly stated as being VERY important, and I STILL have several a year who do this and get caught, I don't believe anyone who tells me they just "forgot". Tenants know whether they are allowed to have pets or not, and whether they have to get permission or not (Note: almost all landlords require you to get permission FIRST, not ask forgiveness after). They don't forget, they make a choice to keep their mouth shut.
*Edited to add that I agree with Jack. Ultimately it depends on what, exactly, your lease says. But if the lease and state law don't contradict it, I don't think it is at all unreasonable.
If you got back a penny of your deposit after having violated the lease by bringing in pets, you're lucky. However, that doesn't mean that you won't prevail in court. Might be worth a try, especially if the LL cannot prove damages.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
