Legal situation with a tenant (lease, eviction, house)

[eds003]

Hello. I am currently going through a horrible mess with a tenant. My grandparents (who are now deceased) own a farm in Iowa. My father rented it out to a tenant for free on the condition that she take care of the animals and general upkeep. My father checked up on the house from time to time and found that she had completely destroyed it. The carpet was ruined, there were holes in the wall, etc. It was just a mess. He informed her she needed to be out in a month. When he went back to see if she had started moving, he found all the animals dead. Chickens, geese, one horse, cats - all dead. Starved. It disgusted and outraged us. She also removed the stove from the house, destroyed it, and left it in the garage. We are looking into options but think suing would cost us more than she can give. If anyone has any legal advice I would appreciate it immensely. Thank you.

[wingit]

Don't have any legal advice for you. I would think if you had proof of the starving thing though, local authorities would pursue animal abuse charges, especially if a horse is involved. I've seen more than one news story around these parts about officials going after people who let horses starve to death. Where is the farm located in Iowa?

[whakru]

I totally agree with the above if you have some document that shows that the tenant was responsible for the care and keeping of the animals. If that is the case then you need to call animal control or local chapter of ASPCA. If that doesn't work then you need to call the police.

However, if you don't have any such document or lease, and you father was checking in and seeing that there were issues, then this may come back on him as he is the owner of the animals. It is his responsiblity to ensure that they are being fed and kept safe, regardless of who he says was supposed to take care of them.

Just my thoughts.....I am NOT a lawyer. Either way, what happened to those animals is a crime. So sad.

[duster1979]

I agree with you that these people probably don't have anything and therefore aren't worth suing.

When you give someone notice to vacate, the evicted tenants are generally relieved from any contractual obligation unless otherwise specified. This is why, at least in the state of Iowa, a landlord has to give the eviction notice before the rent is paid for the eviction period, so that the tenant can vacate earlier and avoid paying rent for that period. For example, if you want someone out at the end of March you have to let the tenants know in writing before they pay the March rent so that the tenants can pack up and more before the rent is due if they so choose.

This case is a little challenging because the "rent" was paid in the form of taking care of the livestock rather than a tangible cash payment. Because this is an ongoing daily task, I think it would be reasonable to consider that a day's care of the animals would be payment for a day's rent. From the time your dad gave notice she would have only been responsible for the care of the animals up to the day she vacated. So if she left on day 3 and your dad didn't come back to check until, say, day 14, and the animals died because they hadn't been fed for those 11 days, it wouldn't be her responsibility because her contractual obligation had been fulfilled. But if it could be proven that she had stopped feeding the animals several days before she left, which is likely, she could get in some trouble for animal neglect.

But if it could be proven that the animals died because they hadn't been cared for several days prior to her departure she could and should be held accountable. So while you aren't likely to get anything from her, I'd encourage you to turn her in to the authorities to be punished for starving the animals. Just keep in mind that, ultimately, it's the responsibility of the owner of the animals for follow up and be sure they are being cared for as agreed.

[ipkl07]

That's just disgusting. First, for the father not checking up on her and making sure the animals get fed. Second, for her not caring enough to make sure the animals get fed. If you go to the cops it could be your father getting charged and not her. Your father should have used better common sense and made sure this girl was feeding the animals. Beyond me why he would NOT double check or triple check up on this girl with all those animals. NOT SMART at all.