Q:
Can the landlord name a pet?
We originally had a no pet clause in our year lease that has since transitioned to month to month. The previous landlord gave us the indication we could have 2 cats so we went out and got them. She then got cold feet. After we offered to up the rent (we were kind of stuck) she eventually sent us a signed letter saying we could keep them, but named the 2 cats we had at the time in the letter.
Since then sadly, Jack has passed on, and Whiskey lived a lonely life.
We have then replaced Jack but the new landlord has learned Seymour is not Jack (although he looks a lot like him) and is threating to serve us papers to leave.
He has also tried to force us to sign a new agreement and says he is allowed to conduct a new inspection and said he plans to raise the rent. When we learned he was not allowed to do this (through your site) and informed him he has changed tactics to go after little Seymour. Even after we offered to provide a pet deposit which is currently not in place.
I make light a bit, but it is a serious issue. We love our cats, and my wife would see me go before Seymour. Can a landlord say you can have a specific pet, and when it passes you are out of luck for a replacement? Can't see that working for goldfish real well, but does it apply to larger more easily identified creatures?
Thanks for your help.
|
| A:
Here we are with the pets thing again. The Residential Tenancy Office issues a policy guideline on pets at http://www.rto.gov.bc.ca/documents/GL28.pdf The landlord can restrict pets in rental premises. The restriction must be reasonable, can't be arbitrary, and if the landlord gets nasty and pursues you over little Seymour, and it is determined that you've breached a material term of the tenancy agreement, a dispute resolution officer can sign the papers ending your tenancy. You would likely argue the landlord said you can have 2 cats, and you've only got 2 cats, and it isn't a breach of a material term. The landlord might argue no, it was Whiskey and Jack, not Whiskey and Seymour, which would mean everyone would have a squiz at the paperwork. If you can't work out what was actually put down on paper / agreed to, then you could potentially find yourself 'telling it all at City Hall', in front of a dispute resolution officer, who has heard this stuff more often than you might imagine. In my experience, if you can show the landlord agreed to and accepted 2 cats, and you've just got the 2, names and replacements notwithstanding, your wife is going to see you sitting in the rocking chair petting Seymour for some time to come, and in your current rental premises. The landlord would have a very tough uphill push convincing a dispute resolution officer that your sliding in Seymour, to replace Jack after he went to the great beyond, is such an egregious breach of the tenancy agreement that you should all be pitched out on the street for it. |
