Dog in neighbourhood against rental agreement

boardfriek

Hi all,

I was wondering if I could get some sort of advice from people who maybe facing or having faced a similar situation.

Last year in march new tenants from <mod snip: nationality is irrelevant> moved in the house next door (attached house, four kids & two adults). They are accomodating a dog even-though the rental agreement clearly states "no pets" allowed in the premises. By the time they moved in I was in the middle of negotiating the rent with my landlord because I was about to face a significant hike (over 30%). So wanted to keep the ball low and don´t open an additional issue. So far I have to say I am kind of tolerated the situation as the level of barking and noise is on a very low level (in total only a few minutes per day).

Yesterday I could hear yelping and wining of another dog which does not seem the same breed which is already there. But it was ongoing and woke me up twice last night. I had a hard time getting back to sleep. I don´t wanna panic but if they really got a second dog in the house my acceptance level is going away.

I wonder how any of you guys would approach this kind of situation?

srsly78

Pretty much everywhere has a "no pets" rule, and pretty much everywhere it gets ignored it seems. Might be easier to invest in sound-proofing.

pilly

Don't panic yet, maybe the original dog was just sick last night?

boardfriek

srsly78 wrote: »

Pretty much everywhere has a "no pets" rule, and pretty much everywhere it gets ignored it seems. Might be easier to invest in sound-proofing.

Means spending money on my side in a rented premises for a situation that is caused by others violating the rules. Did I understand correctly?

TheUnderfaker

You should get a dog as well in retaliation. The joy they bring to a home is unparalleled!

Michael D Not Higgins

How do you know they're not allowed pets (they may have negotiated with their landlord about having a dog)?

If the dog is causing an issue, your first port of call is speaking to your neighbours.

boardfriek

Michael D Not Higgins wrote: »

How do you know they're not allowed pets (they may have negotiated with their landlord about having a dog)

I had approached my landlord on this topic when I moved in order to make sure I don´t end up in this kind of situation. Over the years he had confirmed this numerous times. Even after them moving in.

Michael D Not Higgins

boardfriek wrote: »

I had approached my landlord on this topic when I moved in order to make sure I don´t end up in this kind of situation. Over the years he had confirmed this numerous times. Even after them moving in.

So your landlord is their landlord? And after they moved in you brought up the no pets clause in relation to their rental? And the landlord confirmed they weren't allowed pets?

Did you tell the landlord they had a pet?

boardfriek

Michael D Not Higgins wrote: »

So your landlord is their landlord? And after they moved in you brought up the no pets clause in relation to their rental? And the landlord confirmed they weren't allowed pets?

Did you tell the landlord they had a pet?

Yes - We share the same landlord.
No - I did not see this being my responsibility.
Yes - Surprisingly the answer was: "In case the dog is causing a nuisance I would need to address with them" Not my job in my view. The agreement they have is with him not with me (?)

Samuel T. Cogley

If than landlord has decided to allow it (through agreement or acquiescence) there's not much you can do.

boardfriek

Samuel T. Cogley wrote: »

If than landlord has decided to allow it (through agreement or acquiescence) there's not much you can do.

What makes you think he did? The text message one-liner he send to me? He could have said. In this case it´s allowed. Clear message, no uncertainty.

Agreement says, pets are only allowed with a written consent from landlord which I doubt it exists because I know he would not want pets for various reasons.

GBX

Other than you complaining to the landlord, there's not much else you can do without as said - investing in soundproofing - which you said you don't want this expense.
Has any other tenants made this known to the landlord?

Rubberchikken

if you share a landlord and his rule is no pets, then imho, it's his responsibility to speak to his tenants on behalf of his other tenant.
he needn't mention you by name, maybe just that someone noticed and brought it to his attention, but he can't have a rule for one and a different rule for another.
if the noise is disturbing your peace, then i think you're entitled to be heard by him and he's obliged to address the matter.

borderlinemeath

boardfriek wrote: »

Yes - We share the same landlord.
No - I did not see this being my responsibility.
Yes - Surprisingly the answer was: "In case the dog is causing a nuisance I would need to address with them" Not my job in my view. The agreement they have is with him not with me (?)

You're sounding a bit unreasonable don't you think? A dog that up to now has not disturbed you at all, and one night of what sounds like a small bit of whining causes you to want to get them to get rid of it, or get them turfed out?

And you need to man up, if the dog is disturbing you - and I mean properly disturbing you by barking constantly at unsocial hours - then the first port of call is to contact the owners - the dog warden will tell you that.

The landlord might well have told you what you wanted to hear as regards the rental agreement next door (which really isn't any of your business anyway). Now that you negotiated a lower rental increase maybe it's a subliminal message that he'd rather you moved out.

Samuel T. Cogley

boardfriek wrote: »

What makes you think he did? The text message one-liner he send to me? He could have said. In this case it´s allowed. Clear message, no uncertainty.

Agreement says, pets are only allowed with a written consent from landlord which I doubt it exists because I know he would not want pets for various reasons.

What are you asking? You've said he knows. Is the dog still there? If yes then the LL may have decided to allow it.

pilly

borderlinemeath wrote: »

You're sounding a bit unreasonable don't you think? A dog that up to now has not disturbed you at all, and one night of what sounds like a small bit of whining causes you to want to get them to get rid of it, or get them turfed out?

And you need to man up, if the dog is disturbing you - and I mean properly disturbing you by barking constantly at unsocial hours - then the first port of call is to contact the owners - the dog warden will tell you that.

The landlord might well have told you what you wanted to hear as regards the rental agreement next door (which really isn't any of your business anyway). Now that you negotiated a lower rental increase maybe it's a subliminal message that he'd rather you moved out.

Totally agree, and I don't feel like you want to hear anyone else's advice OP. Excellent posters on here trying to help you out <mod snip>

shel64

why don't you talk to your neighbours and say recently your sleep was disturbed by their dog? give them the chance to sort it for you, they may have had a sick dog, or maybe it wasn't their dog you heard, its clearly disturbing you so find out if something can be done , if you are still not happy but your landlord is bothered maybe moving is your only option

Mrs OBumble

It's pretty unprofessional for your landlord to have given you any details of the lease which applies to any property of your own.

Obviously you know your neighbours well enough to know their country of origin. If anything they are doing is creating an anti-social level of noise, then the first step is for you to talk to them. If that doesn't work, then you can complain to their landlord - but your complaint needs to be about the noise, not about the dog per-sec.


I'm no dog lover, but even I wouldn't go so far as to expect my LL to provide a dog-free neighbourhood for me!

icjzfmq7ewon1t

borderlinemeath wrote:

You're sounding a bit unreasonable don't you think? A dog that up to now has not disturbed you at all, and one night of what sounds like a small bit of whining causes you to want to get them to get rid of it, or get them turfed out?

Have to agree with this. Hope the dog is ok

m'lady

I think your overreacting op, all neighbourhoods have dogs? Without sounding smart, perhaps buy a decent set of earplugs for when you are trying to sleep?

FanadMan

boardfriek wrote: »

What makes you think he did? The text message one-liner he send to me? He could have said. In this case it´s allowed. Clear message, no uncertainty.

Agreement says, pets are only allowed with a written consent from landlord which I doubt it exists because I know he would not want pets for various reasons.

Maybe the landlord gave permission. If it's a family dog, the LL didn't want to break up a family.

Baby01032012

Unde the RTA rules you are entitled to peaceful enjoyment. A dog barking once a day does not fall into this. If the dog was such a nuisance it surely would wake the kids and parents would do something about it. At least you're not the home owner so you are free to move with required notice. You have no comeback on the landlord.

Ms Doubtfire1

I fully agree with the other posters.Leave the couple alone, the dog has never disturbed you in the past...

Mod: image removed, inappropriate for this forum.

The Diddakoi

Maybe it's an assistance/companion dog for a child with special needs, so the LL made a special exception.
Could be a lot of reasons he changed his mind

cruizer101

Rubberchikken wrote: »

he can't have a rule for one and a different rule for another.

Why not? Maybe the other apartment isn't up to the same spec so he doesn't mind. Maybe the other tenants are friends who he knows so has different rules. Maybe he just decided for no reason whatsoever to allow pets and that is his right. There is no reason why he has to have the same rules for different properties.

i71jskz5xu42pb

boardfriek wrote: »

I wonder how any of you guys would approach this kind of situation?

If it was bothering me that much I'd talk to my neighbours about it.

I'm not sure why that wasn't your first step.

borderlinemeath

cruizer101 wrote: »

Why not? Maybe the other apartment isn't up to the same spec so he doesn't mind. Maybe the other tenants are friends who he knows so has different rules. Maybe he just decided for no reason whatsoever to allow pets and that is his right. There is no reason why he has to have the same rules for different properties.

Exactly. This is why it's not the landlords responsibility as the OP mistakenly thinks. My husband has a couple of properties, one of them has a fully paved back garden with no lawn, he's had no problems letting this out in the past to tenants with dogs. He'd be a bit more reluctant with the 2 others as there's lots of grass to be dug up or turned into muck in the winter.

Unless the OP moves into an apartment block that doesn't allow pets then they have no comeback. They have no right to insist that the adjoining house doesn't have a dog or the "neighbourhood" as described in the OP.

borderlinemeath

borderlinemeath wrote: »

Unless the OP moves into an apartment block that doesn't allow pets then they have no comeback. They have no right to insist that the adjoining house doesn't have a dog or the "neighbourhood" as described in the OP.

If it's a gated neighbourhood then a no pets rule could be enforced same as an apartment.

red ears

boardfriek wrote: »

Means spending money on my side in a rented premises for a situation that is caused by others violating the rules. Did I understand correctly?

And it won't work, you could spend thousands and it would maybe reduce the sound by 20 or 30%. Complain to the landlord about the dogs being next door.

borderlinemeath

Alessandra Magnificent Triangle wrote: »

If it's a gated neighbourhood then a no pets rule could be enforced same as an apartment.

In reality there are very few gated developments that would enforce a rule like this, in this country anyway. Plus you would be excluding a huge percentage of house buyers by stipulating no pets in a proper housing development.

red ears

m'lady wrote: »

I think your overreacting op, all neighbourhoods have dogs? Without sounding smart, perhaps buy a decent set of earplugs for when you are trying to sleep?

This is a really terrible attitude, its basically saying my dog is going to bark tough luck.