Are You A Landlord With Dangerous Dogs?
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Don Conrad
May 1, 2013, 4:00:26 AM5/1/13
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Please consider this free-reprint article written by:
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Article Title: Are You A Landlord With Dangerous Dogs?
Author: Don Conrad
Word Count: 852
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I believe the topic of dangerous dogs is one of the fastest growing safety concerns for a landlord at this time. Unlike the lead based paint issue which has state and now federal regulations to curb the potential dangers, the topic of dangerous dogs is still pretty much unregulated and open for discussion. Mix in the fact that the dangerous dog issue is often a personal and emotional one, and things can become very sensitive very quickly. (I have many interesting and eye-opening stories in my report on Dangerous Dogs available free on my website at http://www.findthatqualitytenant.com).
To cut right to the chase, certain cities in the country are labeling certain dogs as dangerous, and these cities have different trains of thought on how to handle the potential liability these dogs can create. Some of these cities now have ordinances along these lines which say: if you own one of these dogs, you need a $500,000 insurance policy, a 6-foot fence to contain the dog, and a kennel. They also say if the animal is out of the kennel, it needs to be muzzled.
Other cities have no such ordinance. But, just because the city doesn�t have established ordinances doesn�t mean these dogs are any less dangerous. It just means nothing extremely traumatic has occurred within the city, regarding these dogs that would result in such an ordinance being established.
Suppose you rented a house in a town with no ordinances for dangerous dogs, but your tenants have an aggressive dog that might be on a list if one was obtainable. Now let�s suppose that dog does get out of the yard and attacks a neighborhood child, causing permanent injury to the child. What happens next? Well, for starters, you know there will be a lawsuit and there is a good chance you the landlord will be sued since almost any lawyer will decide you have more assets to attack than the dog�s owner, who owns nothing but the dog.
If you were named in a lawsuit, your one recourse for protection, besides having your rental in some kind of cooperation or other legal entity, is to see if your insurance company will fight the lawsuit for/with you. This seems to be the logical next step and one which most landlords would pursue.
This idea has some merit but let me warn you, nowadays, certain insurance companies are refusing or canceling homeowner�s insurance if you have what is considered a dangerous dog living on the property. If you own the property and a tenant has a dog that bites someone, but that tenant doesn�t have adequate insurance to cover the dog bite, you could be held responsible and your homeowner�s insurance may not pay. That in and of itself should be enough to possibly make you ban these dogs from your property, but the issue brings up another question: What if the tenant has a dog they keep insured?
As far as I�m concerned, the answer is a complicated one. Some people say if a landlord�s tenant is insured for the dog and something happens, then the landlord is legally off the hook. I don�t agree. In a modern society where people can win multimillion-dollar settlements for hot coffee spilled on them, anything can happen in a lawsuit.
As a landlord I wouldn�t want to chance it, and here�s the main reason: When a victim receives a dog bite or worse, someone has to compensate the victim. I guarantee you that the owner of the dog, in this case your tenant, has probably zero in assets to compensate the victim. You, the landlord, however, are probably worth millions�at least in the jury�s eyes�so you could very well be listed in that lawsuit. Landlords have assets. If you want to protect them, be careful about these dogs.
So how do you draw a line on what dogs you will consider dangerous? If you want to rent to dog owners and wish to exclude potentially dangerous dogs, try this: call the city or town your rental is and find out their dog list and corresponding regulations. Then call your insurance agent that insures the rental and get a list from them. (Careful: some agents represent many companies, so make sure you are actually getting the list from the company that insures the house.) Now, write up your own list using both the city and the insurance agent�s information. Add any dog you feel should be on the list. Date and sign the list. Make a copy of this list and keep it handy for any time you rent your dwelling. Update it about once a year.
Doing things this way will help ensure that you don�t illegally discriminate and will go a long way toward keeping your investment asset a little safer.
About The Author: Don Conrad is the author of the book,� How to Find That Quality Tenant�. His website at http://www.findthatqualitytenant.com, is dedicated to the education and improving a landlords tenant selection process. This site contains informational articles, valuable links, real estate related forms, a Fair Hous
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http://www.isnare.com/html.php?aid=126946
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Please consider this free-reprint article written by:
Don Conrad
*****************************
IMPORTANT - Publication/Reprint Terms
- You have permission to publish this article electronically in free-only publications such as a website or an ezine as long as the bylines are included.
- You are not allowed to use this article for commercial purposes. The article should only be reprinted in a publicly accessible website and not in a members-only commercial site.
- You are not allowed to post/reprint this article in any sites/publications that contains or supports hate, violence, porn and warez or any indecent and illegal sites/publications.
- You are not allowed to use this article in UCE (Unsolicited Commercial Email) or SPAM. This article MUST be distributed in an opt-in email list only.
- If you distribute this article in an ezine or newsletter, we ask that you send a copy of the newsletter or ezine that contains the article to http://www.isnare.com/eta.php?aid=126946
- If you post this article in a website/forum/blog, ALL links MUST be set to hyperlinks and we ask that you send a copy of the URL where the article is posted to http://www.isnare.com/eta.php?aid=126946
- We request that you ask permission from the author if you want to publish this article in print.
The role of iSnare.com is only to distribute this article as part of its Article Distribution feature ( http://www.isnare.com/distribution.php ). iSnare.com does NOT own this article, please respect the author's copyright and this publication/reprint terms. If you do not agree to any of these terms, please do not reprint or publish this article.
*****************************
Article Title: Are You A Landlord With Dangerous Dogs?
Author: Don Conrad
Word Count: 852
Article URL: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=126946&ca=Real+Estate
Format: 64cpl
Contact The Author: http://www.isnare.com/eta.php?aid=126946
Easy Publish Tool: http://www.isnare.com/html.php?aid=126946
*********************** ARTICLE START ***********************
I believe the topic of dangerous dogs is one of the fastest growing safety concerns for a landlord at this time. Unlike the lead based paint issue which has state and now federal regulations to curb the potential dangers, the topic of dangerous dogs is still pretty much unregulated and open for discussion. Mix in the fact that the dangerous dog issue is often a personal and emotional one, and things can become very sensitive very quickly. (I have many interesting and eye-opening stories in my report on Dangerous Dogs available free on my website at http://www.findthatqualitytenant.com).
To cut right to the chase, certain cities in the country are labeling certain dogs as dangerous, and these cities have different trains of thought on how to handle the potential liability these dogs can create. Some of these cities now have ordinances along these lines which say: if you own one of these dogs, you need a $500,000 insurance policy, a 6-foot fence to contain the dog, and a kennel. They also say if the animal is out of the kennel, it needs to be muzzled.
Other cities have no such ordinance. But, just because the city doesn�t have established ordinances doesn�t mean these dogs are any less dangerous. It just means nothing extremely traumatic has occurred within the city, regarding these dogs that would result in such an ordinance being established.
Suppose you rented a house in a town with no ordinances for dangerous dogs, but your tenants have an aggressive dog that might be on a list if one was obtainable. Now let�s suppose that dog does get out of the yard and attacks a neighborhood child, causing permanent injury to the child. What happens next? Well, for starters, you know there will be a lawsuit and there is a good chance you the landlord will be sued since almost any lawyer will decide you have more assets to attack than the dog�s owner, who owns nothing but the dog.
If you were named in a lawsuit, your one recourse for protection, besides having your rental in some kind of cooperation or other legal entity, is to see if your insurance company will fight the lawsuit for/with you. This seems to be the logical next step and one which most landlords would pursue.
This idea has some merit but let me warn you, nowadays, certain insurance companies are refusing or canceling homeowner�s insurance if you have what is considered a dangerous dog living on the property. If you own the property and a tenant has a dog that bites someone, but that tenant doesn�t have adequate insurance to cover the dog bite, you could be held responsible and your homeowner�s insurance may not pay. That in and of itself should be enough to possibly make you ban these dogs from your property, but the issue brings up another question: What if the tenant has a dog they keep insured?
As far as I�m concerned, the answer is a complicated one. Some people say if a landlord�s tenant is insured for the dog and something happens, then the landlord is legally off the hook. I don�t agree. In a modern society where people can win multimillion-dollar settlements for hot coffee spilled on them, anything can happen in a lawsuit.
As a landlord I wouldn�t want to chance it, and here�s the main reason: When a victim receives a dog bite or worse, someone has to compensate the victim. I guarantee you that the owner of the dog, in this case your tenant, has probably zero in assets to compensate the victim. You, the landlord, however, are probably worth millions�at least in the jury�s eyes�so you could very well be listed in that lawsuit. Landlords have assets. If you want to protect them, be careful about these dogs.
So how do you draw a line on what dogs you will consider dangerous? If you want to rent to dog owners and wish to exclude potentially dangerous dogs, try this: call the city or town your rental is and find out their dog list and corresponding regulations. Then call your insurance agent that insures the rental and get a list from them. (Careful: some agents represent many companies, so make sure you are actually getting the list from the company that insures the house.) Now, write up your own list using both the city and the insurance agent�s information. Add any dog you feel should be on the list. Date and sign the list. Make a copy of this list and keep it handy for any time you rent your dwelling. Update it about once a year.
Doing things this way will help ensure that you don�t illegally discriminate and will go a long way toward keeping your investment asset a little safer.
About The Author: Don Conrad is the author of the book,� How to Find That Quality Tenant�. His website at http://www.findthatqualitytenant.com, is dedicated to the education and improving a landlords tenant selection process. This site contains informational articles, valuable links, real estate related forms, a Fair Hous
Please use the HTML version of this article at:
http://www.isnare.com/html.php?aid=126946
*********************** ARTICLE END ***********************
- To distribute your articles go to http://www.isnare.com/distribution.php
- For more free-reprint articles go to http://www.isnare.com
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