The lease has a ‘no pets’ clause, but tenants got dogs. What can a landlord do?

Question: We recently leased our house. The lease has a “no pets” provision. A neighbor with two small children called to complain about two big dogs our tenants had just acquired. Can we terminate the lease because of the dogs?

Answer: If the dogs are a health and safety hazard, you can deliver five days’ notice, terminate the lease and evict the tenants. If they only violate the “no pets” provision in the lease, you can deliver a 10-day written notice to the tenants demanding that the dogs be removed from the home. If the tenants do not comply with this 10-day written notice and remove the dogs, you can terminate the lease and evict the tenants. See A.R.S. § 33-1368.

Contact real estate attorney Christopher A. Combs at .

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