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Posted by Penny on October 09, 2000 at 23:20:42:

In Reply to: Landlord charging for dogs. posted by Robin on October 06, 2000 at 13:28:57:

: I live in a trailer park in upstate NY. We have new landlord as of the 1st of september, in the rules he wants to charge ( $10 per month) you if have a dog in your home (I own my trailer). We had a meeting last night with him and he says he can charge this because he has to provide liabity insurane in case someone is bitten by a dog.
: Well I read about renters rights and that said that he can not do this beacuse it is not a service. If anyone can help me please let me know. thanks

Oh, oh, oh!! Been there, done that (in roughly the same area, Western New York State, in the late '80s). Park owners claimed they had the right to charge extra rent for dogs, and had the temerity to try the same shabby trick of raising the rent for cat owners!! No services were being provided for the animals (dogs or cats), and the simple idea of paying extra for a house-bound kitty was preposterous. Those who had the presence of mind at lease signing to challenge the extra charges easily got the owners to back down, but not everyone was thinking. Those who didn't question it got charged, and some families ended up paying thousands of dollars extra over several years.

Eventually, word got out that some where paying and others weren't. The payers did what anyone would. They complained to the owners, who replied that, to be fair, they'd just start charging every pet owner extra.

Foul! No friends made there. Everyone complained. The owners dared us to sue if we weren't happy.

We sued. We won.

You own a mobile home, so you have home owners insurance. You have to. It's part of your mortgage agreement. Dog bite injuries would be covered under that. The park owners are not responsible for what your dog does.

(BTW, at the same time, the owners responded to new local recycling mandates by bringing in a huge sorting dumpster and trying to charge tenants an additional monthly fee for the service ((the park already provided garbage pickup at no extra charge, but tried to palm off their obligation to provide recycling as a luxury)). Nice try! We got that into court early, piggy-backed onto the animal fee issue.)

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: : I live in a trailer park in upstate NY. We have new landlord as of the 1st of september, in the rules he wants to charge ( $10 per month) you if have a dog in your home (I own my trailer). We had a meeting last night with him and he says he can charge this because he has to provide liabity insurane in case someone is bitten by a dog. 
: : Well I read about renters rights and that said that he can not do this beacuse it is not a service. If anyone can help me please let me know. thanks

: Oh, oh, oh!! Been there, done that (in roughly the same area, Western New York State, in the late '80s). Park owners claimed they had the right to charge extra rent for dogs, and had the temerity to try the same shabby trick of raising the rent for cat owners!! No services were being provided for the animals (dogs or cats), and the simple idea of paying extra for a house-bound kitty was preposterous. Those who had the presence of mind at lease signing to challenge the extra charges easily got the owners to back down, but not everyone was thinking. Those who didn't question it got charged, and some families ended up paying thousands of dollars extra over several years. 

: Eventually, word got out that some where paying and others weren't. The payers did what anyone would. They complained to the owners, who replied that, to be fair, they'd just start charging every pet owner extra. 

: Foul! No friends made there. Everyone complained. The owners dared us to sue if we weren't happy. 

: We sued. We won.

: You own a mobile home, so you have home owners insurance. You have to. It's part of your mortgage agreement. Dog bite injuries would be covered under that. The park owners are not responsible for what your dog does. 

: (BTW, at the same time, the owners responded to new local recycling mandates by bringing in a huge sorting dumpster and trying to charge tenants an additional monthly fee for the service ((the park already provided garbage pickup at no extra charge, but tried to palm off their obligation to provide recycling as a luxury)). Nice try! We got that into court early, piggy-backed onto the animal fee issue.)


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