Landlord stinks - I had to rant!

[mhass1129]

Ok my mom has a dog she also adopted from the shelter named "Oreo". She lives in this really crappy apartments that are rental, and she is in the process of buying a place of her own. She has the credit worked out, she is in the process of getting a contract written out and beginning the closing process. The new place she's getting is also an apartment, but they allow pets and it has a fenced in patio that would give the dog a little more room during the day (the place where my mom lives now barely has windows - no outside space whatsover). The dog is housetrained.

My mom began paying the landlord 2 months ago $100 additional rent (and the apartment is sooooo not worth it) because my mom knew she would be moving out and she didn't want to renew the lease (since she would break it). that way she can just move out without breaking the contract. The landlord KNEW my mom had a dog, because my mom's neighbor complained that there was a dog barking and the landlord came over, saw that it wasn't my mom's dog, and took care of it.

Well today she has a meeting with all the pet owners where she demanded a $300 deposit per pet within one week, or the pet had to be gone, or the people would get an eviction notice. On top of added rent a month per pet, and only $150 of the deposit is refundable. To top it off, the agreement to have a pet states that any and all damages or maintenance that needs to be done in homes where pets live are all up to the people paying rent - so the deposit is completely useless because STILL my mom would have to pay for all the cleaning and the maintenance when she moves out from her pocket.

My mom says to the landlord, "You KNOW we are moving out within 2-3 weeks." You know what the landlord says? "It's up to you - either pay the $300 by next Wednesday or get rid of the dog." My mom doesn't have the $300 because she's paying closing costs.... It's ridiculous that the landlord is demanding this of her NOW when she KNOWS my mom is moving out!! And my mom would only get $150 of it back!! And my mom has actually ALREADY done repairs to the apartment and she would be returning the apartment in a better condition than when it was given to her - repairs that had NOTHING to do with the dog in the first place!

Fortunately I have to thank God for a couple in our church who volunteered to keep the dog for the next 3 weeks since they have a big home and a big back yard - in fact, they were going to safety proof the yard to make sure Oreo would be ok before we took her there. So my mom can "get rid of the dog" without actually getting rid of her, she just has to move out and she'll have her dog back. But it made all of us (my husband, my sister, my mom and me) really ticked off today. I had to share.

[erykah1310]

Man you have to hate some landlords, well most actually!! Even though it isnt legal here to restrict pets and kids some landlords do it anyway, i swear some of them see pets and see $$$$$$$$$ I have had some really ****ty landlords myself, I think that we should be able to ask them for references too!!
Im glad your mom figured out a way outta the rediculous deposit.
Sorry to hear about the stress she had to go through thank goodness for the members of the church who have agreed to help her.