A current tenant wants to get a kitten, stating other tenants have one, so why can't they?

I asked have you ever had a cat before."Yes"! She had some growing up. I restated the facts. So when you were a "kid", you had the benefit of having a cat to play with, while your parents did all of the heavy lifting.I got a stare-down. So I proceeded to ask the following:

1. How do you take a cats temperature?

2. When do you have to get a cat fixed? Male age and females ages?

3. How do you put your cat in a carrier to take it to the veterinarian?

4. Name at least three types of Litter?

5. How do you give a cat a bubble or flea bath with water?

This tenant than stated that they didn't have to answer any of my questions! I replied, "While that's true, I wanted to know if you had a DEATH WISH or a Masochist personality"?

As we were talking another tenant was waking bye. So my pissed off kitten lover asked Katy, another tenant with a cat, "Did Robert drill you on how to care for your kitten before getting approved for your apartment?

Katy replied we didn't have a kitten, but a mature cat. So the tenant wishing to get a kitten asked Katy, "How would you bath your cat"? Katy answered she would bath her cat in the bathtub using 2 inches of warm water, using a special cat foaming shampoo -- having several towels standing by to dry the cat. BUT, in the other tenants case, never giving a kitten a bath before, she'd hire a professional groomer with a portable pet grooming van with a First Aid Kit". Or have really good medical insurance and someone to drive her to the Hospital while bleeding!

The kitten loving tenant then went inside her apartment and slammed her door. A few weeks later, Josh, another tenant taking out his trash noticed cat supplies dis-guarded packaging in the recycling bin, and sent me a text message that it looks like the kitten loving tenant got a kitten.

Then on the following Monday, when I go to this property to do some common chores, I saw the new kitten climbing the living room window's mini-blind, now with bit marks and torn in various places. The kittens owner saw me looking with disgust and came outside screaming at me.

I looked and my eyes started tearing. The tenant then said, "What the heck is a matter with you, crying"? I said that I knew why she was a professional actress, she " had" a face of an Angel. Her hands, arms and now face was riddled with scratches.

In the City of Los Angeles ultimate wisdom, a landlord can not discriminate against someone wanting an emotional support animal, plus we can't ask for a pet deposit either!

SO I THEN ASKED MY TENANT WHAT THIS KITTEN WAS? Come again she replied! I ASKED IS THIS CAT/KITTEN A "PET" OR "EMOTIONAL SUPPORT ANIMAL"? She then asked me what was the difference. I replied that this was a legal question and I should not coach her. I said I would be sending her a questionnaire and that she had a few days to respond.

I sent her an email and text message asking her about her cat. She contacted her brother, an attorney and then I get a response from the brother on his company letter head. It said that this "Cat" was an emotional support animal, and I was not allowed to discriminate, reject or ask for any additional deposit!

I then wrote a new letter to the tenant and lawyer brother's firm. I was now asking for a letter from this tenants "medical" professional stating that the tenant had a condition, and that she needed an emotional support animal. I then got a letter from an online service providing Doctors Letters for pet ownership in California. The doctor was located out of State. I went online and saw an add for "Pet letters for sale, only $99.95. So I called that doctor, using one of my phone lines with a caller ID with a different name and number than myself I asked the doctor if she had video conferencing or how she conducted a consultation of a patient, like myself. The doctor responded that she did not have to interview the patient. That the description of the patients medical condition was enough for her to issue a letter.

Under the current California laws, doctors issuing Medical Pet Letters has to have at least a 30 day history with the patient and has to be their doctor or have seen/met them in person--something to that effect.

I then had a licensed process server deliver to the tenant AND Law Firm a "NOTICE TO PERFORM OR QUIT"! Get rid of the kitten and repair/replace all damaged property owned by your landlord. Not limited to new mini-blinds, carpeting, flooring, painting and wood molding.

Then in a few days I issued the tenant a 24 Hour Notice to Enter, stating a Time and Date. On Monday I will return to view/inspect the unit and see if the cat is gone or not!

RobertJ, Thank you so very much for having shared exactly what happened and for your tremendous energy to confront the problem effectively. I am so following what happens on Monday.

All this over a kitten?

I have bigger fish to fry and I enjoy the $570 extra profit the first year for Animal Fees.

I'd rather have the extra income.

BRAD, I full understand your point of view, and I agree with you!

However in California and Los Angeles City, there are so many Landlord restrictions, that I thought I'd share how I have to solve my problem -- so much differently than you do, living and owner income property elsewhere.

Restrictions on:

Evictions- Can not evict during the pandemic 2/1/2020 thru 4/1/2024)

Pets that are "called" Service or ESA (Emotional Support Animal)- . . The pets are allowed and pay no security or damage deposit.

Rent increases are not allowed until 2/1/2024

Extra Occupants-Tenants can bring in 100 extra occupants so long as . each person had 200 square feet of space.

Is CA one of the states that honors the felony charge for misrepresenting and medical assistive animal?

Vee (OH), I can't believe it myself. I was at a meeting of a few Attorney's and myself. We were going to discuss buying an office building and transforming it into Legal Offices with a shared Reception area, Conference room and Kitchen. I was there as the contractor/investor.

We were talking that this ONE AND ONLY THING the State of California did for Landlords was passing the requirements for a Real Document from a tenants Doctor on the needs of having a Pet/ESA/Service Animal!

Before the law was passed, I had challenged many pets in court. I attended many meetings with Animal Control, The County and City Animal Shelter, City and State meetings and formed a consensus. I told several important people a story about a tenant of mine allowing her Cancer Survivor Mother to live with them in an upstairs apartment. The tenant purchased a portable Cloths Washing Machine without my permission or consent. I heard a noise from the downstairs apartment. Thump, Thump, Thump. I asked my tenant what was making that noise. They said it was their "Dish Washer". Since in newly remodeled units I installed smaller 18 inch wide dishwashers, I wouldn't mind them having a portable model. I confirmed they had in Place there RENTERS INSURANCE POLICY WITH LIABILITY FOR WATER DAMAGE. The assured me that had full coverage with the same carrier as for their two cars.

Well this was not a dishwasher but instead a portable washing machine. The Thumping was cloths that were off balanced.

SO one day when the tenants were at work, the mother, now cancer free, had an accident in her underwear. She rolled out from the hallway closet (so I could never see that it was a cloths washer and not a dishwasher) to the kitchen and hooked it up the the faucet. With out cleaning out dishes from the sink or running the Garbage Disposal, she ran a load with only the 1 pair of undergarments. When the cloths washer drained into the sink, the drain was covered by dishes and overflowed the kitchen sink -- spilling water on the kitchen floor. Then to the living room's hard wood flooring and then down thru the floor, thru the downstairs tenants ceiling and then flooded the downstairs kitchen and living room. Over $5,000 in damages. And my tenant told a double lie, they cancelled their renters policy to buy a new car.

I could have requested my tenants when I herd the washer thumping to Either:

1) Stop using it

2) To get it Fixed

or 3) Purchase a new Washing Machine.

I already installed a new laundry room, coin operated, so all of my tenants had washers and dryers on the property.

THE Same goes for dogs/pets/esa and service dogs.

If the dog is aggressive, poops everywhere, howls at the moon, I can give my tenant a Notice to Perform or Quit..

Either put the dog thru obedience training.

Or, Exchange the dog for on that isn't broken. Just like an appliance. Why should other suffer?

[[[[[[[....... I enjoy the $570 extra profit the first year for Animal Fees........]]]]]]]

That's not much comfort when the animal has done a couple thousand dollars in damage, which is not difficult to do if the animal is not trained and not well cared for.

My son bought a house that had over $15,000 in damage,. Some of it was human caused, but most of it was pet damage. At a house he owned, otherwise good tenants snuck in some cats and did over $2500 in damage.

My first partner, who made more mistake than anyone I've ever known, was allowing him to choose a tenant. They rented to someone who in the Motherland was a sheep farmer. Now (1979) they became an insurance sales person. When my partner forgot, he turned out to be super lazy, didn't put anything in the lease about pets. So the tenant got sheep, goats, mini-donkey and other farm animals.

For anyone interested we have 60+ animals in our rentals. I wish we had more! 60 x $35/mo x 12 months = $25,200 per year pure income.

We visit the animal and their current home before final approval.

I have denied some applicants with good income based on poor animal control as observed on the visit.

I just did a move out where the res had 2 dogs. ($70 per month) My only animal complaint there was some dog hair on the baseboards.

BRAD