Hello and again, thank you all for your advice and your support.

David, got an empty lot? I guess the laws do differ from state to state. I spoke with my attorney today and he said that renting the lot month to month is both good and bad. The good side is if I don't like it, I can move out with a months notice. The downside is that the landlord can evict me at any time with a months notice. He said that if I don't get rid of my dogs by May 1st, he would be in his legal rights to evict me, but an eviction would have to go through the court system as I would fight it. Unfortunately, the justice systems moves fairly quickly on these matters... at least in this part of New York, I guess. According to my attorney, the case would appear in front of a judge by July or August. The judge would determine whether I had to go or not and being that the landlord is within his rights, my case would be weak at best. I asked how he could evict me for not removing my dogs, isn't that retaliation? He said, no... on a month to month rental agreement, he can break it at any time for any reason. He, like many others on this thread, said that my best plan of action at this time is to get together with the other responsible dog owners and come up with a "fair" solution to the problem and present it to Mike. I did have an opportunity to speak with one of the other two dog owners and she is basically supporting anything I come up with, but doesn't have the financial means to help with any legal fees. Her brother is the other dog owner and his stance is that if Mike doesn't reconsider his "fair solution" then he is moving. So, though I have his support, he is in the position to move where the other two of us are not.

Over the weekend, I spent hours on the internet researching different city, town and village ordinances and also found some pretty decent "Pet Owner Rules" published for Apartment complexes and the like. I compiled a 4 page document from the information I found and came up with what I thought was a fair and just Pet Owner Rules that Mike could implement. I then wrote a 5 page letter to Mike asking him to reconsider his decision. I even went as far as trying to play on his humanity by telling him of the emotional bond between my 8 year old son that has severe ADHD and OCD and the backlash he will suffer from his "fair solution". All he does every time he is near the dog and pup is wrap his arms around them and cry, begging me to not let Mike make us get rid of his best friends. Of course, that gets my emotions rolling too. I included the , "if social services came into your neighborhood and removed children from a home for neglect and/or abuse, would it be fair if they took all the children in the neighborhood?" Anyway, when Mike verbally told us that we could have dogs, he did not give any guidelines or rules. All he said was, "okay for now, we'll see how it goes". I explained in the letter that it isn't a "fair solution" to make all of us pay for the transgressions of a few, rather, put rules in place and punish those deserving of the punishment when they don't follow the rules. I also told him that myself and the other woman in the park would be willing to take on the aggravation of dealing with complaints from other tenants so he wouldn't have to. I made the rules apply to all pets within the court being that the cat rules are not being followed either. We would police the situation for him and contact the Dog Control Officer when/if warranted, of course keeping him informed as well. I work days and Janie works nights so it would be covered 24/7. I talked with Janie again yesterday to make sure she was in agreement before I sent the letter and proposal/rules out to Mike. He should have received my letter today. I do hope he takes notice of the thought, time and effort I've put forth in this matter and realizes that there is another solution that IS fair.

I also revisited the possibility of moving my double-wide. Unfortunately, the $8,000 on top of my mortgage payment and then having to buy property to put it on is out of my reach. Selling it is an option, but the double-wides and trailers in that park don't move very fast. Three of them have been up for sale now for 2 years.

Please keep your fingers crossed that my letter will pull on Mike's humanity and he will be open to my solution.

I apologize for the length of this post, but I wanted to let everyone know where things stood at this point in time.

This week Bella has learned to speak on command and sits, downs and comes on hand signals alone and voice command alone. It's not 100% yet, but she's getting there. She's so smart!

David, I will email you the rules for pets I came up with when I get home from work tonight. If you don't mind and have the time, I would love to hear whether or not you find them fair or lacking.

Kristina

Kristina, I don't know if this information will apply to you or not. I was telling your story to a co-worker who has MANY rentals, both appartments and houses. They don't allow ANY pets in their rentals, but if they find out that a good tenant does have a dog (this would apply to the houses with yards) they give them the option of forking over a non-refundable deposit of $500. If they refuse, they get evicted. She said that has only happened once.

I think it sort of seperates the responsible dog owners from those who aren't willing to take on the responsiblity of a dog and are more likely to be reckless about letting them run about. It seems like something to offer Mike if the other avenues don't work..on melting his cold cold heart..

 Quote: kristina jacobs

I even went as far as trying to play on his humanity by telling him of the emotional bond between my 8 year old son that has severe ADHD and OCD and the backlash he will suffer from his "fair solution".
Kristina

Can you get a supporting letter from his doctor on this? How affected is he (you don't have to answer that) but if it's enough that it affects a major life function- he might be eligible for a Service Dog or Emotional Support Dog. Worth researching, Service Dogs as a medical device aren't "dogs" and under ADA are not affected by housing rules. Depending on the state, Service Dogs In Training might have the same rights. Course that does mean you'd have to train the dogs!

1st: Check to see if your State has a "TENANTS BILL OF RIGHTS" so you know what the RULES are for both you and your landlord.

2nd: Typically if the landlord changes a POLICY, the incumbents are grandfathered.

3rd: Less than 30 Days NOTICE? If you don't comply what are the consequences?

In Maine in order to EVICT for anything other than NON-Payment of Rent, it is at least a (30) Notice to Quit to be delivered and it has to be delivered prior to the date rent is due. So if you're Rent is due on 1-May-07. He has to give you your (30) Days prior to 1-Apr-07.

So if you were in Maine and you didn't get rid of the dogs (assuming that he is even following proper procedure with that), He could serve you with a (30) Day notice in May (prior to June) for a 1-July-07 Out Date. If you didn't leave by July, then he has to take you to court and that is another (3) weeks minimum depending on service, court dates, et cetera PLUS MONEY for Service and Court Fees.

Again, this is MAINE Information and I am not an Attorney.

In Maine, we are not allowed to charge PET RENT or PET DEPOSITS, but I know that they do it in New Hampshire.

Also, I know many people that have approached their landlord with a Dr's note stating that they need the Pet for Emotional Reasons.

Good for you! Sounds like you have already done your research, so my previous post can be IGNORED. Sorry!

Great Way to Help Problem Solve, too. If you take ownership of the issue and he doesn't have to deal with it, then what is there left to complain about!

Anyway, selling your home doesn't solve the situation, as you would have to live somewhere. And apartments owners are more strict about pets than mobile home parks, in my experience.

Good Luck!

Kristina,

Despite how emotional you must feel over this issue, I think you're handling it in an intelligent and calm way. I think you're acting in the way most likely to get results, so kudos to you and the very best of luck! Please keep us posted! This may be a thread people refer to for similar problems later on.

Oooh...Dr's excuse to have dog *might* work for high blood pressure too, (caused by the stress of unfair landlord, of course)

What happens in MOST mobile home parks is that the tenants are allow 1 dog when we bought this place it was NO dog or cat over 25 pounds...Only expections was a gentlemen that was blind and had his seeing eye dog and me with a GSD ..I had a tenant that wanted to move in but they had a dog over 25 lbs a golden retreiver...so I wasn't going to accept their application...but I decided that I would see the dog first and asked if they would bring him over..after seeing the dog I accepted there app and they moved in ...I relaxed the dog laws and allowed people to have animals....The average animal owner has a dog and /or cat. period..
then there are the ones that abuse the rules, laws and think they are the only ones that live on earth...and one dog become 2 then 3 then 4 ,5,6...so when and were would you draw the line and doesn't your neighbors have rights...

This is the wording in the Illinois Manufactured Lease Law...Section 10 J....the tenant.. "Conduct himself or herself and require other persons on the premises with there consent to conduct themselves in a manner that will not effect or disturb neighbor's peaceful enjoyment of the premises."

Tenant with dogs

barking dogs....doggie piles all over ...dog runs and houses...dogs being left outside when no owner is around....dog gets lose...running loose...chasing and nipping at kids...barking....yelling at dog...hitting the dogs...i dont need to go on but these are the actual complaints that i get daily...and the list goes on....

Tenants without dogs..hmmmmmm...well they get to smell, hear and see all this day in and day out...meanwhile they keep there yards nice, with flowers, scrubs, and plastic pink flamigo's...which by the way are not allow in my park...

Both tenants pay the same amount for lot rent or site rent...still RENT...

You are the landlord what would you do...?????

Oh that's easy David, obviously the answer in your situation is to outlaw kids.