My housemates violated the lease? Can I be evicted for it?
Question Details: I moved into a group house in Washington DC about 3 months ago. After signing the lease, I learned that one my housemates has a dog, which is forbidden by the lease. I didn't say anything about it, either condoning or condemning it. Now the landlord has hired some workmen to do some repairs on the house and they discovered the dog. Can I be held liable for the dog being in the house, even though I didn't know about it when I signed the lease and its not my dog? What can I do to guarantee I won't be evicted because they broke their lease?
Real Estate Law Answers
Probably the only thing you can do is insist that the dog be sent elsewhere. Typically, for this sort of an issue, the landlord has to give a notice, first, to "cure" the problem or be evicted, so that if the dog is removed immediately, there won't be grounds for eviction.
If that doesn't happen, and the landlord files for eviction, it will apply to everyone there: there's only one lease, and all of you will live there, or leave, as one, in this situation.
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