landlord tenant law
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landlord tenant law
I have a renter who I found out has a dog. I have a
lease with him with a ‘no PET clause’ however I walked
by and heard a dog barking inside the single family home
I rented to him in Wisconsin. can I evict him?
Asked on May 4, 2018 under Real Estate Law, Wisconsin
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 5 years ago | Contributor
Yes, you can evict him: a lease is a contract, and the other party's breach of a contract is grounds to terminate the contract and evict. You first have to provide him 5-day written notice (sent some way you can prove delivery; all notices should be sent some way you can prove the other side got them) giving him five days to correct the violation: i.e. to get rid of the dog. In the notice, cite the lease provision (e.g. "paragraph 7") he is violating. If he doesn't comply, give him a 14-day notice to vacate. If he doesn't vacate, file an eviction case in court to remove.
Note that IF he can provide doctor documentation that he has a medical condition requiring a service animal and attests that this is a service animal, then so long as the dog is not damaging the property or attacking tenants or your family or staff, you'd have to let him keep it; the law against disability-based discrimination, as applied to housing, requires that you let tenants have bona fide service animals as a "reasonable accommodation" to their condition. If the animal is viscious or damaging, however, it is not reasonable to let him have it and you can require its--or his--removal.
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