Title: Landlord Liability for Tenants' Dogs | Nolo
Headings: Landlord Liability for Tenants' Dogs
Landlord Liability for Tenants' Dogs
Some landlords fear that they'll be on the hook if a tenant's dog injures someone.
Knowing About and Having Power to Remove the Dog
Injuries Off the Landlord's Property
Harboring a Tenant's Dog

Content: Criswell v. Brewer, 741 P.2d 418 (Mont. 1987).) Actual knowledge. To be held liable, a landlord must actually know that a tenant's dog is a danger to others. In practice, that means the landlord must know that the dog has already threatened or injured someone. For example, a landlord who knows only that a tenant's dog is kept chained and barks at people who approach probably will not be held liable if the dog bites someone. A New York court, given those circumstances, did not hold a landlord liable for the injury her tenant's dog inflicted. ( Gill v. Welch, 524 N.Y.S.2d 692 (1988).) If the dog is particularly threatening, however, that may be enough evidence of a dangerous tendency, as a Colorado landlord found out. Before signing a lease, the landlord took care of two dogs that belonged to a prospective tenant. During the two weeks he had the dogs, they threatened his grandchild.