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: most courts hold landlords liable for knowing about conditions (including the presence of a dangerous dog) on their property. Power to remove the dog. It wouldn't be fair to hold a landlord responsible for a dog he is powerless to control or have removed. For example, say a landlord buys a building that is already occupied by a tenant who has both a one-year lease and a dangerous dog. The landlord probably won't be liable for any injuries the dog causes, because the landlord may not be able to order the dog removed. But if the tenant has a month-to-month rental agreement, which can be terminated on 30 days' notice, the landlord who does nothing after finding out the tenant has a dangerous dog may be liable if the dog later hurts someone. In a North Carolina case, a tenant's two rottweilers attacked a visitor. The lease gave the landlord the right to demand that the tenant remove his dogs within 48 hours if the landlord decided that they were a nuisance or simply undesirable. The court concluded that this provision gave the landlord control over the tenant's dogs, and he could have eliminated the danger they posed. ( Holcomb v. Colonial Associates, LLC, 597 S.E.2d 710 (N.C. 2004).