Title: Liability for Bites by Tenants' Dogs
Headings: Liability for Bites by Tenants' Dogs
Return to your topic: Landlord liability for dog bites
Liability for Bites by Tenants' Dogs

Content: Liability for Bites by Tenants' Dogs
Return to your topic: Landlord liability for dog bites
Liability for Bites by Tenants' Dogs
When a renter's dog bites a person, the victim will consider making a claim against the renter's landlord if the renter does not have renter's insurance (or that insurance is insufficient). The claim must be based on common law principles because there are no statutes in the USA making landlords automatically liable for dog bites. The general, traditional rule of landlord liability is set forth in Restatement (Second) of Torts §379A (1965), which states that a landlord will be held liable for any activity on his property if: " (a) the lessor at the time of the lease consented to such activity or knew that it would be carried on, and
" (b) the lessor knew or had reason to know that it would unavoidably involve such an unreasonable risk, or that special precautions necessary to safety would not be taken." As it applies to dog bites, the landlord liability rules are more specific and cover a wider variety of circumstances. In most states, a landlord may be liable for injuries and bites inflicted by a dog belonging to a tenant, if the landlord (a) had scienter and the requisite degree of control over the premises or the dog itself, such as the ability to have it confined or removed, or (b) increased the risk of danger by failing to do something pertaining to the confinement or control of the dog which fell within the normal obligations of the landlord or which he undertook voluntarily, such as neglecting to fix a gate or fence. See generally Wade R. Habeeb, LL.B., Annotation, Landlord's Liability to Third Person for Injury Resulting from Attack by Dangerous or Vicious Animal Kept by Tenant, 81 A.L.R.3d 638 (1977). "Scienter" is defined as knowledge of a dog's dangerousness or viciousness. ( See The One Bite Rule .)