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: Landlord Liability for Tenants' Dogs | Nolo
Landlord Liability for Tenants' Dogs
Some landlords fear that they'll be on the hook if a tenant's dog injures someone. By Mary Randolph, J.D.
One of the reasons landlords are reluctant to rent to tenants with dogs is fear that if the dog injures someone, the landlord, as well as the dog's owner, may end up paying. It's very rare, however, for a landlord to be found liable for injuries inflicted by a tenant's dog. Just leasing premises to a tenant with a dog isn't enough, by itself, to make a landlord legally responsible for a tenant's dog. For example, if a tenant's apparently friendly dog bites someone, the landlord isn't liable for the injury. ( See, for example, Stokes v. Lyddy, 75 Conn. App. 252 (2002) and Georgianna v. Gizzy, 483 N.Y.S.2d 892, 126 Misc. 2d 766 (1984).) In general, courts hold a landlord liable only if the landlord: knew the dog was dangerous and could have had the dog removed;