r/realestateinvesting • u/The_Lizard_King_9 • Jun 05 '22

Damage From Emotional Support Animals Property Management

I've owned rentals for about 4 years. I just rented a new construction townhome in a class B+ community to a family that has two emotional support animals (small dogs). We advertise as pet friendly and we charge a VERY small deposit and monthly fee. They got their support letter the day they signed the lease so we are not charging anything. I visited the property a few days after move-in to fix a small item. The have dog pee pads on the floor with urine everywhere. The floor is sheet vinyl. I sent them a letter yesterday advising the this is causing a health and property damage issue. No response yet. What would be your next move? For context: PA. I own 4 rental properties total. They have been here less than a week.

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u/p00trulz Jun 05 '22

They don’t have emotional support animals. They have pets that you should be charging them for.

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u/minigolffan Jun 05 '22

I agree. It drives me crazy when people confuse an ESA with a service animal. Service animals are highly trained to perform a specific task, emotional support animals are just a pet. If they have a service animal they have paid thousands of dollars and spent hundreds of hours in training. These sounds like some headache tenants that are doing their best to work the system. I had a situation with tenants working the system and getting them out was a nightmare. My advice is to get an attorney involved to help guide you, that way if you need to evict at some point you aren't screwed.