12 details for dog owners to dig up before buying a two-flat
10 questions tenants with pets should ask landlords before renting a duplex
After I unlocked the front entrance of what looked like a single-family home, I was confused when I saw a stairwell. I looked from the main-floor door to a second door at the top of the steps. Realizing that this was a two-flat, I wondered how I was supposed to convince a large Catahoula Leopard Dog to walk down this narrow stairwell with me. Luckily, a cat on the other side of the upstairs door liked me immediately, which helped the suspicious, senior dog warm up to me much more quickly than it otherwise would have. And the dog was surprisingly graceful going down those narrow steps.
But there was a third onlooker in this building whom I wasn’t aware of. Almost immediately after returning outside, the dog peed in the front lawn and a woman came rushing out of the main-floor door to yell at me about the grass. I looked from her to the dog, wondering how she could possibly expect a dog living in the same two-flat to never use the front lawn. Judging from the frustrated expression on her face, this was not the first time she’d ranted about dog urine. However, there wasn’t even a sign on the lawn to give me a heads up about this dog-grass war I walked into.
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I shrugged at her because the dog had already finished urinating, but she was still demanding to know why I didn’t know to go to the curb. I waved my smartphone in her direction and explained there were no dog-walking notes about staying out of the front grass. She rolled her eyes and stormed inside, clearly getting ready to send an angry email, make a phone call or send a text to the dog owner about why the dog walker wasn’t a psychic. I continued the walk, making sure the dog stayed on the curbside grass until we returned.
On my way back, I looked at the dog’s home a little more carefully. Initially, I saw boxes all over the kitchen and living room, and I assumed this dog owner was moving in. Looking a little more closely — and judging by the first-floor resident's behavior — there was a fairly good chance this person was moving out. But her reaction to a dog doing what dogs naturally do made me wonder whether she was the live-in landlord. And if she was, were her dog-related rules clearly communicated before her tenant (or former owner) moved out?
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As convenient as it may be to rent a unit out to make disposable money in a two-flat or duplex, for property owners who don’t like dogs — or don’t really understand what it’s like to live with a dog — having a well-written, firm lease ahead of time can eliminate a lot of conflict between the two households.
And even with a pet-owning owner who moves into a loosely run condo, this is yet another reason to tighten up the condo bylaws (or declarations) to make sure all parties are in agreement. A Neighbor Agreement, an alternate document for owners, should also be reviewed. If everyone knows the rules ahead of time, this could arguably save on extra moving expenses.
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Here’s what live-in landlords and owners should include in their leases and bylaws beforehand to avoid pet feuds, along with the questions they need to ask the Realtor during the initial walk-through.