A couple of weeks ago we brought you the tale of the tenant who had it written into her lease that she could have her dog in her home, only to have the permission withdrawn when a lawyer neighbour complained.
This building’s by-laws include the standard one that says pets can only be brought in with the consent of the Owners Corporation, but that approval can’t be unreasonably refused.
The landlord has now told the tenant that the Owners Corp is likely to refuse permission and, in any case, that they are planning to change the by-law to ban pets altogether.
Well, that sounds pretty unreasonable to us, not to mention the fact that any change in the by-laws can’t be retrospective.
In any case, the landlord is being a tad disingenuous here; as the owner of one of three apartments, she could block any by-law changes herself.
But wait a minute, there’s more! It turns out she owns TWO of the three units. That means she could hold a general meeting and give permission for pets herself, if she so desired.
In a way, it’s admirable that the majority owner is paying heed to the wishes of her neighbours – if only every multi-unit owner was like that. But there’s no excuse for signing a legal agreement with a tenant and reneging on it later.
And as for the lawyer neighbours now punching above their weight in the block, they of all people should have read their by-laws and seen there was a chance that pets might be introduced to the building at some point.
So what does the tenant do? She has written permission from someone who has the power to give her the Owner’s Corp approval, but won’t, even though that permission can’t be unreasonably refused. By the way, the dog doesn’t bark, bite, tear up common property or scare anyone – this is all on a matter of principle.
We reckon the tenant may as well move the dog in while she can but start looking for another place now.
When the lease is up, this landlord isn’t going to be rushing to renew. And would you want to live there anyway, when the owners seem to make up the rules as they go along?
You can follow this farce HERE on the Flat Chat Forum.