"It has come to the attention of management
that you are harboring a dog in your apartment. This is in direct
violation of your lease agreement. If the dog is not removed from premise
immediately, we will proceed with legal action and you will be responsible for
any/all costs that incur due to this situation."
So I hear you thinking... "Hmmm.... all that time she's had dogs in her apartment it was in violation of her lease?!?" Yes! Yes! Ok! Yes! But I figured they were just visiting!!!! "Ahhh" I hear you thinking "she is so naive..." Ok. Fine.
So, I took X's dogs for that weekend, remember. Bad idea. And I actually don't think that is what this letter is about. I think it's about the fact that J's dog has been staying over. With J and his daughter. J's daughter (and dog) moved in with him... and so when he came over during the week - so did they. Because he knew how important it was for me to have him over. For the reasons listed in that post. I needed him here. The kids needed him here. It was just great. So we worked out something that he would come with his dog and daughter every other week - Thursday through the weekend. And it was good. It was great.
I don't know which of our neighbors outted us... and I'm not even 100% sure why. He is an old, quiet dog. He barks only if door bell rings (not so often, it's not like I get door bell ringing visitors here!) or right before he's being fed.
I'm kinda thinking that the other morning, when he woke up early, wanting to go out, that his toe nails on my bare floors were probably just a wee bit grating for my downstairs neighbors. 6 am. Saturday morning. It's hard to be charitable at that time....
But now. What do I do? J and I had been planning to work out a new plan anyhow, in December, when his daughter's college schedule changed & she was more used to being with him in NYC, commuting to school, etc. Maybe she would stay one night at his place with the dog? We were going to see how it went. So - when I got this letter my first thought was.... "hmm.... every other weekend... only about three between now and December... maybe we'll just chance it? Maybe we'll just keep going." And I soothed myself with that.
Spoke to my sister last night. The conversation went something like: "ARE YOU CRAZY!??! IS THIS WORTH BEING EVICTED FOR?!? THESE PEOPLE COMPLAINED RIGHT TO MANAGEMENT - WITHOUT EVEN TALKING TO YOU! DO YOU THINK THEY'D APPRECIATE IT IF SOMETHING HAPPENED AGAIN?!?" Yeah. Something along those lines.
I'm going to call the management co - either today or Monday... but not sure how to present it. Just say "Ok, no more dog" and bring the dog. Say "ok no more dog" and really have no more dog. Or say "Listen - this is only every other weekend until December... this is a carefully crafted solution to a problem (no I'm not going to make them read my blog or anything!) and just let us continue 'til then. Windows will be closed, I'll put blankets on bare floors..... we'll be like little mice. And oh. While I have you on the phone... you have the nerve to complain to ME when you wouldn't get rid of the mice in my apt and this dog is the only thing keeping them out?!?" Something like that.
Thoughts? Am I totally screwed? Any of you ever deal with anything like this before? Suggestions?
Posts
4 comments:
Hmmm..I would be a little concerned about bringing the dog in again, especially if you tell them that you won't from now on. I mean, it could get quite expensive for you if they take you to court. If you think management is receptive, you might ask for an exception, but I doubt they'll give it to you.
Is there another option? Could doggie go somewhere else when J is at your place?
I'm a dog lover myself, so I have a tough time understanding these stringent rules, but rules are rules and you can get into 'biiig twouble' if you don't follow them...
...love the phrasing though...'harboring a dog'. The drama of it all!!
:)
I'm not sure it's worth it... the plan of keeping the dog quiet is nice on paper, but I think will be very stressful in its execution. Can't J's daughter stay with the dog instead of there with you guys? Or is it important that you all are together for those days?
I don't know, I'm not an animal person, so I can't relate to being put in that position by a dog.... but I really don't believe it's worth it to put your living situation in jeopardy over.
Hey! How about this: X TAKES THE DOG FOR YOU LIKE YOU DID FOR HIM!!!!
;-)
What does your lease actually say? That you can't ever have a dog enter your apartment or stay there overnight? Or something to the effect that you can't have a dog *living* there?
The analogy would be to a guest. It might be a violation of your lease to have another person move into the apartment (this is just an example, I have no idea if it is or not). On the other hand, it's clearly not a violation of your lease to have an occasional overnight guest.
Also, my understanding (though I know absolutely nothing about NY landlord/tenant law) is that it's generally pretty hard to evict someone and that it takes a long time. So, by the time you got to court the issue would be moot anyway. But please, don't take this as legal advice.
Post a Comment