To lie about having pets to potential Landlord

[RottieMum80]

So we’ve been stuck on the renting wheel for years and have been in our current home, which we love very much, for 2 1/2 yrs. We took this property under the understanding of a ‘long term’ let but we’ve just found out our Landlord wants to take advantage of the current RIDICULOUS house prices and are selling it from under us. We’re gutted, especially our 9yr old daughter who has friends all along our road that she plays with daily and her school is just a 10 minute walk away. Now we are looking around for an alternative property in our town (where we have family, friends, childcare, daughter’s school etc) and there’s literally NOTHING around. Not even anything unsuitable, just nothing. Started to panic obviously, then low and behold our neighbours 3 doors down told us they’re handing their notice in for their place as they’ve bought a house! It’s identical to our current home and means barely anything has to change. However, we have a large dog and a cat. This Landlady doesn’t allow pets. Now I’ve always left rental properties in perfect (often better!) condition, I’m very clean, tidy and house proud and our pets are completely house trained and never cause any damage.
So bearing in mind we are pretty screwed here with impending homelessness......AIBU to lie about having any pets?

Didn't mean to say nicest possible way twice!

There's lot of bollocks on this thread
No a landlord cannot just evict you for having a pet even if it is in breach of contract. In fact blanket bans on pets are not legally enforceable

reliablehomes.co.uk/what-to-do-if-your-tenant-has-a-pet-without-permission/

Having said that @RottieMum80 deception is unlikely to leads to a positive longterm rental relationship.

If the landlord is local I'd agree with the suggestion to invite her round to your current house. Emphasise your desire for a longterm let and offer additional cleaning on departure.

If the landlord is absent/abroad or similar, I'd be more inclined to smuggle the pets in. Once the paperwork is signed it's very tricky to be evicted on the basis of pets.

at the end of the day we need a roof over our heads and never thought this would happen when we got the pets as we intended to be here some time, at least until we could potentially afford our own place

It’s very unfortunate your LL decided to sell, but to be honest it could have happened at any time and so getting a big dog (under 3 years old, I guess?) was a risk. As you’re now unfortunately finding out.

I am a dog owner and lover, and an ex LL. I would accept your pets, but I am not the LL with a strict ‘absolutely no pets’ rule. The likelihood is you cannot move to that house with your pets. You can ask, you can hope, but if it’s no then that’s that.

If you lie and it’s discovered you’re in a MUCH worse situation having to move yet again and this time with a passed off LL who won’t give a good reference.

So.

Do you want to stay on this road in this area enough to rehome the dog?

I hate saying that’s the choice, because I really do think a dog is for life. But in your circumstances the pragmatic thing is to accept that you need to choose a Least Bad outcome.

@Zari29

Op don't lie. That a really shitty thing to do to someone who has allowed your into their home, regardless of you paying. You can ask them if they are willing to reconsider and good idea about inviting them around. But do not lie.

It's not the landlord's home. It is the tenant's

Don’t lie. It won’t work out in the end.

I would contact the landlady and tell her about your strong connection to the neighborhood and your desire to be very long term tenants. There is value in that. A family who cares about the neighborhood is likely to be an easy tenant. Offer whatever assurances she needs regarding the pets

Tbh if you are a tenant and have pets then there is always a risk that you will struggle to find a new tenancy where you can take the pets.
I would ask nicely and offer a bigger deposit or small rent surplus. And if it’s a no sadly consider rehoming the pets.

Knobjockey- Racist german shepherds are the best!!!!!

Thank you all for your comments and I wholeheartedly take them into consideration. And to be honest I know you’re right. My partner is adamant I’m not to say anything as if I risk us getting this place he will be fuming, I will feel absolutely terrible and we’ll be in a huge predicament. We have no one who can take our beloved pets and hearts would be broken if we had to rehome them, but I appreciate the comments about our children being more important.
The potential Landlord may be popping round for a chat tmrw so yes, she can see how clean and tidy our current home is (we were intending to get the pets/paraphernalia out if she comes) and I’m tempted to ask if she would think we had any pets and then say all the above (offer larger deposit, professional cleaning, etc.) and hope that honesty pays off. Like I say, my partner will be livid if she says no and we’re turned down 😢

It's an unfortunate situation but it's not your LL or other LL fault. If your LL wants to sell that's their business and if the other LL doesn't want pets that's their business too.

I get you are stressed over this but you can't lie. Even the cleanest person who has pets has pet smell in their home. They might think they don't but they do. You can't hide this as well as the pets.

What if she calls around and sees you walking the dog? What if someone tells her you have pets. What if she does an inspection, how can you get rid of the smell and hide pets?

Be upfront, tell her the truth, if you have to show her your current home or get your LL to tell her that your pets are clean, house trained, don't cause damage at least you're being honest and you won't be looking over your shoulder.

Do not lie....landlord will turn out to have an allergy and you will be right in the poo

Understandable but YABU. Its always the animals that lose out in these situations, as if push comes to shove people tend to have to sacrifice them over homelessness.
I work in a rescue and its by far the most common reason that pets are given up. Often at short notice where someone has until Monday to give them up etc.

We have a dog and pets in rented, with permission. However I know my letting agency and landlord have both seen us walking the dog locally and from the house, my neighbour on one side knows my landlord and another once tried to report us for having a dog (in spite after a parking dispute). We also know that a tradesman told our landlord about a temporary pet we had.

Luckily its all good as our landlord is friendly and we have permission. We just know because he's bought things up in passing but each of those could have cost us our home.

The only way I would suggest if desperate, is to have a plan if your landlord finds out. That will either be emergency accommodation for your family, or an emergency home for the pets who would be happy to have them at short notice, and possibly for months it would take to find alternate accommodation. We have animals that have been found out for all sort of reasons from gas leaks needing an emergency visit, to complaining neighbours, and often given to family members who can only have them for short periods so end up in rescue.

@RottieMum80 has the tenant that lives there now got any pets? Was the tenant the one to tell you no pets?

It's not quite the same but we have been allowed to take two dogs to holiday cottages that were advertised as No Dogs after a conversation with the cottage owner. I would ask the LL and invite the LL round to your current house.

@RottieMum80
Gov guidance on the model tenancy agreement and pets:

www.gov.uk/government/news/new-standard-tenancy-agreement-to-help-renters-with-well-behaved-pets

Ask the landlord if she uses the gov template for tenancy agreements.

Be up front. Show your potential LL how spotless your home is and demonstrate the lack of damage to skirtings etc.

TBH most landlords want long-term tenants (void periods mean not only no income, but council tax to be paid and all the palaver of finding a new tenant and the costs that go with that) and if you can show that you are likely to remain local for 3 yrs plus, I should think a landlord would be happy to offset that against the risk of taking pets.

At least ask landlord if they say no then tell landlord you make alternate arrangements for pets as you still want property.

What are your options? You can’t stay where you are, no other properties even if council put you i. Temporary accommodation they have rules about pets and refusing property or accommodation due to no pets they see as intentionally making yourself homeless.

What they won’t allow is your baby to be homeless with you.

You have got nothing to loose by asking landlord unlike if you lie.

If landlord says no, can’t remember what called but remember coming across something where kind of like temporary foster for ie when people move, or go in hospital, I was going to sign up as way of kids getting novelty dog and I don’t get life time responsibility

@Spanielsarepainless

It's not quite the same but we have been allowed to take two dogs to holiday cottages that were advertised as No Dogs after a conversation with the cottage owner. I would ask the LL and invite the LL round to your current house.

I expect this sort of thing is the reason why my son gets asthma due to dog hair in supposedly pet free holiday rentals.

It's not the landlord's home. It is the tenant's

@Veterinari That's a moot point. It's the tenant's/tenants' home, so long as they are living there, but it's the landlord's property. If you rent a property to a tenant, you have to trust them - in addition to all the legal stuff being completed - to look after your property and not lie about something significant which has the potential to affect your property.

OP, don't try to 'trap' the LL, either. Either she will be willing to discuss pets with you - and she might be happy to do it on the basis of suggestions that PP have made - or she won't. Don't play games, though.

And your partner is being a dick, I'm afraid. If you don't manage to rent this place, it will not be because of anything you have done: it will be because the LL doesn't want pets there. If he blames you for that (and 'livid' and 'fuming' are quite strong words to use) I'd be thinking of finding a rental property where the LL refuses to accept partners who are unrealistic, unreasonable and untruthful. Not to mention dicks.

I can't explain the stress it causes if you have something you need to hide and you have an inspection or works on the house. For some things like gas checks you'd have more time but for something emergency, you'd be worrying if you got rid of the hair, picked up every last ball or toy, hid the beds bowls etc and managed to find someone to have them at short notice

If you have a dog or cat then its likely every neighbour will know you do, its easy to see a cat on a door step, someone walking a dog, cats roaming etc. You would need to be a 100% none of the people would be petty and mention it the landlord or agency (and that none of those people know or are them!)

Can you offer them an extra pet deposit or x amount of rent up front? Or offer them to come and see your current rental? I rented for 10yrs until last year and for the first 7yrs I didn’t have any pets and it was always no pets listed on tenancy. However no-one came round to even check the house in that time apart from work men coming to do jobs as it was owned by a big company. So I just decided to get a puppy and replace anything he ruined. As it turned out he didn’t ruin anything and I paid for an end of tenancy clean at the end and they were more than happy with how I left it. I’d be tempted to lie, but it would depend if they are going to be doing checks they’d find out so better to offer them a pet deposit and / or some rent upfront

I wouldn't lie, invite the potential new LL round to show him how clean and tidy yiu are.

OP I am also a landlord. I think you are doing the right thing by having the potential LL round to see your current place. We are not allowed to allow pets as the flat we own is leasehold and there is a clause in the leasehold agreement that says no pets in the building.

However as another poster said, often with a guarantor a LL will change their mind. Our most recent tenant had a guarantor for a different reason and this made the difference in offering/not offering him the property.

I was in this exact same situation this time last year... it was an absolute nightmare and my mental health was horrendous because of it. Like you, was assured the tenancy was going to be a very long one, 10 years, then ll decides to sell their own house and move back in to where I was. Have 2 cats, very clean well behaved and I'm very house proud. I wouldn't have kept the cats in the first place if they tried to wreck anything. Could not find anywhere that would accept pets. Thought about saying I had no pets in the end as was getting nowhere and I was utterly distressed. But truth is they probably would find out, you never know how friendly ll is with neighbours etc that might mention it to them. Managed to find a house in the end that would accept the cats, I've 'downgraded' though let's say... not as nice an area or house as I've lived in previously but didn't have another choice.

@VictorianPrint

It's not the landlord's home. It is the tenant's

@Veterinari That's a moot point. It's the tenant's/tenants' home, so long as they are living there, but it's the landlord's property. If you rent a property to a tenant, you have to trust them - in addition to all the legal stuff being completed - to look after your property and not lie about something significant which has the potential to affect your property.

OP, don't try to 'trap' the LL, either. Either she will be willing to discuss pets with you - and she might be happy to do it on the basis of suggestions that PP have made - or she won't. Don't play games, though.

And your partner is being a dick, I'm afraid. If you don't manage to rent this place, it will not be because of anything you have done: it will be because the LL doesn't want pets there. If he blames you for that (and 'livid' and 'fuming' are quite strong words to use) I'd be thinking of finding a rental property where the LL refuses to accept partners who are unrealistic, unreasonable and untruthful. Not to mention dicks.

It's not a moot point. It's a direct correction of a PP stating that it is the landlord's home. It is not

Offer more rent money. The landlord can no longer take a larger deposit but you can offer more per month. It's really your only option. Your partner being livid is ridiculous. He's literally risking your children being turfed out if the dog was found out about. If you moved in with the dog she could evict you even if you agreed to get rid of the pets. An eviction is hardly going to help you find another place to rent. Your partner is being reckless. I'd be livid with him frankly. He's willing to put you all at huge risk. If the landlord won't take the dog even with an offer of a larger deposit then I'd rehome the dog. It was a big mistake getting a large dog while in rented but you are where you are. If it's a well behaved dog someone will have him.