Let your tenant have a Pit Bull? Think twice...
Let your tenant have a Pit Bull? Think twice...
If you've been in the property management/leasing business for any length of time- whether single family or multi-family, you've had an owner of one of these cute little fellas express an interest in renting a place from you. Sure, your office policy says "No aggressive breeds" (and specifically includes Pit Bulls such as this one)- but you figure that business is a bit slow and it won't hurt to take this one Pit Bull.
But think twice- for doing so can lead to a number of problems as the cute little fella above grows into this not-so-cute fella...
** In the interest of full disclosure, my brother Richard heads up the Bama Bully Rescue. He does a lot of great things, and truly has a heart for saving Pit Bulls that have been used for fighting and abused in other ways. Therefore, what I address here deals not with the aggressive breeds themselves- but rather the down side of allowing them in rental properties.
Like many other offices, ours uses a list provided by the Insurance Office of America (IOA) when determining what's considered a "prohibited breed"- that list now consisting of German Shepherds, Dobermans, Pit Bulls, Chows, Rottweilers, Malamutes, Huskies, Presa Canarios, Akitas and any types of wolf hybrids.
We use our "prohibited breeds list" in deciding which pets we will allow as part of our efforts to reduce our owners' liability should there be an issue with bites, etc. Reading the following article by Fidelity Insurance Group's Brian Hendricks, a startling number jumps off the page- in 2012, the average amount of money paid for a dog bite claim was more than $29,750.
Don't know about the rest of you...but the way I see it, $30,000 ain't a joke!
As boring as it may seem...as inflexible as some may see it, having a prohibited breeds list and sticking to it is the only way to go...
Let your tenant have a Pit Bull? Think twice...
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