San Diego, CA asked in Animal / Dog Law for California

Q: Can a roommate file against you for getting an animal?

We recently got approval to own a dog by our landlord, and everyone in the house was on board. One roommate claimed he was excited, but after the dog arrived he now claims he does not like her. His words have been "I live here too and pay rent and I don't want to walk on wet carpet" Our puppy is 2 months old, and accidents are going to happen. He is saying he wants to move out, but there are still 5 months on the lease. He is a shady person and his step father is a lawyer.. can he come at me and my fiance over this even when the owner of the house said it was fine and there was verbal agreement?

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1 Lawyer Answer
Maurice Mandel II
Maurice Mandel II
Answered
  • Newport Beach, CA
  • Licensed in California

A: This is really a LL/Tenant question. Your roommate has a right of quiet enjoyment of the property that he is renting, the same as you do. You do not have the right to take that away from him and the LL cannot give you permission to take it away from him. If RM dad is an attorney, he will know this, and you could have a problem, but this is not usually the kind of thing that people sue over. Maybe you need to restrict the Puppy to your room so he does not pee all over the house, this would be an adult fix to the problem. "The freedom of your fist ends where my nose begins." is an old saying and adapting it to your situation, "Your freedom to have a puppy ends when the pee is on the common room carpets." Surely it is a cute dog, but not when it is destructive or leaving messes for someone else to clean up. Remember Plumbers and Attorneys deal with the Sh*t of other people, and they charge high prices accordingly. If you are going to take on adult responsibilities to have a puppy living with you in a RM situation, you need to be sure that the RM are not cleaning up after the puppy, that is your responsibility.

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