Good morning,
Recently had a tenant renew her lease after having lived in the unit for 1 year. After the renewal was signed, a month later she approached me asking if I would consider allowing her to bring a dog. The building has a strict no dog policy. I explained why and offered to let her bring a cat, but kindly and reasonably held my ground. I also offered to help her find an alternative living situation if having a dog was an absolute deal breaker.
A few weeks later, I was outside late at night treating a wasp nest and happened to see the tenant making several trips in and out of the building (which was quite out of the ordinary at 10:30 PM). I thought I saw her carrying a dog outside, but it was dark so I wasn't 100% sure. The next day I texted her, confronting her about the situation. She admitted to having a dog in the house, and I re-iterated my policy about dogs. She was very apologetic, probably a bit embarrassed, and I hope she got the point.
A week later, she texted me asking if she could bring in a dog for the weekend due to a family emergency. I obliged, it's a reasonable request and other than this situation, she's been a model tenant.
Nothing has happened since, but I do fear that she will circumvent pet policy by registering the dog as an emotional support animal. If that happens, I can't do much. So I've been thinking about approaching the tenant and having her consider a significant rent increase in exchange for bringing the dog. How much? I don't know, but it would need to be significant. The apartment has carpeting and will definitely take excessive wear and tear.
Any insight?