I own a home in California and rent out a bedroom to help with the mortgage. Here is my scenario...
I rented a room 3 months ago to this fellow. After he moved in he asked if he could get a small dog. I told him it would be fine if he paid a $300 pet deposit. The next day I come home from work and there is a dog at the house. I asked him about the pet deposit he was supposed to pay and he replied that he would pay it 'soon'. I come to find out the dog is not house trained and that the tenant has no real desire to attempt to train it to go outside. Needless to say I was not happy about this... my options as I saw them were...
1) Force him to get rid of the dog (as he had not payed the pet deposit). He bought the dog on Craigslist so it wasn't returnable and with the ASPCA already overflowing with animals I could bring myself to force him to drop it off there... I have a soft spot for pets... in hindsight I should have gone with this option anyhow...
2) Wait for him to pay the pet deposit (knowing since the dog is not house trained I would be assured to keep the deposit). I chose this route...
Fast forward a could of months... Dog is still not house trained and no pet deposit. Further the bedroom he was renting has been completely destroyed by his uncleanliness and dog poop. At this point I decide to kick him out...
Can I sue him for damages to the room?
Some other facts...
1) I do not use rental agreements (I know this was dumb but I have some very good reasons for not using them... wont get into that). So basically I have a verbal contract. He paid by check so I do have a record of the deposit (memo line indicates its for rent)
2) I never collected a security deposit (just 1st & last months rent)
I rented a room 3 months ago to this fellow. After he moved in he asked if he could get a small dog. I told him it would be fine if he paid a $300 pet deposit. The next day I come home from work and there is a dog at the house. I asked him about the pet deposit he was supposed to pay and he replied that he would pay it 'soon'. I come to find out the dog is not house trained and that the tenant has no real desire to attempt to train it to go outside. Needless to say I was not happy about this... my options as I saw them were...
1) Force him to get rid of the dog (as he had not payed the pet deposit). He bought the dog on Craigslist so it wasn't returnable and with the ASPCA already overflowing with animals I could bring myself to force him to drop it off there... I have a soft spot for pets... in hindsight I should have gone with this option anyhow...
2) Wait for him to pay the pet deposit (knowing since the dog is not house trained I would be assured to keep the deposit). I chose this route...
Fast forward a could of months... Dog is still not house trained and no pet deposit. Further the bedroom he was renting has been completely destroyed by his uncleanliness and dog poop. At this point I decide to kick him out...
Can I sue him for damages to the room?
Some other facts...
1) I do not use rental agreements (I know this was dumb but I have some very good reasons for not using them... wont get into that). So basically I have a verbal contract. He paid by check so I do have a record of the deposit (memo line indicates its for rent)
2) I never collected a security deposit (just 1st & last months rent)