broke verbal agreement

[samiamnot]

I recently rented a home for a vacation.
Part of the verbal agreement (no security deposit) was "no pets."I broke this agreement by taking a cat. I covered all the furniture with plastic. I kept the cat out of all of the rooms except the living room kitchen area. Someone saw the cat and reported it to the person I rented from. Before leaving I personally cleaned the home thoroughly. The cat is declawed and is a spayed female. It did no damage to furniture and left no stains on carpet (I have pictures). The cat did however tear (back claws) the kitchen curtain which I replaced with a curtain that wasn't the same pattern.
The person I rented from now says that I will have to pay to have the entire home cleaned from top to bottom (which was'nt very clean to begin with) because its usual tenant has allergies to cats.
Can he make me pay for this? If so am I responsible for having areas cleaned that the cat never entered or for areas in the home that were very dirty to begin with (I have pictures.) Thank you.

 

[loudrich]

Well you jerk..now youve done it

You violated the lease you are obligated to pay for ALL damages......

But you may have ONE chance in hell to get out of this....ask to speak to the tenants doctor and get a statement they are NOT allergic to cats.

That should work
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<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by samiamnot:
I recently rented a home for a vacation.
Part of the verbal agreement (no security deposit) was "no pets."I broke this agreement by taking a cat. I covered all the furniture with plastic. I kept the cat out of all of the rooms except the living room kitchen area. Someone saw the cat and reported it to the person I rented from. Before leaving I personally cleaned the home thoroughly. The cat is declawed and is a spayed female. It did no damage to furniture and left no stains on carpet (I have pictures). The cat did however tear (back claws) the kitchen curtain which I replaced with a curtain that wasn't the same pattern.
The person I rented from now says that I will have to pay to have the entire home cleaned from top to bottom (which was'nt very clean to begin with) because its usual tenant has allergies to cats.
Can he make me pay for this? If so am I responsible for having areas cleaned that the cat never entered or for areas in the home that were very dirty to begin with (I have pictures.) Thank you.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

 

[Tracey]

You broke the lease by taking the cat. L is now claiming that this was a significant breach because the usual tenant is allergic. Thus, IF the usual tenant has troubles with the place, you will have to pay for whatever extra cleaning is necessary. However, since you kept the cat out of most areas & thoroughly vacuumed, you can argue that the usual tenant should experience no allergy problems & there was no actual damage.

People who are allergic to cats are generally allergic to cat dander. Cat dander collects in carpets & on furniture. It does no get on walls. If you vacuumed the carpet & furniture, there should be no problems. Inform L that you aren't paying anything for cleaning in the other rooms. Regarding the LR/K, you have two options, either tell L to buzz off until he can prove actual damages (not just speculative 'someone might sneeze' damages), or offer to pay to have the living room carpet shampooed. Also, if in the course of cleaning the rugs, you or the carpet cleaners have to clean the rest of the place before you can shampoo, you are entitled to have the time spent pre-cleaning credited against the shampoo charges. Point this out to L -- the two charges will probably cancel each other out.

Next time, leave Fluffy at home.

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This is not legal advice and you are not my client. Double check everything with your own attorney and your state's laws.