Should tarantulas be mentioned in a lease?

[Vanessa]

Never say a word about any of them for a myriad of reasons. One of the other reasons not to say anything, that has not been brought up yet, is the possibility of future by-law issues. When Toronto put the ban in place for all venomous creatures - the ban includes tarantulas. Lots of people had them prior to the ban, and I guess there must have been a grandfather clause that people could use, but if something like that happens then it is better that less people know you have them.
Currently, in Toronto, the by-law office investigates on a 'per complaint basis', and that puts you at a disadvantage if your landlord decides that they want to get rid of you at a later date... by complaining about your banned animals.
Landlords are never to be trusted in my experience - not ever. Don't tell them anything that could potentially bite you in the ass later... even if you have a decent relationship with them currently. If the lease specifies no arachnids, then I would look elsewhere. If it doesn't, then just keep quiet about them and don't look for trouble over them.

 

[viper69]

Every lease I have signed says no "poisons animals"

Well lawyers like to be technical when it suits their needs and suits the law at times. That document isn't technical enough hah.

 

[Crone Returns]

I'm lucky to have a great landlord. He loves animals. I paid a deposit for my three dogs. Lived here for a little over a year. Last Dec. I succumbed to the T thing. I didn't tell him because I honestly didn't think of it. He came in to do maintenance, saw her and was delighted. He knows I'm going to get more, and knows that I won't get OW species. He asked about a billion questions, then, with a grin on his face, told me she'd be a 50$ monthly fee. He then laughed his butt off and asked to see the other spiders when they come in!
Last week we were talking and he told me that he and his elves don't use any type of pesticide in my huge yard. That's another nice thing. He likes the wild secret garden look of the yard plus all the wild spiders running around.
Like I said I'm lucky. The last 2 owners were slumlords. This is my reward. I love this old adobe. It's my forever home. It loves my pups and the wild spiders set up residence where the want. THIS guy I absolutely trust.

 

[bryverine]

The last 2 owners were slumlords. This is my reward. I love this old adobe. It's my forever home... THIS guy I absolutely trust.

Slumlord? In Albuquerque? That's preposterous!

You're lucky that they don't care, every place I've been specifically bans spiders.

 

[sschind]

I would read the lease carefully to make sure they don't have a blanket ban on certain types of pets. I lived in a studio apartment years ago that banned exotic animals. When the maintenance guys came in to do some work they reported my collection. Ultimately, there was no talking sense into the property managers. I had to give away a few Ts to folks on the boards. For the duration of the year the rest took periodic vacations inside my dresser drawers. Oddly enough, these vacations coincided with maintenance work. The moral of the story is read the fine print.

Exactly. Its up to you if you feel the need to mention it or not but if the lease says no pets and the landlord finds out you should expect to possibly have to move or get rid of the animals. In apartment complexes many tenants are afraid escapees may get into their apartments (it has happened, I speak from experience) and that can also worry some landlords. Granted most are worried about the damage issue but they also don't want good tenants moving out because the neighbor has a bunch of tarantulas.

When I closed my store I'm sure my landlord, as well as my neighbors, figured I couldn't just quit animals cold turkey. They have to know I have some. I think they may be surprised to find out how many, and exactly what I have. In 8 years of living here though my landlord has only been in my apartment twice and I keep my door to the spare room shut. I also know other tenants have snakes and lizards and hamsters and rats etc.

 

[sschind]

Never say a word about any of them for a myriad of reasons. One of the other reasons not to say anything, that has not been brought up yet, is the possibility of future by-law issues. When Toronto put the ban in place for all venomous creatures - the ban includes tarantulas. Lots of people had them prior to the ban, and I guess there must have been a grandfather clause that people could use, but if something like that happens then it is better that less people know you have them.
Currently, in Toronto, the by-law office investigates on a 'per complaint basis', and that puts you at a disadvantage if your landlord decides that they want to get rid of you at a later date... by complaining about your banned animals.
Landlords are never to be trusted in my experience - not ever. Don't tell them anything that could potentially bite you in the ass later... even if you have a decent relationship with them currently. If the lease specifies no arachnids, then I would look elsewhere. If it doesn't, then just keep quiet about them and don't look for trouble over them.

All that is fine Vanessa as long as you are prepared to deal with the consequences if you ever do get caught. College kids crying about having to get rid of their pets because the RA found them in the dorm and turned them in. People upset because they have to get rid of the snakes they knew were illegal to keep in the first place. I have very little sympathy for these people if they knew the rules going in and if they didn't know the rules I have even less sympathy for them. If the rules get changed in mid stream that's a little different. I know a guy who used to sell T's and other inverts and he had to get rid of everything because they changed the laws where he lived and they had no grandfather clause.

Like bryverine said if you play by big boy, or girl, rules you have to be prepared to accept big boy consequences.

 

[Crone Returns]

Slumlord? In Albuquerque? That's preposterous!

You're lucky that they don't care, every place I've been specifically bans spiders.

Yeah. I got very lucky. He's had a friend for over ten years who was a tenant.

 

[Vanessa]

All that is fine Vanessa as long as you are prepared to deal with the consequences if you ever do get caught.

Absolutely! You have to take responsibility for your actions and any consequences of them. Having said that - it is illegal to evict someone based on their pets in Ontario. Absolutely and 100% illegal. It is even illegal to have no pets in your lease at all in this province. It is against the law to not rent to someone because of their pets in Ontario, Canada and you are not supposed to ever even mention pets in lease agreements.
But guess what? Landlords do it all the goddamn time hoping that people don't know their rights and don't know the law. My landlord loves dogs and hates cats and made it clear that, if it were up to him, he would deny cat owners apartments and allow dog owners only. Surprise, surprise, he has a dog himself and the building is full of them. When I signed my lease, I put a great big line through the part about no pets and wrote in that it was against the law. He was surprised that I knew and back peddled big time when he saw that.
So, I am not ever, ever, ever, going to take the side of landlords. They are bottom feeders for the most part and most of them get exactly what they deserve. Not all of them, but every single one that I have come in contact with and every one my friends and family have come in contact with.
I know that there are bad tenants out there, and I have lived next to them on many of occasions, but nothing compares to the victimizing games that landlords in this city have mastered.

 

[sschind]

Absolutely! You have to take responsibility for your actions and any consequences of them. Having said that - it is illegal to evict someone based on their pets in Ontario. Absolutely and 100% illegal. It is even illegal to have no pets in your lease at all in this province. It is against the law to not rent to someone because of their pets in Ontario, Canada and you are not supposed to ever even mention pets in lease agreements.
But guess what? Landlords do it all the goddamn time hoping that people don't know their rights and don't know the law. My landlord loves dogs and hates cats and made it clear that, if it were up to him, he would deny cat owners apartments and allow dog owners only. Surprise, surprise, he has a dog himself and the building is full of them. When I signed my lease, I put a great big line through the part about no pets and wrote in that it was against the law. He was surprised that I knew and back peddled big time when he saw that.
So, I am not ever, ever, ever, going to take the side of landlords. They are bottom feeders for the most part and most of them get exactly what they deserve. Not all of them, but every single one that I have come in contact with and every one my friends and family have come in contact with.
I know that there are bad tenants out there, and I have lived next to them on many of occasions, but nothing compares to the victimizing games that landlords in this city have mastered.

I guess my experiences are pretty much the opposite of yours. I've lived and rented next to some pretty horrible tenants but most of the landlords I have dealt with have been far more understanding and helpful than one would expect.

Seems like Ontario has some pretty lenient tenant laws, I'd never want to be a landlord there. Someone has a dog <edit> all over the carpet and the landlord can't do anything about it. That sucks.

 

[Vanessa]

I guess my experiences are pretty much the opposite of yours. I've lived and rented next to some pretty horrible tenants but most of the landlords I have dealt with have been far more understanding and helpful than one would expect.

Seems like Ontario has some pretty lenient tenant laws, I'd never want to be a landlord there. Someone has a dog <edit> all over the carpet and the landlord can't do anything about it. That sucks.

I've been volunteering for rescues and shelters since I was 18 and I am currently 47. In that time I have seen countless companions destroyed in this city because landlords insisting upon people relinquishing them to live in their properties. Good, decent dogs and cats killed, before they even got a chance to <edit> anywhere, because of bottom feeding landlords. Even after the law was put in place - the dogs and cats are still dying because people are scared or don't know their rights.
Why do you think we have that law in place to begin with? I'll tell you... because an elderly woman was forced by her landlord to destroy her elderly dog before moving into his property when she couldn't afford to live anywhere else. Her only companion for many years since her husband died - a small dog by the name of Fluffy. The law in place is Fluffy's Law.
Do you still want to talk about how hard done by landlords are? They have plenty of laws protecting them already, so save your boo-hoo-hooing for someone who hasn't seen first hand the despicable things they can do.
When my landlord tried the same thing on me - I gave him my lawyer's business card. I haven't heard a peep from his cowardly, bullying self since.

 

[Crone Returns]

Slumlord? In Albuquerque? That's preposterous!

You're lucky that they don't care, every place I've been specifically bans spiders.

Yeah well, the last 2 owner I had should have been banned from ever owning rental property. I'm tired of people like that. My dogs don't tear up anything. I'm also tired of rents being raised thru the sky so the owner can buy another brand new all the bells & whistles dooley pick up truck just to prove his manhood.
Ok. A little off topic. Yes I know.
But I'll live in my car before anybody threatens my animals, and that includes my spider(s).

 

[Trenor]

I've been volunteering for rescues and shelters since I was 18 and I am currently 47. In that time I have seen countless companions destroyed in this city because landlords insisting upon people relinquishing them to live in their properties. Good, decent dogs and cats killed, before they even got a chance to shit and piss anywhere, because of bottom feeding landlords. Even after the law was put in place - the dogs and cats are still dying because people are scared or don't know their rights.
Why do you think we have that law in place to begin with? I'll tell you... because an elderly woman was forced by her landlord to destroy her elderly dog before moving into his property when she couldn't afford to live anywhere else. Her only companion for many years since her husband died - a small dog by the name of Fluffy. The law in place is Fluffy's Law.
Do you still want to talk about how hard done by landlords are? They have plenty of laws protecting them already, so save your boo-hoo-hooing for someone who hasn't seen first hand the despicable things they can do.
When my landlord tried the same thing on me - I gave him my lawyer's business card. I haven't heard a peep from his cowardly, bullying self since.

I have a great uncle who is retired and owns a small set of apartments(8 in a mini complex) to supplement his fixed retirement income. He maintains them and keep them in great repair. He knows all his tenets by name and can be regularly found chatting with them while working around the place. He allows anyone that can pay their rent and act like a decent human being live there with whatever pets they want. About two years ago he rented to a couple with a dog and at 5 and a half months they disappeared right before the lease renewal period. The apartment was wrecked. They had kept the dog in a closed off room when they were gone and it had chewed the room door and then tore holes in the sheet rock trying to get out. There was lots of damage done to other parts of the apartment including damage to every cabinet below waist height. With my cousin who is a contractor doing the repairs for almost free it still cost him 3 times what the rent would have been worth for the 6 months. If anyone else would have done it the cost would have been much more then that. The 200 dollar pet deposit was woefully inadequate. Yes, he had legal recourse, he could have took those tents to court and tried to get his money back. Most likely he would have just lost more money. He also had insurance and spoke to them about it but the cost of the insurance raise would have been more then paying out of pocket. So he ate the cost and times were lean for him for a while. He still rents to anyone who can pay the rent and is decent human being, regardless of what pets they want.

I have lived in apartments in multiple towns and states in the south eastern US for a long time. I have never had any problem with a landlord in all those times.

I can't speak to your experiences anymore then you can to mine, but I think it is unfair to say that every landlord is a horrible person. The ones you have dealt with may be horrible, I can't say. There are really hard considerations that are involved in this issue. As with any issue the views will be as varied as the experiences of the people involved.

 

[Vanessa]

But here is the problem - landlords have the advantage over tenants. They have the ability to kick you out and make you homeless if they so choose. They have the ability to make your life a living hell if they choose to and many do not hesitate to take advantage any chance they can. That power dynamic allows for bullying and intimidation and creates a cesspool of people who do not possess a shred of decency to take advantage of those who have less power. It is a classic example of an unequal power dynamic, actually.
Whenever you have one side of the equation having all the power, and the other side being powerless - you have people being treated poorly and unfairly. That is why there are laws in place to protect tenants - regardless of how much damage they can do, the landlord/tenant relationship is always one where the landlord has more power if they have the ability to put you out on the streets at their whim.
It is very unfortunate that your great uncle had the experience that he had. That is why landlords are allowed to enter the premise, having given 24 hour notice, in order to do inspections. I'm sure that the damage being done wasn't overnight and landlords have every right to enter the premise they own to ensure that damage isn't being done to that extent. I know that my landlord holds two inspections a year, and has the legal right to do so, in order to prevent having a bad tenant get out of control like that. Maybe more inspections need to take place in your uncle's property so he isn't put in a situation like that again.

 

[Trenor]

But here is the problem - landlords have the advantage over tenants. They have the ability to kick you out and make you homeless if they so choose. They have the ability to make your life a living hell if they choose to and many do not hesitate to take advantage any chance they can. That power dynamic allows for bullying and intimidation and creates a cesspool of people who do not possess a shred of decency to take advantage of those who have less power. It is a classic example of an unequal power dynamic, actually.
Whenever you have one side of the equation having all the power, and the other side being powerless - you have people being treated poorly and unfairly. That is why there are laws in place to protect tenants - regardless of how much damage they can do, the landlord/tenant relationship is always one where the landlord has more power if they have the ability to put you out on the streets at their whim.

I am not arguing that there shouldn't be protection laws when it comes to housing. I think they are needed especially when it comes to race, beliefs or anything else people can find to discriminate against. I was just making the point that not all landlords are evil people who will sale your pets soul for a buck.

It is very unfortunate that your great uncle had the experience that he had. That is why landlords are allowed to enter the premise, having given 24 hour notice, in order to do inspections. I'm sure that the damage being done wasn't overnight and landlords have every right to enter the premise they own to ensure that damage isn't being done to that extent. I know that my landlord holds two inspections a year, and has the legal right to do so, in order to prevent having a bad tenant get out of control like that. Maybe more inspections need to take place in your uncle's property so he isn't put in a situation like that again.

Maybe it how I was raised, but I have more integrity as a pet owner/renter/human being to let it go so far before I handled it. There is no need for me to be monitored in order to force me to do the right thing. If I broke or damaged anything in an apartment I rented the landlord didn't need to catch me. I went to them and made sure it was taken care of.

Before I bought my house, when I moved into a new apartment I was frank and up front about what I expected, who would be living there and what pets I owned. I expected the landlord to be frank with me about what they wanted out of the arrangement as well. It has worked out well for me and I never had a issue with any of my landlords.

In the end human decency works both ways. Just like it only takes a bad landlord or two to sour a renter towards all landlords, it only takes a few irresponsible pet owners to sour a landlord towards renters with pets.

 

[Vanessa]

It was suggested above that the laws in this province favoured tenants at the landlords expense and that can't be further from the truth. Both landlords and tenants have guidelines to follow in order to prevent anyone being taken advantage of.
Landlords are entitled to perform periodic inspections of all units, not just to catch delinquent tenants but to also address any maintenance issues that the tenant might not be aware of (like a slow leak in a pipe that might cause flooding at a later date) in order to prevent a much more serious situation taking place. If the landlord chooses NOT to take advantage of those guidelines to ensure the safety of his property - that is 100% on him and he can't later complain how he was taken advantage of.
I had a situation last year where my bathtub was leaking into the apartment below and causing damage to their ceiling. It is an old building and things like that happen on occasion. I had no way of knowing that this was taking place because there was no water leaking in my bathroom because it was the pipe below. The tenant chose not to say anything to the landlord and he discovered the issue only because of his bi-yearly inspection. It was not the 'fault' of anyone, but they chose not to say anything until the ceiling was in really poor shape and parts of it were falling down. Because of that - I had plumbers in on Christmas Eve taking apart my bathtub. I was not amused.
Landlords are still very much protected under law and to suggest that tenants have an advantage over them is ridiculous. If they don't take advantage of the protections they have against property damage that is their problem and not the problem of the tenant.
They have no right to bully or intimidate other tenants based on past experiences with tenants who took advantage of them - especially when they didn't do what they are entitled to legally to protect themselves.

 

[Trenor]

I made no implications that tenants had any advantage over landlords. I pointed out all landlords are not evil. That everyone has a right to a place to live and discrimination should not be allowed. I related my experiences and my personal outlook on how I lived as a renter. Finally, I made an argument that mutual consideration/human decency is a two way street. That is all.

 

[CreepTumorXD]

I dont have T's my lease says " no poisonous animals" and "no tarantula's" but I have scorpions.. :I and centipedes they are doing an inspection next week should I just ask? or hide them (meaning take them to my parents house) which is a drive.

 

[Crone Returns]

I made no implications that tenants had any advantage over landlords. I pointed out all landlords are not evil. That everyone has a right to a place to live and discrimination should not be allowed. I related my experiences and my personal outlook on how I lived as a renter. Finally, I made an argument that mutual consideration/human decency is a two way street. That is all.

I actually agree with you. It does go two ways. I was in a very cranky mood. A dear old (89) man I call Grandpa is in the VA hospital for 6 wks after falling and breaking shoulder in 3 places. The VA's inane treatment of him in the ER was...let's just say the med was worse than the disease. Problem had been solved and my temper has cooled.
I hold to my statement. I will add that I feel nobody should be called "lord" in USA. I am nobody's serf. I am paying them for a service. If they had a regular small business they would be in chapter 11. Customers wouldn't come back etc. Unfortunately here they seem to believe the lord in their title makes them think they're doing tenants a favor. Here in NM they are quick to take the rent and don't make repairs. That's all I am going to say on this subject. I want to talk about tarantulas!!!!

 

[Linear]

I made no implications that tenants had any advantage over landlords. I pointed out all landlords are not evil. That everyone has a right to a place to live and discrimination should not be allowed. I related my experiences and my personal outlook on how I lived as a renter. Finally, I made an argument that mutual consideration/human decency is a two way street. That is all.

I think the problem was you quoted her when your response's content didn't really seem to apply to what you quoted. o.o Maybe I overlooked but I didn't see her saying all landlords are evil. She's just stating the facts and saying laws protect tenants against some of the bad things landlords CAN do. Mutual consideration is fine but...the law is the law. People need to know their rights, including landlords being able to do inspections so they're not taken advantage of too. Pretty sure laws are in place precisely because you can't always count on everyone just being nice and considerate. :/ Doesn't mean those people don't exist.

 

[Vanessa]

Not only that, but he agreed with the other poster who very much did say that it must suck being a landlord in Ontario because of the laws protecting tenants.
Every single landlord, whether they are an individual or corporation, who has a 'No Pets' clause in their lease in Ontario is breaking the law... period. They know that it is against the law and they are just hoping that their tenants don't know their rights and what the laws are. Unfortunately, based on the number of animals surrendered and killed on the last couple of days each month, landlords are right that people are not aware of the laws and what their rights are in this province. Nobody pays a higher price than all the animals who are killed each month.
There are a number of Ontario residents who are members here. I would be interested in how many of them have that clause in the lease where they are living right now and are being given a hard time by their landlords over it... because not a week goes by that friends of mine are in contact with me asking me what the laws are and whether their landlord can get away with harassing and threatening them over their pets. Additionally, unless they have a by-law ban in place in their municipality, their landlords can't do a thing about making them get rid of their tarantulas either.
I am not disputing that some tenants are nightmares and they do ruin it for future tenants. I had the opportunity to rent my house out instead of selling it and I was not even going to consider it for a second. The amount of work and hassles far outweighs what you get out of it.
When you are dealing with an individual person renting out one or two properties, then you are in a position to maybe appeal to their sense of decency, although none of my friends have been successful in doing so. However, when you are dealing with a large management corporation - expecting to appeal to their sense of decency is a waste of time because corporations don't possess a sense of decency.
And for all the Quebec residents on here - they are going forward with passing the same laws in Quebec due to the sheer volume of pets that they kill in that province in the last couple of days of the month too. Stay tuned.