Tenant Has a Dog in Violation of HOA Rules

My question involves an eviction in the state of:

We are renting a condo in a gated community with a homeowner's association.

We have a 130 pound dog. And apparently the HOA rules state that no dog can be over 80 pounds, although many of the dogs here are.

In searching for this property, we repeatedly asked the realtor, who was working for our landlord, if there were any breed or size restrictions for dogs. We were assured every single time that we asked that there are NO breed or size restrictions. We filled out an application in which we stated that we have a 130 pound dog, it was approved. We signed a lease that ONLY stipulated that dogs must be on a leash, NO mention of size or any other restrictions for that matter.

Our landlord contacts us yesterday to say that she's evicting us because the HOA is fining her for allowing a dog over 80 pounds to live in her unit.

She says that we have to leave immediately as she is going to be fined each day that the dog is here, and she says that it is the realtor's fault, even though our landlord, herself, told us that there are no size or breed restrictions.

NONE of the documents that we signed (we made copies of all of them) have anything in them about dogs except that all dogs must be leashed. We were not provided with the HOA handbook before moving in, and so due to my lack of ESP, we were completely unaware that there were any rules on dog size.

We literally just moved in, not even a week here, and we have a one year lease.

Can the landlord actually evict us over this? Is it the landlord's fault or the realtor's?

This is a huge burden for us. We both took time off of work in order to move. My wife cannot take anymore time off from work, and neither can I. We went through great expense to move here, we do not have the time or resources to find a new place to live nor to move again.

Obviously we would've never moved here if we knew there were rules on dog size, but as I said, we asked repeatedly because we know how hard it is to find rentable property that allows large dogs. I feel like we've been lied to and misled, and now we're being threatened with eviction.

I know they cannot evict us without a hearing, but does the landlord actually have any right to evict us? It may be in violation of the HOA, but we are not in violation of our lease as it does not say anything about breed, size, or even adhering to the HOA's rules.

Thank you so much for any feedback, insight, or knowledge that you can share.

You chose not to follow the instruction to identify your state, so it will be up to you to research the specifics of your state's laws.

In general terms, your relationship with your landlord is governed by your lease. If the lease includes a provision that obligates you to follow all HOA rules and regulations, then those are part of your lease by reference. If not, then to the extent that they differ from the terms of your lease they may result in action by the HOA, which would normally be directed at your landlord, but if you're not violating the terms of your lease you're not in breach. To increase the chance of further comment, share with us the name of your state, the relevant terms of your lease, whether or not the HOA rules and regulations were given or made available to you, and other relevant details.

Thanks for the feedback.

I'm sorry about being overly vague, I have a tendency to be overly cautious about sharing information in the internet. It's Pennsylvania.

We have a one year lease of a condo that is owned by a woman who hired a realtor to rent out for her. The lease looked like she literally just printed one of those one size fits all leases off the internet.

The lease makes no reference or mention of the HOA or their rules.

Under "PETS" it just says that "Tenant may keep pets with Landlord's written permission according to the terms of the attached Rules and Regulations."

The attached Rules and Regulations has only one rule pertaining to pets stating that "Tenant agrees to pay the cost for repairs for any damage to the rental unit for damage caused by the tenant or the family or the pets or the visitors of that tenant."

The HOA rules and regulations were not given nor made available to us. We still do not have a copy of these "rules" and only found out that we were in violation because the landlord called us flipping out because the HOA sent her a nasty letter stating that she must remove the dog from her property immediately.

We repeatedly asked about the dog size and breed limitations, and we were assured every single time that there are no such restrictions. We have a copy of our application where we even list that we have a 3 year old 130 pound dog as one of the occupants. I feel like if it was an issue, someone should've said something then. No one ever informed us verbally or written that there are any restrictions on dogs whatsoever. Not even pit bulls, shepherds, mastiffs, etc that you usually see as not being permitted.

My 2 cents as a total layman, just guessing here, but it seems to me that our landlord rented us her condo unaware of the rules of her HOA. Now the HOA is fining her $100 a day for each day that we and our dog are here. So, she is flipping out saying that we have to leave immediately. Which is ridiculous because even if we were in violation of the lease, we would certainly be given more time than "immediately," I'm thinking at least 30 days, and it would have a hearing before a judge. I don't know what recourse she would have given the circumstances, but it seems to me like she did something she wasn't allowed to do, and now that the HOA is going after her, she's going to come after us. Mind you, we were completely up front and told her about our dog as well as listed it on our application, and she herself as well as the real estate agent told us that there is no size or breed restriction.

I'm quite concerned about this. I've never been in any legal trouble in my entire life. We're in a new town, we've spent a small fortune to relocate, and we were planning on staying here for at least the next 5 years. Obviously she won't be offering to renew our lease when it's up, but can she really break the lease over this and kick us out? What can a renter do if the landlord decides to break the lease when the renter has not violated the terms?

What should I be asking for? Should I be asking that the landlord "buy us out" of the lease? Should I be asking for reimbursement for moving costs? What should I be demanding from the landlord is she wants to break the lease and force us to leave?

Do you have the landlord's written permission to have your dog on your rented property?

Yes, I have a signed document where there is a check box that she checked stating that pets are permitted in and around the property.

I'm not sure that counts as written permission. Regardless, she did tell you you could have your dog, and it appears there was no deception on anyone's part.
Did you say you still have not been given a copy of the HOA rules and regs yet? They may be printing up new ones just for you. *lol*
I would pay an attorney to write a strongly worded letter to the landlady letting her know that she will be required to pay for any move and any monies lost due to her failure to fulfill her end of the contract.
You should have some rights here. I'm just unsure how many.
In the future (of course) make sure you have the HOA rules in hand, and know that you are in compliance with them before you move in.

Definitely no deception, because we didn't even know there was a rule, and I talk about my dog more than most people talk about their kids haha

We still haven't been given a copy of the HOA rules, and when I asked the HOA for one, they said that those are only available to homeowners and because we're renting we would have to contact the homeowner to obtain a copy.

Today, I've already found out that there are many things wrong here. I didn't even know there was an HOA here, but in my particular unit, after speaking with the maintenance person, I now know that I have no heat, no smoke alarms, and the garage door opener doesn't work properly, nor does the key pad work to put the code in. I didn't know any of this because we haven't had to turn the heat on, obviously we haven't had a fire, and I haven't been able to use the garage because it's full of the landlords belongs like bookshelves and paint cans.

- - - Updated - - -

So, now the real estate agent keeps contacting us saying "how can I make things right? You can't stay there, what do I have to give you to leave?" She offered us to live rent free for a year in a property that she personally owns. She offered to us that we board our dog for an entire year and she would pay all the boarding fees. (that one actually kind of offended me, who would board their dog in a kennel for a year by choice?)

In any case, the fact that the real estate agent is so panicked about "making things right" makes me think that she knows something we don't, and perhaps we have the upper hand.