Landord question

We are the only tenants in an owner occupied private house. We have a cat which the landlord approved prior to lease signing. We want to go on vacation and hire a professional, insured cat sitter. (We are vehemently against boarding an animal that has already spent hard time in the shelter system.) Our landlords told us that we can not give house keys to a pet sitter….not even to my elderly mother who has offered to travel herself just to cat sit! Landlord’s garden level is not separated from our shared hallway/stairs which is presumably why they are so paranoid about strangers, but it’s ultimately their problem not ours. Thoughts?

200average

in Landlord 10 years and 2 months ago

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anotherposter | 10 years and 2 months ago

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Maybe explain that the cat has some disease that is contagious among cats that means boarding facilities won’t take it. If a sitter doesn’t come to take care of the cat, there will be piss and shit everywhere and cat pee is impossible to remove. But say it nicely.

slopefarm | 10 years and 2 months ago

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Landlord needs to think this through. No babysitter? No housecleaner? That said, if you give out the key over landlord’s objection, you are vulnerable to (trumped up) charges of theft, damage to their part of the house, etc., so if you have to do this, you want to be well-positioned Perhaps try one more time, offer to have them meet the pet sitter in advance. Collect references for whomever you use.

daveinbedstuy | 10 years and 2 months ago

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Give the keys to whomever you want. Landlord is a scumbag from what you last posted.

200average | 10 years and 2 months ago

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We don’t think our landlords are “animal people”. They are also quite negligent (heat & hot water below legal minimums, zero snow shoveling, lost mail, and improper garbage removal, gone for weeks at a time without informing us prior or providing an emergency contact) so frankly we do not trust them whatsoever in caring for our pet. We decided long ago not to renew this lease so we aren’t worried about eviction. I guess we are increasingly anxious about sharing a small space with a terrible landlord.

concord | 10 years and 2 months ago

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Silliest thing I have ever heard! By the way, Landord has no say on who has keys (if I understand it correctly, there can be no limits on lease – that are enforceable). But it will be a ‘catch-22’: nothing the LL can do about it if your mother or someone else catsits…other than not renew your lease… My advice: enjoy your vacation and start looking for an apartment with a non-nutty LL…do not worry about ‘eviction’ – won’t happen LL will be laughed out of court!!!!

catboot | 10 years and 2 months ago

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Have you approached the landlord about feeding your cat? That might be the easiest solution for all. Boarding a cat is not a good thing for the cat, I totally agree. When I was a tenant in an owner occupied building, my landlord would frequently feed out cat when we were out of town. I am now on the “land lording” side, if my tenant asked me, I would. On the flip side, my tenant keeps an eye on my cat sometimes. I guess it all boils down to trust and maybe starting that conversation. Side note: having an open hallway with no separation is a choice your landlord made (we made the same choice), but I feel it shouldn’t impact the tenant and their use of the space. Not allowing your mom to have a key is ridiculous, in my opinion. My 2 cents.